Changing Times, Changing Lives: Recollections from twelve of the lucky generation

Changing Times, Changing Lives: Recollections from Twelve of the Lucky Generation is a memoir collection written during Covid -19 restrictions, by members of a vertical retirement village in Carlton, Victoria. Conceived over a period of three years, with the support of Bill Gammage and Lucas Jordan, the project gained momentum during lockdowns when it became evident that sharing stories was an effective way to remain productive, but also to allay some community misconceptions about older Australians.

Each contributor to the anthology was born between 1929 and 1945 (from the so-called “Silent Generation”),and enjoyed a fruitful career working across diverse sectors including academia, scientific and medical research, education, primary care, politics, teaching, and private enterprise. Their stories reveal how Australian and geopolitical events shaped not only their lives and experiences but also those of the more fortunate among their generation. While the depression and World War II negatively affected their generation, post-war full-time employment and educational opportunities, including scholarships in the 1950s and 1960s, allowed greater access to tertiary education for women as well as for men. In her foreword to the book, the eminent historian Professor Marilyn Lake noted that the stories told in Changing Times, Changing Lives should dispel the predominantly negative images of older Australians so often perpetuated in the media, but rather should inspire curiosity and wonder at productive lives well lived.