For the New York Times Week in Review, I created this illustration as a response to the following summary:

“In many ways Ringo turning 70 and celebrating by playing radio city is exactly the kind of counterpoint that gerontologists like Robert Butler, who died this week, dreamed of when they first talked about “ageism” forty years ago. It shows the world that elderly people can be creative, vibrant, active. At the same time, the pressure is increased, which Butler also talked about: to “successfully age,” we think we have to be active. The stories we hear are at two poles, it’s either early onset Alzheimers or the skydiving 92 year old. The pressure is particularly acute in the 70s, which is now thought of as the time just after you retire. In fact, life expectancy is still in the 70s.”

And a closer look …