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Title details for The Third Chapter by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot - Available

The Third Chapter

Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50

by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
Laural Merlington
Audiobook
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In the twenty-first century, a developmental phase of life is emerging as significant and distinct, capturing our interest, engaging our curiosity, and expanding our understanding of human potential and development. Demographers talk about this new chapter in life as characterized by people—those between ages fifty and seventy-five—who are considered "neither young nor old." In our "third chapters" we are beginning to redefine our views about the casualties and opportunities of aging; we are challenging cultural definitions of strength, maturity, power, and sexiness.


This is a chapter in life when the traditional norms, rules, and rituals of our careers seem less encompassing and restrictive; when many women and men seem to be embracing new challenges and searching for greater meaning in life.


In The Third Chapter, Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot offers a strong counterpoint to the murky ambivalence that shrouds our clear view of people in their third chapters. She challenges the still-prevailing and anachronistic images of aging by documenting and revealing the ways in which the years between fifty and seventy-five may, in fact, be the most transformative and generative time in our lives—tracing the ways in which wisdom, experience, and new learning inspire individual growth and cultural transformation. The women and men whose voices fill the pages of The Third Chapter tell passionate and poignant stories of risk and vulnerability, failure and resilience, challenge and mastery, experimentation and improvisation, and insight and new learning.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 9, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400191369
      • File size: 231650 KB
      • Duration: 08:02:36

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 20, 2008
      New opportunities for creativity and self-fulfillment await men and women between the ages of 50 and 75. Sociologist Lawrence-Lightfoot (Balm in Gilead
      ) coins the term “Third Chapter” to describe the rich possibilities as illustrated in her extended interviews with 40 well-educated, affluent Americans. Founding her thesis on classic formulations of life-stage development, particularly that of Erik Erikson, the author offers a wide range of models for people who feel burned out, restless or dissatisfied with their lives, describing how each of her subjects became “a different person.” A newspaper executive retires and devotes himself to fiction writing and playing jazz piano; a law firm partner leaves work behind and develops small urban gardens; in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack, an artist organizes interfaith quilting groups; a neurobiologist moves from the laboratory to the public arena, to work with HIV/AIDS patients in East Africa. Readers feeling that something is missing from their lives, that there is something more they can contribute, will find this book a helpful guide.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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