I read something recently about a Red Hat club or organization for older women. What's it about? -- Paula
You must be thinking about the Red Hat Society, an international organization for women approaching age 50 and beyond that helps "their pursuit of fun, friendship, freedom and fulfillment."
Formed in 1998 by Sue Ellen Cooper and a group of friends, it's based on Warning, a curmudgeonly look at aging by British poet Jenny Joseph in which she advocates dressing and acting in ways that might appear outrageous to more demure members of society.
According to the organization's web site, there are 30,000 chapters in all the states and more than 25 foreign countries, with a combined membership of more than half a million.
Here are a few lines from the beginning of the poem and the end:
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter....
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
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Sue Ellen Cooper/Damion Lloyd
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