In 1970, a sixty-five-year-old Philadelphian named Maggie Kuhn began vocally opposing the notion of mandatory retirement. Taking inspiration from the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, Kuhn and her cohorts created an activist organization that quickly gained momentum as the Gray Panthers. After receiving national publicity for her efforts—she even appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson—she gained thousands of supporters, young and old. Their cause expanded to include universal health care, nursing home reform, affordable and accessible housing, defense of Social Security, and elimination of nuclear weapons. Gray Panthers traces the roots of Maggie Kuhn's social justice agenda to her years as a YWCA and Presbyterian Church staff member. It tells the nearly forty-year story of the intergenerational grassroots movement that Kuhn founded and its scores of local groups. During the 1980s, more than one hundred chapters were tackling local and national issues. By the 1990s the ranks of older members were thinning and most young members had departed, many to pursue careers in public service. But despite its challenges, including Kuhn's death in 1995, the movement continues today. Roger Sanjek examines Gray Panther activism over four decades. Here the inner workings and dynamics of the movement emerge: the development of network leadership, local projects and tactics, conflict with the national office, and the intergenerational political ties that made the group unique among contemporary activist groups. Part ethnography, part history, part memoir, Gray Panthers draws on archives and interviews as well as the author's thirty years of personal involvement. With the impending retirement of the baby boomers, Sanjek's book will surely inform the debates and discussions to follow: on retirement, health care, and many other aspects of aging in a society that has long valued youth above all.

Gray Agendas presents a groundbreaking, cross-national study into the complex and interdependent relationship between public policy and the interest groups of the aged. Canada, Britain, and the United States are examined and compared. This book provides a unique, in-depth understanding of how public policies have sparked the creation of organized senior citizen groups, which in turn, through their intensified political clout, have been able to shape subsequent public policy. The book begins with a historical perspective on the state's role in the lives of the aged and the indirect consequences of various policies on the elderly population, including most specifically, age group mobilization. Later, consideration is given to widespread economic, social, and ideological changes in age policy, and the effect that new interest group formation had and continues to have upon these changes. The final chapters are concerned with current issues surrounding the present density of organized age based activity, and the effects of transformed state policy on the future of interest groups for the aged. The unique topic of Gray Agendas will prove interesting not only to those interested in the fields of sociology, history, and political science, but also will help fill the gap of scholarly information on issues concerning the elderly's organizations, proving invaluable to those interested in social gerontology and related areas of study.

Thirteen distinguished anthropologists describe how they create and use the unique forms of writing they produce in the field. They also discuss the fieldnotes of seminal figures—Frank Cushing, Franz Boas, W. H. R. Rivers, Bronislaw Malinowski, and Margaret Mead—and analyze field writings in relation to other types of texts, especially ethnographies. Unique in conception, this volume contributes importantly to current debates on writing, texts, and reflexivity in anthropology.

Prize-winning author Roger Sanjek tells the story of the Gray Panthers, an intergenerational activist group founded in 1970. He depicts struggles against mandatory retirement and Social Security cuts, and for universal health care and peace, by this national movement representing tens of thousands of supporters.

Presents biographical profiles of American women leaders and activists, including birth and death dates, major accomplishments, and historical influence.

Definitions of important gerontological terms. Bibliographic citations, illustrative sentences, synonyms, and data on who initiated the term and where and when it was first used is given with the entries. No pronunciation. Name index.

Pioneers in the field explore the compelling need for intergenerational programming and the profound and positive impact it would have on our society. The focus of this exciting and timely volume is on the mutually beneficial interaction between young and old. In a clear and cohesive manner, professionals who have studied and worked with intergenerational programming over the last three decades address the elements that are integral to the development, implementation, and evaluation of programmed exchanges between generations.