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LONDON, England /
The Times / Life & Style / Women / The Way We Live / October 10, 2009
It’s officially the halfway point, but is 40 really the beginning of the end?
Fiona Neill charts the death of middle age
(Simon Jessop)
This summer I headed with my husband and our three children to Suffolk to spend a weekend under canvas at the Latitude music festival. Nick Cave (then 51) was one of the headline acts, and our eight-year-old daughter in particular was very excited at the prospect of seeing him live. On Saturday night, Grace Jones (age 61) made an appearance. We camped in the family field with friends (in their forties) who knew how to do things such as put up tents in the dark and remember to bring matches.
We weren’t a novelty. Most UK festivals now have family fields and activities targeted at children. Latitude has been described as an event for Radio 4 listeners. And although it might make its organisers and participants wince, the truth is that, like its big brother, Glastonbury, and older cousin, the Big Chill, Latitude is a festival where midlifers feel at home with their young children, often because the main acts can be even older. (The average age of lead singers on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury this year was 44.)
Middle age, that nebulous period defined by academics as the years between young adulthood and old age (anything between 35 and 65) has evolved beyond recognition over the previous half-century, not least because increased life expectancy has stretched its boundaries so it has become the longest transitional period in our life cycle. [
rc]
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Copyright 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd.
Seniors World Chronicle adds
Fiona Neill, who wrote this feature, is a best selling author and a well-known journalist on some of Britain’s biggest titles, according to
Woman & Home. Fiona has a natural way with words and her debut novel,
The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy became an instant bestseller after its release in 2007.
Her second novel, Friends, Lovers and Indiscretions (Century, £12.99), is released this month.
It’s officially the halfway point, but is 40 really the beginning of the end?
Fiona Neill charts the death of middle age
(Simon Jessop)
This summer I headed with my husband and our three children to Suffolk to spend a weekend under canvas at the Latitude music festival. Nick Cave (then 51) was one of the headline acts, and our eight-year-old daughter in particular was very excited at the prospect of seeing him live. On Saturday night, Grace Jones (age 61) made an appearance. We camped in the family field with friends (in their forties) who knew how to do things such as put up tents in the dark and remember to bring matches.
We weren’t a novelty. Most UK festivals now have family fields and activities targeted at children. Latitude has been described as an event for Radio 4 listeners. And although it might make its organisers and participants wince, the truth is that, like its big brother, Glastonbury, and older cousin, the Big Chill, Latitude is a festival where midlifers feel at home with their young children, often because the main acts can be even older. (The average age of lead singers on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury this year was 44.)
Middle age, that nebulous period defined by academics as the years between young adulthood and old age (anything between 35 and 65) has evolved beyond recognition over the previous half-century, not least because increased life expectancy has stretched its boundaries so it has become the longest transitional period in our life cycle. [rc]
Click here to continue
Copyright 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd.
Seniors World Chronicle adds
Fiona Neill, who wrote this feature, is a best selling author and a well-known journalist on some of Britain’s biggest titles, according to Woman & Home. Fiona has a natural way with words and her debut novel, The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy became an instant bestseller after its release in 2007.
Her second novel, Friends, Lovers and Indiscretions (Century, £12.99), is released this month.
