Patricia Edgar: In Praise of Ageing

Retirement is not the time to cut all ties and head off to live in a warm climate but rather to ask: Who do I want to be near? How will my relationships be reaffirmed? What do I care about? What can I create and contribute to the world?

A girl born today is likely to live to more than 100, with boys not far behind. Yet rather than focusing on the productive, rich, varied lives older people lead, we dwell on the burden of ageing.

In her new book (and today’s Lunchbox/Soapbox) Patricia Edgar – sociologist, educator, writer, producer and policy analyst – challenges our preconceptions about ageing, arguing that 50 is now the start of the second half of life … not the beginning of the end.

Lunchbox/Soapbox

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a good rant. Every Thursday, the Wheeler Centre hosts an old-fashioned Speakers’ Corner in the middle of the city, where writers and thinkers can have their say on the topics that won’t let them sleep at night.

Featuring some of our most compelling voices across just about every sector of human endeavour you can imagine, the themes dominating Lunchbox/Soapbox are proudly idiosyncratic. BYO lunch. Ideas provided.