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Call Me a Crone
by Heather Stark

Not everyone would celebrate being called a crone, but there are about 200 Seattle women who not only celebrate it, they encourage it. They are a group of postmenopausal women who honed their activist chops with feminism in the ‘70s, built careers and had adventures their mothers could never have had, and who now face old age with candor, enthusiasm and a twinkle in their eyes. And with Crone of Puget Sound.

Despite today’s connotation of an old hag, the word “crone” once referred to elder women who were the leaders, healers and respected wise women within a community. That’s the definition Mary Ann Douglas embraces. Douglas was a college administrator until she retired in 1984, and she maintains her polished, professional look while working with the organization that, she says, “helps women grow older with power, passion and purpose.”

Crone started in 1986 to promote positive aging and to counteract negative images of, and assumptions about, older women. The group produced a video called “Great Dames: Ordinary Old Women Sharing Their Extraordinary Wisdom,” which members use along with a lecture series and public events to educate other women about the inner freedom and creativity they believe can accompany old age.

Kathie Miners, who is at the younger end of the membership range, finds the philosophy of Crone in keeping with the active life she has always led. Still working in the printing industry, Miners spent a life pursuing one adventure after another. At one point she lived in a hut with no power or water in Fiji, and she earned her private pilot’s license, which she still maintains. Crone gives her an extended community in which to stay involved.

“I’ve known a lot of people,” she says, “but with Crone, the women are thinking and active and just so interesting.”

Those interests extend beyond public education. Local groups meet regularly and conversations focus on topics that range from walking and Scrabble to travel and forming a Buddhist group. Potlucks are common, and book discussion groups, writing groups and, of course, the activism group, get together at least once a month. General membership meets only twice a year. The diversity of the groups reflects the diversity of the Crones.

“The average age is about 70,” says Wilma Bishop, a CPA in her 80s who has been a Crone member since 1990, “and the youngest is in her 50s.” Education levels vary, but many of the women have had powerful careers. Religious preference, marital status, sexual orientation, and whether or not its members have children matters little to the group. What does matter is that members want to “come out of the rocking chair and bring back the valued wisdom of the older woman,” says Bishop.

Marjorie Hampton, 72, leads the Crone chorus, is a member of both the Life Writing and Activist groups, and had been a college administrator in Anchorage for ten years when she first heard of Crone. “I was 52 when I moved here and began feeling ageism when job hunting.”

When she went to the Thurston Community College Women’s Center, an advisor asked her if she’d been “croned” yet. “It just hit my heart — it’s just such a hopeful idea that there is such a supportive organization out there for the older woman,” she says.

Douglas echoes that sentiment. “With Crone I felt like I’d come home,” she adds. “It’s a wonderful thing for women to get hold of themselves and relish the age we are in.”

Many women say Crone not only gives them social connections, it also gives them pride in who they are and what they have accomplished in life — and the confidence to continue accomplishing. One of the activities of the Crones is to connect with younger people and let them see that aging isn’t all negative. One group volunteered to meet with first-quarter nursing students at Shoreline Community College to help the students develop communication skills and an appreciation for the older people they’ll be working with professionally. Crone also is starting a program that will provide speakers to educate health care providers about how they really ought to be treating older women.

Crone offers a safe place for its members to be who they are. Hampton said her fear of being overlooked as she aged changed because of her association with Crone. For Douglas, the support of the Crones is huge. “I feel like I can really make an ass of myself with this group and they will still love me.”

For more information about Crone of Puget Sound, contact Cathy Robinson at 39robinson@comcast.net or 206-772-7987.

Heather Stark is a Seattle broadcaster, teacher, freelance writer and CRONE in training.

©2007 Caliope Publishing Company