Getting a Life — Michael Simmons

With around 16 per cent of the current UK population now over sixty years of age, it is vital to have a voice. Here, a cross-section of older people, including Denis Healey, Barbara Castle, Claire Rayner and Peter Preston discuss what it means to grow old in computer-age Britain. From their own experience they address issues such as making ends meet, maintaining that precious independence, coping with widowhood, with sex, with sociability and how to get away from it all or start again. Each contributor is over sixty and far from the sweet old thing asking for a seat on the bus, in many cases they are demanding a turn in the driving seat and for all to sit up and take notice of what they have to say. Ignore them at your peril!