Village Elders [Hardcover]

Penny Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2000

In this remarkable photodocumentary, Penny Coleman captures the faces and memories of the senior statesmen and women of the gay and lesbian community: a community that calls Greenwich Village - haven to the unorthodox and site of the famous Stonewall riots - its actual or symbolic home. In vivid detail, "Village Elders" describes what it was like "back then" and how it is today for the gender outlaws whose lives and loves have challenged convention and precipitated one of the most profound social revolutions of the twentieth century. Through Coleman's incisive portraits and interviews, the faces and personalities of these unique individuals spring off the page with all their vitality, humor, desire, and courage intact. The largely uncharted history that emerges in this "family album" bears witness to a social landscape that has changed radically during the lives of these narrators. Growing up in a society that viewed homosexuality as an illness or a perversion, these elders led revolutionary lives, often in spite of themselves. Lacking support groups and community centers, hounded by the threat of arrest, job loss, eviction, and exposure, they fought to establish physical and emotional sanctuaries and to preserve their sense of self (and their sense of humor). Now twice removed from the mainstream, their lives reflect both the complexities of gender and the richness of age. As individuals, these Elders describe a wide range of responses to censure and prejudice. They identify different issues as centrally defining their lives and are diversely affected by the intersections of their sexuality with race, class, culture, and age. Some are now solitary; others have been in committed relationships for decades. Many tell their stories here for the first time. Transgressive, intimate, and moving, "Village Elders" documents a vital and articulate presence, a community of survivors that refuses to be silent and invisible, to be asexual, or to disappear.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"It takes a village to raise a child" is nearly scriptural at this point. But villages need elders as well, a point mostly lost on the gay community. Demographics and the need for social continuity are changing that perception. The importance of elders is not lost on Coleman, an independent photographer, in her aptly named book of photographic portraits paired with short essays capturing the spirit of subjects. The intended pun of her title will not be lost on savvy readers, but there are New Yorkers here from outside Greenwich Village as well as from that neighborhood, long a gay mecca. The 25 profiles represent the ethnic, racial, and economic variety of the community and illustrate the wonderful way in which the human spirit thrives in periods of oppression. Coleman's generous spirit is clear: she gave her subjects carte blanche in choosing their photographs and nearly complete editorial control of the essays. This is a great little book with large content. Highly recommended.DDavid S. Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Photographer-interviewer Coleman documents Greenwich Village's gay and lesbian elders, whose memories attest to the rapidity of change in their subculture. The faces alone seem to tell it all. These are survivors of past discrimination, limited employment options, and necessarily secret lives. Eighty-year-old Jerre, celibate for decades because of her double mastectomy, lives alone but has found new friends through SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment), an organization for older homosexuals. Connie and Phyllis, together for 10 years, maintain separate apartments and spend weekends together. Roy and William shared an apartment for 38 years, then, when William retired from teaching at Rutgers, lived separately for 10 years to avoid suspicion that might affect his benefits. Although now reunited with William, Roy has no claim on William's pension, despite their half-century relationship, and lacks a pension himself. An invaluable contribution to popular gay and lesbian and senior studies alike. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (July 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252025520
• ISBN-13: 978-0252025525
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,907,455 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 The Importance of Capturing Life Stories, September 20, 2000

By 

James D Lomax (Edison, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Village Elders (Hardcover)

Penny Coleman's Village Elders exemplifies the best efforts to capture life stories of individuals in any community. Her subjects were older gay men, lesbians, and transgendered individuals who identify New York City's West Village as their home. For the LGBT community, there are too few written histories about this generation's struggles to gain legal protection and fight ageism. Ms Coleman's preceptive observations about her subjects made all of them 3 dimensional, youthful in their daily lives and real 'sages' of wisdom as they comment about their past and present lives. All communities, especially the LGBT community, needs this type of story and history gathering to capture the essence of its members so that younger generations can learn about aging and the richness of life that each person can live, regardless of age. I recommend this book for anyone interested in understanding how we grow older.