Aging Artfully:Profiles of 12 Visual and Performing Women Artists 85-105 [Paperback]

Amy Gorman (Author), Patricia R. Elmore (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Profiles of 12 women aged 85-105: visual and performing artists actively engaged in the arts. Illustrated with 100+ photos of the lives of the San Francisco Bay Area women. The book challenges stereotypical perceptions and expectations, and documents that old age can be gratifying and filled with creative expression. Included with the book is composer Frances Kandl's "Songs of 7 Women's Lives," based on the interviews by the author.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amy Gorman first became interested in aging as a young speech therapist working at V.A. Hospitals. Later, as a medical social worker she witnessed the devastating effects of dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. She founded Kidshows in 1982, a non-profit that introduces children to the arts, theater, music and dance. During 18 years as Director, many professional performers shared their concerns about continuing to earn a living in their art forms as they aged. The book Aging Artfully is the synthesis of Gorman's experience working with aging and the arts. She lives with her husband in Berkeley, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: PAL Publishing; 1st edition (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978519205
• ISBN-13: 978-0978519209
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Share with youngsters and elders alike, September 20, 2006

By 

Agnes Simpson "Artist representative" (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aging Artfully:Profiles of 12 Visual and Performing Women Artists 85-105 (Paperback)

"Aging Artfully" honors women artists, musicians and dancers living with zest well past their octogenarion years. Each tells her life story, and each story is enhanced with poems and and photos. Meet the painter, rug braider, pianist, dancers, sculptor, Ikebana artist, actor, singers, storytellers. Introduce this book into your family. It is for youngsters and elders alike. A special treat included in the back of the book is Frances Kandl's CD, "7 Songs of Women," a celebration of original compositions written to honor some of the artists.
"Aging Artfully" is a lovely book and a gift from Author Amy Gorman to us all.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to be treasured and to be shared, September 11, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aging Artfully:Profiles of 12 Visual and Performing Women Artists 85-105 (Paperback)

"Aging Artfully: 12 Profiles: Visual & Performing Women Artists Aged 85-105" is Amy Gorman's wonderful celebration of twelve remarkable women and their long-lived artistic creativity. In "Aging Artfully" Gorman selects twelve especially talented and accomplished women of the San Francisco Bay Area and tells their stories interlaced with poems, photos, and enhanced by songs composed and performed in honor of seven of the twelve by Francs Kandl. From Madeline Mason, 104 year old sculptor and doll maker, to 84-year old Rosa Maria Morales Escobar, singer and Folklorico dancer, to Dorothy Takahashi Toy, tap dancer of 89 years, to Mary Beth Washington aka Orunamamu, storyteller and snake handler aged 95 years, to Frances Dunham Catlett, painter aged 98 years, here are amazing portraits of creative women aging artfully. A companion DVD, "Still Kicking," by Greg Young follows the life stories of 6 of the 12 women and also includes Grace's song, written by Frances Kandl for Grace Gildersleeve, 94 year old weaver of rugs. Here is a remarkable collaboration to illustrate the power of involvement in the arts. "Aging Artfully" is such an uplifting experience, it should be shared with persons of many ages and occupations. It is certainly inspiring to meet Lily Hearst, for example, who at age 107 practices piano scales and chords over an hour daily, and performs pieces such as Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu" and Mozart's "Turkish March" just for fun. These are wonderful women, extraordinary women, but they are also women who are used to making the best of their lives and keeping on getting on with it, despite hardships, setbacks, and sorrows. "Aging Artfully" is a book to be treasured and to be shared.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book to Appreciate and Share, December 18, 2007

By 

Story Circle Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aging Artfully:Profiles of 12 Visual and Performing Women Artists 85-105 (Paperback)

"Slow down," one of my children may tell me; sometimes, I even say it to myself.

Forget it!

The great message of this book is "Keep going--full tilt."

Consider Dorothy Toy, 88, with a dance class full of high school girls, or Lily Hearst at the piano practicing her scales before she tackled Chopin, all this before her students arrive. Lily didn't like teaching youngsters--she insisted that they be at least 70. It makes sense, since when Lily taught her students, she was 105 herself. Dorothy and Lily are but two of the inspiring women whose stories enliven the pages of this fascinating book.

Author Amy Gorman, along with her colleague, Frances Kandl, became intrigued with women artists who continued to pursue their art into their later years. Amy was so intrigued, that in 2006 she interviewed twelve of them, all but one 85 or older, who lived in or near Berkeley, California. The interviews and these women became this book, which is itself an inspiration.

The women followed many muses: Lily, music; Dorothy, dance; the well-named Stella Toogood Cope told stories, as did Orunamanu (Mary Beth Washington). There are painters, singers, a doll maker, a rug braider and an Ikebana artist as well. Despite the differences in craft and life story among the women, the author noted many similarities: they accepted the limitations of age without complaint and they "continued to do their art no matter what."

As my own clock ticks along (whose does not?), I find inspiration in each story. These women can serve as models for all of us. It would be a fine book to share with older women's groups, not only to encourage the participants but also to serve as a catalyst for the sharing of their own stories. This book also deserves a place in the larger field of women's history, for while each woman was living her later years in California, their stories spanned three centuries and several continents. Lily began her life in Austria, where with her sister, she pioneered skiing for women--and wore pants to do it! Stella began her storytelling career on the radio in England, while Madeline, the doll maker, was a pioneering African-American nurse in New York. Dancer Rosa Maria traces her family back to the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, and dancer Dorothy, American born with Japanese heritage, spent the Second World War in her parents' homeland. Such diversity, such a wealth of personal creativity. If these women are all in Berkeley, I wonder about the women around me!

A bonus comes with this book. Frances Kandl composed seven songs about the women interviewed here. She performed them as a salute to the women; a compact disc is included with the book.

This is a book to appreciate and share.

by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
www.storycirclebookreviews