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Maggie kuhn quotes

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No Stone Unturned: The Life and Times of Maggie Kuhn

February 4, 2021
Loved this book! After Maggie Kuhn was ordered to retire, she realized this was not only her issue (she wanted to keep working), but also for many others. She was given a sewing machine (that she never used) and told that they meant to be kind. Her brother wanted her to take care of him. Instead, she got help for her brother and help for many others when she started the Gray Panthers...an organization that fights ageism (one "ism" we will all get if we live long enough).

Born in 1905, she was ahead of her time in many ways, as this excerpt shows:
"I had always found attracting men easy, almost effortless. I enjoyed male companionship immensely and felt free to enjoy sex. But I had an independent streak. I didn't need a man in my life all the time. I enjoyed a good love affair, but when it was over I was never devastated by the breakup. Salacious as it may sound, I always thought - on to the next!"

When she was in her 70s, that included a relationship with a man in his 20s...50 years her junior. "Why is it that
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"A healthy community is one in which the elderly protect, care for, love and assist the younger ones to provide continuity and hope." ~Maggie Kuhn

At age 65, when many people prepare for quiet years, Maggie Kuhn embarked on the greatest adventure and most important work of her life.

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In 1970, forced to retire from her career with the Presbyterian Church at age 65, Kuhn and a group of her friends in similar circumstances organized and founded an organization which became the Gray Panthers . The organization was created to work on issues of concern to the elderly, such as pension rights and age discrimination, but also to concern itself with larger public issues, such as the Vietnam War and other social concerns. At the core of the Gray Panthers’ message was that older people needed to seize control of their lives and be in the active world working for issues in which they believed.

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Kuhn’s candor, charisma and lively approach to the needs and problems of the old drew major media attention, and the group was successfully launched, coming to repre

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Maggie Kuhn

American activist (1905–1995)

Margaret Eliza "Maggie" Kuhn (August 3, 1905 – April 22, 1995)[1] was an American activist known for founding the Gray Panthers movement, after she was forced to retire from her job at the then-mandatory retirement age of 65. The Gray Panthers became known for advocating nursing homereform and fighting ageism, claiming that "old people and women constitute America's biggest untapped and undervalued human energy source." She dedicated her life to fighting for human rights, social and economic justice, global peace, integration, and an understanding of mental health issues. For decades, she combined her activism with caring for her disabled mother and a brother who suffered from mental illness.[2][3] Embracing her age and activism, she referred to herself as a "wrinkled radical."[4] By the mid-1970s, Kuhn had achieved national celebrity status, speaking at over 200 engagements a year and appearing on shows like 'The Phil Donahue Show,' 'Today,' and 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson. In

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