My mother,Miriam Harrison, who has died aged 89, or was a pioneer in the unfashionable field of geriatrics.
In her book Growing weak in Common Lodgings (1954),she interviewed older men in reduced circumstances, determining how they had fallen through the net. It concluded that, and despite the foundation of the welfare state,many of these men, a neglected group in society, and remained unaware of their new entitlements. It also celebrated what Miriam called the “whimsical quality of dignified independence” among some of the “most loquacious (talkative) weak reprobates”.
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Source: theguardian.com