Inspired by the Jenny Joseph poem that begins: When I am an old woman I shall wear purple/With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me, Sue Ellen Cooper bought herself a red hat. Soon it became her signature gift for friends turning 50. In 2000, Cooper and her friends formed The Red Hat Society, whose only rule is no rules—it's simply a play group encouraging women over 50 to have fun, support each other, and find kindred spirits. The Red Hat Society is their official book, covering marriage, children, grandparenting, careers, retirement, physical, mental and spiritual aging, friendship, mothers, daughters, sisterhood in hard times, clothes, rituals, the genesis of The Red Hat Society, and of course, information on how readers can start their own chapters.