Pierre Trudeau and Margaret SinclairBill Clinton and Monica Lewinski
Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow
André Previn and Anna-Sophie Mutter
Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn
J.D. Salinger and Joyce Maynard
What do these couples have in common? In each case the man was least 25 years older than the woman.
The Trudeau-Sinclair pairing probably turned out better than most relationships between men and women young enough to be their daughters. At least Maggie and Pierre had three children together, and remained on relatively good terms until his death although they separated after six years. But the others....
The line of thought arises because a friend to whom I hadn't spoken to for a while told me yesterday that her lover/boy friend has dropped her for one of his students. He's 55, the girl's 23, and when my friend protested that what he was doing was unfair for all sorts of reasons, he said: "But think of me. I may never get a chance like this again."
And as for the girl involved: I've never understood the appeal of much older men. When it comes to men my own age, I've noticed that nobody born much before World War II got the message that women are just as smart as men are. When it comes to younger men like the afore-mentioned cad, he may think she's smart, but it's not her mind he's after.
Photo: Pierre and Margaret just after their marriage on March 4, 1971 in Vancouver. Pierre Caplan for The Globe and Mail.
1 comment:
I love the line when he said that "But think of me. I may never get a chance like this again." Because it is really true that he may miss the chance of having this opportunity. Very interesting May-December relationship.
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