Ithaca College

This Chair Rocks: How Ageism Warps Our View of Long Life 
with Ashton Applewhite, author and pro-aging activist  

Monday, October 23, 2017 
7:00 p.m. 
Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall 
Ithaca College 

A talk + conversation about why the more you know about old age the better it looks—and why so few people know it.

We may think we know what lies ahead: a grim slide into depression, dementia, and dependence. But that’s just the party line, and author and activist Ashton Applewhite debunks it in spades. It turns out that:

•             the vast majority of Americans over 65 enjoy independent lives;

•             older people enjoy better mental health than the young or middle-aged; and

•             people are happiest at the beginnings and the ends of their lives.

Who knew, right? Part monologue, part consciousness-raiser, This Chair Rocks traces Ashton’s journey from apprehensive boomer to pro-aging activist. The talk dispels myth after myth about late life, exposes the ageism that underlies all the hand-wringing, and proposes an alternative to worrying about getting old: wake up to the ageist messages that frame two thirds of our lives as decline, cheer up, and push back. It’s time to work together to make age discrimination as unacceptable as any other prejudice. The talk is as funny as it is fierce, and it will change the way you envision the rest of your life.

Author and activist Ashton Applewhite is the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism. In 2016, she joined PBS site Next Avenue’s annual list of 50 Influencers in Aging as their Influencer of the Year.  Ashton has been recognized by the New York Times, National Public Radio, and the American Society on Aging as an expert on ageism. She blogs at This Chair Rocks, has written for Harper’s, Playboy, and the New York Times, and is the voice of Yo, Is This Ageist? Ashton speaks widely, at venues that have ranged from universities and community centers to the TED mainstage and the United Nations. Ashton is a leading spokesperson for a movement to mobilize against discrimination on the basis of age. 

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Teri Reinemann at treinemann@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-1607. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.