Still Doing It
The intimate Lives of
Women over 60
by
Deirdre Fishel and
Diana Holtzberg
An
inspiring look into the lives of older
women. Based on research and extensive
interviews, Still Doing It
explores the lives of daring, outspoken,
and sensual women of an older generation
who actively embrace new romantic
relationships and sexual experiences.
Here is a beacon for women of all
ages—partnered, single, straight, gay,
black, or white—who look forward to
reinventing themselves, enjoying their
bodies, and taking risks at all stages
in life. As women continue to live
longer, healthier lives, their appetite
for sex is slow to fade. For the women
profiled in this work, sex is not
optional but an essential part of their
wellbeing. Yet, in our culture, sex for
older women is considered taboo. Our
society prefers grandmothers in frumpy
sweaters, knitting on the front porch,
not buying sex toys or going on hot
dates. But the boomers are the
generation who demanded equal rights in
their youth—will they not demand sexual
freedom later in life?
Still Doing
It: The Intimate Lives of Women Over
Sixty
is the first book to send out the battle
cry, take on the myths and
misconceptions, and provide women of all
ages with the tools and the inspiration
to demand nothing but the best for
themselves, whatever the age. It lets
everyone know that sex does not need to
end when you hit sixty (or seventy . . .
or ninety!). In fact, the good stuff is
often just beginning.
Reviews:
"The truth about "older" women is that
we love the stage of life we are in, and
we are actively exploring new frontiers
of experience. That includes sex. Until
now, though, our doctors, our children,
even some of our friends, and certainly
the rest of society couldn’t imagine us
enjoying ourselves in bed. No more.
Thank you, Deirdre Fishel and Diana
Holtzberg for getting the conversation
going and setting an informed, honest,
joyous tone. Younger women may well envy
us.”
--Suzanne
Braun Levine, author of Inventing the
Rest of Our Lives: Women in Second
Adulthood and Fifty is the New Fifty:
Ten Life Lessons from Second Adulthood
About the Authors:
Deirdre fishel
has been writing and directing
documentaries and dramas for 20
years now; almost all centering on
women's lives. Her life's goal is to
create complex, realistic portraits
of women that challenge mainstream
stereotypes and work to improve
women's lives.
Deirdre started her career at WNYC-TV
where she produced a half-hour
program on women community
organizers working to save the South
Bronx. She went on to write and
direct SEPARATE
SKIN, an award-winning drama
that was distributed by Women Make
Movies and a full-length documentary
about working mothers,
THE BEST OF BOTH.
Her dramatic feature film,
RISK, premiered in
competition at the Sundance Film
Festival and had a theatrical, as
well as a wide video and
international release.
She went on to direct the
documentary STILL
DOING IT:The Intimate Lives of Women
Over 65 (2004) which
premiered at SXSW and has been
broadcast in fifteen countries
worldwide.
In 1995, Deirdre started Mind's Eye
Productions dedicated to producing
cutting edge educational films.
DEALING WITH TEEN
DATING ABUSE: Matters Of Choice
received a CINE Golden Eagle.
Last year Mind's Eye produced an
on-line video exploring college
mental health and suicide for the
New York Times Magazine.
She is currently directing a
documentary about her personal
journey having children alone and
the reality that alternative
families are statistically becoming
the norm. Deirdre is also
co-producing “THE
REST I MAKE UP”: Documenting Irene
about visionary, Cuban dramatist
Maria Irene Fornes.
Deirdre attended the American Film
Institute's master's directing
program and Brown University. She is
on the faculty of the New School
University.
She lives in Brooklyn with her
partner and daughters Lucia and
Maeve.
Diana holtzberg
is Vice President of Films Transit
International, a leading worldwide
documentary film sales company with
a catalogue of highly acclaimed
films, many of which have won Grand
Jury and Audience Awards at
preeminent film festivals throughout
the world as well as Emmys, Peabodys,
duPonts, BAFTA’s, and Oscar
nominations. She has been working
for Films Transit since 2001.
Diana also executive produces and
acts as creative consultant on a
select number of films each year.
Examples include:
THE ART OF FAILURE,
THE DICTATOR HUNTER,
END OF THE CENTURY:
THE STORY OF THE RAMONES,
IMAGINARY WITNESS:
Hollywood and the Holocaust,
HELD HOSTAGE IN
COLOMBIA,
PUCKER UP: The Fine Art of Whistling,
LOVING & CHEATING,
and STILL DOING IT:
The Intimate Lives Of Women Over 65.
Diana conducts film workshops
throughout the world and has sat on
panels at the Sundance Film
Festival, SXSW, IDFA, Sunnyside of
the Doc, NYON, Guadalajara, Full
Frame, Hot Docs, Galway Film
Festival, and Encounters in South
Africa. She is on the Documentary
Committee at the Paley Center for
Media.
Diana began her career at SPIN
Magazine and then worked at Inc.
Magazine and Details Magazine before
moving into film. During this time
she produced TV specials for MTV
(while at SPIN) and for Fox Sports
Network (while at DETAILS).
She is the co-author of three widely
read documentary industry articles:
The Current State of the
International Marketplace For
Documentary Films (for the IFP),
Feeling Festive: Strategies for
Taking Your Film on the Festival
Circuit, and Distribution To The Max
(both for International Documentary
Magazine). Diana wrote and edited
numerous articles while a
contributing writer and editor for
the now defunct POWER Magazine, and
is the credited ghostwriter of The
Warrior Diet (Dragondoor, 2002).
She received a Bachelor of Arts from
George Washington University and a
Certificate in Film from New York
University.
Visit
Deirdre and Diana's Website
Read
an Excerpt from the book
