Nada Skerly
- 1971
Fellowship Title:
- The Aged in the U.S., Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia
Fellowship Year:
- 1971
The Aged In Italy: Mamma and the Spiritual Umbilical Cord
It is known as the land of momism. As the home of Oedipus, the sacrificing mamma and the brooding mother hen. One talks of a cocoon of maternal over protectiveness. Simply said, Italy is “la mamma.” Whether she is 45 or 70, the mother commands Madonna-like adoration. In fact, complains Corriere della Serra, the Milan daily, there is too much mamma. That’s why, it moaned in a classic editorial, Italy scored so poorly in the last Olympics. Mamma tells her son not to practice so hard or he’ll sweat and catch cold; to stay at home and take it easy. And down goes another would-be gold medal winner. In the rural and tradition-bound south, mother and honor vie for first place in men’s hearts, with almost oriental intensity. Children and wife come after. Middle-aged men hail each other at the piazza bar or tavern with “How’s mamma?” (accent on the first “a”). The northern, more westernized and temperamentally cooler son may be less demonstrative. Mother stands about fourth after job, wife and children. But conscience
The “Youth” Doctors
Bucharest, Romania Clarena/Montreux, Switzerland September, 1971 If you can promise man youth, fortune and glory are yours. The world’s rich and famous will flock to you and pay you homage (and many dollars). And the sensation-hungry international press will help you advertise. Preferable prerequisites are a gimmick (a mysterious-looking vial of “rare” liquid will do and a medical degree (for the comforting aura of legitimacy). Also important are a clinic (with impressive, gadget-filled “research” laboratory), and personal allure and credibility. A man who possessed all these in good measure, and was the best known, most fascinating and controversial “youth” doctor, died this month in Burier, Switzerland. Even the selective Time magazine granted him a Milestones mention. It read: Died. Dr. Paul Niehans, 88, the Swiss surgeon who won both reputation and fortune by trying to lead his celebrity patients to the fountain of youth; in Montreux, Switzerland. In 1931 Niehans developed his so-called “cellular therapy,” in which particles of lamb embryos were injected into the patient; he claimed that the treatment would retard the aging
The Aged in Vienna: A Gerontocracy
Vienna is one of the few natural retirement paradises left on earth. Here the aged have both numerical and social dominance in a unique 19th century operetta setting. Call it “Leisure World East” – a “retirement village” spread over an entire city, a fascinating onetime world capital. Now it belongs to the aged. Unequivocally, Vienna has the largest elderly population of any metropolis in the world – fully 36 per cent of its 1.6 million inhabitants are over age 60. You see them everywhere: White and gray-haired heads bobbing through pedestrian traffic, elbowing onto streetcars, at the opera and concerts, in restaurants, snack bars and coffee houses, jamming food shops and stores and on the literally thousands of park benches. Most were born here. Many American retirees, including three former U.S. ambassadors chose to settle here because life is cheaper and pleasant. One has the advantages of a highly cultural, compatible and secure community (no rowdies) and none of the arid, highly organized atmosphere of a Senior Citizen ghetto in the U.S. The history books
The Aged in Sweden: Rich in Goods, Poor in Love
The telephone jangles in the study of the bishop of Stockholm. He answers it with a business-like, “Hello, Bishop Ström here.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” says the caller, in an elderly, disappointed voice, “I have the wrong number.” A second’s hesitation, then the words tumble out in a forlorn plea: “For heaven’s sakes, don’t hang up. I haven’t heard a human voice in two weeks.” Isolation. This is Stockholm. An American journalist walks into N.K., Sweden’s largest department store and sees a row of elderly individuals sitting off in a small balcony area. They stare out at the crowd of shoppers. Silently. Gingerly she approaches one of the spectators, a beautifully dressed but sad-faced woman in her early sixties. The lady not only responds, but spills out a torrent of words. As though the valve has been turned on for the first time in days. “You are from America,” she exclaims with delight. “I know your country well from travels there with my late husband. It’s a wonderful place. Such a kind climate.” “Do you mean
The Aged in Norway Where They Live “Forever”
Stryn, Nordfjord, Norway June, 1971 The two-seater seaplane sways gently over the majestic fjord country of Western Norway. Doughnut-shaped islands of gray granite, with frozen-lake centers contrast with others porcupine-thick with snow-dusted pine trees. Here and there, amidst flat squares of green, thin curls of white smoke signal human habitation. In the wink of a troll, the craft coasts into the town of Forde. By air the trip takes about 50 minutes. (Regular travelers have to rely on an overnight steamer.) It helps to believe in the “little people” in this part of the world. Especially to get places. Legend has it that a troll saw a forlorn Norwegian stranded in Copenhagen on Christmas Eve and whisked him home to his family in an airborne sleigh. “Modern trolls” command seaplanes. That is, are in the service of Ingemar Faenn, editor of the daily Bergens Tidende. Other words the distances are still a problem in this land of mountains, islands and waterways. Norway, if flopped over, would stretch to Morocco. So faith in trolls comes in