On Women Turning 60: Embracing the Age of Fulfillment

Rountree (On Women Turning 50) continues her interesting series by interviewing 20 articulate and inspiring women aged 60 and over. While several of them have high profiles (Rose Styron, Mary Travers), others are lesser known. The author has focused on diversity, including women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, such as Elayne Jones, an African American tympanist for the San Francisco Opera, and Nellie Wong, a Chinese American poet. Rountree allows her subjects to reflect, in their own words, on how they are dealing with aging and the satisfactions they have experienced in love and work. British novelist Fay Weldon provides a lighthearted but thoughtful look at the pleasures of loving a younger man--""There is no contradiction between being mature and romantic""--and Argentinean dancer Luly Santangelo discusses her long career. Although the women interviewed lead very different lives, they have in common a strong desire to live fully. As actress Maureen Stapleton puts it, ""I think you oughta hang in for as long as you can."" Photos. (Oct.)