Second Acts
by Joel Savishinsky
 Last
November Joel Savishinsky, professor of anthropology and Charles
A. Dana Professor in the Social Sciences, traveled to Chicago
to accept the 2001 Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award
for his latest book, Breaking the Watch: The Meanings of
Retirement in America (Cornell University Press, 2000).
Given by the Gerontological Society of America, the Kalish award
recognizes insightful and innovative publications on aging and
life course development. On hearing that Savishinsky had won
the award, his colleague Michael Malpass, anthropology, reacted
by quoting George Costanza of Seinfeld: "This is huge!"
 The
writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that there are no second
acts in American lives. But perhaps my students and I have proved
him wrong. Back in 1983, a group of us began a research project
to examine what life was like for elderly institutionalized people.
For six years, we studied life quality in a geriatric facility
here in central New York, and in 1991 we published our findings
in The Ends of Time: Life and Work in a Nursing Home (Greenwood
Publishers). That book won the Kalish award in 1992.
Though this project, and the prize, were very fulfilling, a new
crop of students kept reminding me that frail elders constitute
only a small percentage of America's older population. Most people
over 65 don't live in nursing homes; instead, they lead fairly
independent lives in their communities. Realizing that the gateway
to later life is usually marked by retirement from full-time work,
my Aging and Culture students and I identified a group of 26 older
men and women from Shelby, New York, who were about to leave their
jobs and careers. We then followed them as they approached, entered,
and lived through the first five years of retired life. With support
from the School of Humanities and Sciences, the Gerontology Institute,
and the National Endowment for the Humanities, we used the classic
anthropological approach of becoming participant observers. We
went to their retirement parties, rode with them in their RVs,
interviewed their families and friends, and accompanied them when
they gardened, painted, volunteered, took part-time jobs, and
cared for ailing relatives.
Six years of intensive work revealed how varied their retirements
were --- the banker who became a Buddhist, the sociologist turned
firefighter, the farmer's daughter who now taught tai chi, the
musician who transformed herself into a political activist, and
the retired Marine captain who took command of the local school
board. As one of my students said, "If you listen long enough,
everyone's life becomes interesting."
These life stories, along with the others we documented, became
the central elements of my recent book, Breaking the Watch. This
volume describes how people strive to create a sense of passion,
purpose, community, and security in a stage of life that American
culture often disparages. And it argues that sometimes, in retirement,
not only people's watches get broken but also their dreams, when
finances or illness limit their lives. Last fall the Gerontological
Society again conferred the Kalish award on our efforts. Pace
F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was the first time an author had won the
prize twice, but it was not the first time an Ithaca College faculty
member had benefited from collaborating with undergraduates on
a project the students themselves helped define. Like the retirees
who had helped us, we had redirected our lives in the process
of living them.
Photo of Joel Savishinsky by Kathy Morris |
