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By Joyce Tenneson
AARP
Portraiture
is a tricky business. A carefully staged photograph can
sometimes obscure the inner life of an individual. But each of us
has an interior face, and a good picture will reveal the real
person, despite a subject's best efforts to hide. I've always found
it amusing that our society conceals the human body under clothing,
yet we leave our faces—the part of the body that has the potential
to reveal everything—naked. It is there that we can witness the
history and depth of a life. In photographing these women, I wanted
to understand what it feels like to be an elder now. And as I
worked, I realized I was indeed getting a glimpse into the secret
centers of their being. Quite simply, they have come to terms with
their natural gifts—they are no longer interested in hiding behind
a mask. It's pure freedom. You can almost touch the incandescent
power that comes from letting go of others' expectations—not to
mention society's conventional definitions of female attractiveness.
Many of them shared more with me than their time. We talked about
our families, our longings, and the voyages we had taken toward our
deeper selves, toward acceptance, love, and compassion for the
frailties of others. Each new encounter left me exhilarated by what
I had learned, and with an urgent desire to share their stories.
These women defy the notion that later life is a time of falling
apart and closing down—rather, they prove it's a golden age, ripe
with energy, wisdom, and deep beauty.
Adapted from Wise Women, published by Bulfinch Press.
Copyright © 2002 by Joyce Tenneson
 Kitty
Carlisle Hart, 92
She was
window dressing to Marx Brothers mayhem in A Night at the Opera,
and raised two children with playwright-director Moss Hart. Beyond
that, her resumé is all her own: major movie roles over seven
decades; 15 years on TV's To Tell the Truth; 20 years as
chair of the New York State Council on the Arts. Now she tours
singing Kern, Gershwin, and Porter—old songs by old friends.
'There's
no fear anymore. When I step on the stage for the concerts I'm doing
now, the fear I used to feel in front of an audience just vanishes
 Trisha Brown, 65
What kind
of woman becomes the first female choreographer to win the MacArthur
Foundation's "genius" award? Ask her dancers, who have
cavorted on Manhattan rooftops, floated on rafts, and even performed
on walls, wearing harnesses. Creativity runs in the family. Her
husband, Burt Barr (with whom she has a son), is an experimental
filmmaker.
'I've
felt like an apprentice all my life, both as a dancer and
choreographer. Now, it's different. I've discovered a new sense of
freedom.'
 Gloria Steinem, 68
The
founder of Ms. magazine has always been singular—and
singularly unafraid of what others might say. She wrote about
reproductive freedom early on and about spirituality when it was far
from fashionable. The big shock came two years ago when she got
married for the first time, to entrepreneur David Bale.
'Many of
us are living out the unlived lives of our mothers, because they
were not able to become the unique people they were born to be.'
 Jane Goodall, 68
Many of
the old boys scoffed at the 26-year-old. But anthropologist Louis
Leakey championed his young secretary's desire to study chimpanzees
in the wild. Living among them for 40 years, Goodall discovered that
chimps actually create tools. Now she preaches preservation of
animal habitats. Twice married, she raised her son, Hugo, also known
as Grub, in the jungles of her adopted Tanzanian home.
'Without
hope, all we can do is eat and drink the last of our resources as we
watch our planet slowly die. Let us have faith in ourselves, in our
intellect, in our staunch spirit.'
 Marian Seldes, 74
After
scores of diverse roles, she may well be the hardest-working woman
in show biz. She's all over movies and TV (even the soaps), but her
passion is the stage: Edward Albee can't open without her; she's
been nominated for four Tonys (winning one); and her 1,000-show run
in Deathtrap earned a Guinness Book listing. Twice
married (once to playwright Garson Kanin), she has a daughter,
Katharine.
'You have
to start each day again—you can't repeat what you did.'
 Angela Lansbury, 77
She's
made a career of shedding skins: evilly seductive as the teenage
maid in Gaslight, lighter than air in the musical Mame,
endearingly persistent in Murder, She Wrote, and beyond
creepy as the cannibalistic baker in Broadway's Sweeney Todd.
She's devoted to her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw, and their two
children. To the rest of us, she remains the classiest of chamelions.
'The greatest success stories are those who defied the tendency to
just run with the crowd.
'The
greatest success stories are those who defied the tendency to just
run with the crowd.'
 Coretta Scott King,
75
She was
classically trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and
performed with Paul Robeson—but the music that sprang most
memorably from her heart was "We Shall Overcome," sung as
she linked arms with her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. When an
assassin's bullet tore them apart, she was left alone to raise their
four children. She remains a tireless keeper of King's flame, an
unflagging campaigner for social change, and an enduring echo of
Freedom's Song.
'I'm fulfilled in what I do. I never thought that money
or fine clothes would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to
be filled in a spiritual sense.'
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