Silver Threads: Critical Reflections on Growing Old

In the last half-century, people over sixty-five have become labelled as "seniors" and set apart from the rest of society. Aging has become defined-for the first time in human history-as a problem.
In this incisive, personal account, Doris Marshall argues against isolation and passivity in the face of aging. During her years growing up on a prairie farm, raising her own family, and working as an organizer in church and community programs for old people, Marshall experienced a steadily growing sense of unease about the way Canadian society treats old people. In "Silver Threads," she argues against giving in to the notion that old people are passive victims who just need to be helped.