The Red Hat Society(TM): Fun and Friendship After Fifty,Used

From AudioFile Starting with the eightdollar purchase of a frivolous red fedora at a thrift shop, the author has spawned a network of women who meet wearing red hats and outrageous purple dresses to celebrate their age and have fun. With over 300 groups meeting locally, traveling together, and now meeting nationally, the main idea is to care for others by promoting laughter, keeping structure to a minimum, and appreciating the marvelous possibilities that women in this age group have. The author's clubby sincerity and her charming story are so infectious that in a short time most listeners will forget about her flat reading style. T.W. AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine Copyright AudioFile, Portland, Maine Product Description The official handbook of The Red Hat Society encourages women over the age of fifty to have fun, support one another, and find kindred spirits while discussing such topics as marriage, children, grandparenting, retirement, careers, friendship, and the physical, mental, and emotional effects of aging. Book available. About the Author Although I was born in the midwest, I have spent most of my life in southern California. Like a lot of others who have grown up here, I worked summers at Disneyland and spent a lot of time at the beach. An active social life was always important to me. After finishing college with an English degree, I married and threw myself fully into the role of wife and mother, involving myself in Cub Scouts, church work, the kids' school activities, volunteer work and everything I could find that offered lively social interaction. Developing and maintaining connections between and among people and being right in the middle of whatever is going on has always had an appeal for me. After my younger child entered school I returned to college to study art, another longtime interest for which I had had little time for earlier in life. I was eventually able to develop a parttime career as a freelance illustrator, which I found both fulfilling and challenging, and eventually I formed a fulltime muralpainting business with two artist friends. Around the time that my children were leaving home and marrying, I found myself giving identical gifts of red hats and copies of the poem called 'Warning' to several friends, suggesting that we start wearing red hats and purple clothes and finding ways of making our lives more fun and stimulating as we entered a new phase of life. Before long, I found myself the accidental 'Exalted Queen Mother' of the phenomenon referred to as the Red Hat Society. The rapid growth of this group has completely changed my life in many ways. But I find it wonderful that I am now able to spend most of my time enjoying people both old friends and new and doing the two other things that I enjoy most, making art and writing. As the Red Hat Society continues to grow, freely and spontaneously, I consider it an immense pleasure to be part of it and I wait, with anticipation, to see what it will become. Favorite authors: When I was growing up I loved to read Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Albert Payson Terhune series, beginning with Lad, a Dog, and Margeurite Henry's horse books, the first of which was My Friend, Flicka. Of course, like most girls in my age group, I soaked up all of the bluecovered Nancy Drew mysteries. Contemporary Favorites: Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry; Never Change, by Elizabeth Berg, Winston Graham's Poldark series and anything by Anne Tyler or Anna Quindlan. For pure belly laughs Erma Bombeck and Dave Barry.