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VOL. 15 NO. 8 OCTOBER 2015
Her Surprising Ties to Washington State
G
loria Steinem is not your typical senior citizen. At 81, she remains active as a writer, lecturer, political activist and feminist organizer.
Although Gloria lives in New York City, she has a surprising connection to Washington State – a long and prolific history with Hedgebrook on Whidbey Island, In 1972, Gloria Steinem famously a unique retreat co-founded Ms. magazine, a publication that is devoted to dedicated to women’s rights. But her visionary women career of activism began long before and writers. started when she graduated from Smith In 1997, College in 1956. Women had few Gloria Steinem at Hedgebrook on Whidbey Island Gloria Steinem's first book in 20 Hedgebrook’s opportunities back then; their career years came to life at Hedgebrook Over the ensuing years, Gloria has sojourned at founder, Nancy Nordhoff, invited choices were limited, they were not Hedgebrook’s Meadow House four more times—she Gloria to stay at the writer’s retreat. Gloria called the allowed to have credit cards without their husband’s has said that it's the only place she is fully able to experience a ‘win-win’ situation, as it connected her permission or even to participate in events like leave behind her life on the road, clear her mind, both with Nancy and with Hedgebrook. running the Boston Marathon. unplug and write. She continues to be connected Gloria revisited Whidbey Island in 2007 at the After college, Gloria worked as a freelance writer. with Hedgebrook, including her work there as coinvitation of Hedgebrook’s Executive Director Amy She first gained national attention in 1963 when Wheeler, who met her at an event in Seattle. Gloria's Chair of the Creative Advisory Council that she she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny at Hugh helped launch. initial response was that she didn't want to take Hefner’s New York Club to write an exposé of how Gloria’s latest book, aptly titled My Life on the time and space away from another writer. But Amy women were treated there—the piece was seen as a Road, came to life during her time at Hedgebrook. reassured her that she would be staying in Meadow feminist manifesto. She later became editor of New Her first book in 20 years, My Life on the Road is House, a 7th cottage reserved just for invited fellows. York magazine, where she focused her attention on Gloria’s personal account of a lifetime spent traveling, And so Gloria returned to Hedgebrook to continue political and social issues. These early experiences organizing and leading the movement for equality for work on the book she’d begun there 10 years earlier influenced her philosophy and a dedication to equal but hadn’t had the time or mind-space to complete. rights that continues to this day. continued on page 2
Elder Friendly Futures …by Elizabeth L. Hunter-Kelly, University of Washington School of Nursing
Ann Hedreen is acutely aware of the importance of words in how humans experience emotion. She’s a filmmaker, teacher, blogger, podcaster Ann Hedreen – and daughter of a loving mother who died from Alzheimer’s disease in 2006. For many years, senility was a euphemism for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, she said. Old people were called batty or forgetful when actually many were living with a debilitating disease. Hedreen was among three keynote speakers at the annual Elder Friendly Futures Conference, co-presented by the University of Washington Schools of Nursing and Social Work last month. The conference is designed to provide community partners, clinicians, caregivers and researchers the most leading-edge information and practice around aging in the United States. Hedreen is not an academic or a clinician but her many professional
abilities afforded her the ability to create art and meaning out of her mother’s illness and help others – clinicians and families – live with the disease. “It is imperative that those working in the field of gerontology – community activists, researchers, clinicians, policy makers – come together and share their expertise so that older adults in our community may experience the best possible quality of life as they age,” said Dr. Barbara Cochrane, co-director of the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging and conference organizer. “A lot of ideas bubble up as a result of this conference – both for presenters and conference attendees. The conference is a catalyst for friendly, supportive aging, and I relish being able to help our community recognize that older adults are a heterogeneous group with multiple visions for the future.” Her Beautiful Brain, a memoir
about Hedreen’s diagnosed with experience coping Alzheimer’s. with her mother’s Hedreen early-onset told conference Alzheimer’s, has attendees that she been nationally noticed during praised for its writing and heartbreaking filmmaking that clarity and poignant words like elder portrayal of a bright can either imply and plucky mother great respect (a who declines into Dr. Andrew E. Scharlach village elder) the disease; the or feebleness film, Quick Brown Fox: An Alzheimer’s (the elderly). She said she liked how Story, also about her mother’s decline the UW’s Elder Friendly Futures and her subsequent caregiving, won Conference was pluralized. numerous awards and was nominated “There are many futures for older for an Emmy. adults, not just one,” she said. “At the beginning, Mom actively fought language-generated stigma,” Aging-Friendly Communities Hedreen told attendees at the UW Aging-friendly communities result Elder Friendly Futures Conference in from a confluence of successful physical September. “She always disliked the and social elements, said keynote term ‘to pass away’ and preferred to say speaker Dr. Andrew E. Scharlach. ‘he died.’ Later in life, at grocery stores, An aging-friendly community she would warn the cashier, ‘you have ensures that citizens are mobile, he to be patient with me. I am living with added. This mobility can be achieved Alzheimer’s disease and some things by installing and maintaining physical take me longer than they used to.” improvements, like railings to grasp and Euphemisms contribute to a a floor area free of barriers. But mobility terrible and long-lasting stigma around can also be achieved by the simple Alzheimer’s and dementia, a stigma so presence of an arm or hand to hold strong that research has found even onto—or even just the watchful eye of doctors don’t always tell their patients a friend, child or caregiver. or patient’s family that they have been ...continued on page 30