Catalyst of Feminist Revolution

The reaction to Friedan's book was swift and unforgiving. Calling the feminist foremother "hopelessly confused about whose side she's on," theorist Ellen Willis wrote that Friedan "would destroy feminism in order to save it, and beat the Moral Majority by joining it." Journalist Susan Faludi, writing in her 1991 book "Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women," said Friedan was "yanking out the stitches in her own handiwork."

Amid this controversy, Friedan began to turn her focus to other issues. She received a call from the head of the National Institute on Aging, asking her to become an advocate for older Americans. She at first fought the idea, "locked in denial" about the fact that she was approaching 60 and hating it. What changed her mind was remembering conversations she'd had with older women while researching "The Feminine Mystique." The healthiest and most vital women she interviewed had been older women -- in their 50s and 60s -- who had careers.

She plunged into several years of research, producing in 1993 "The Fountain of Age," a book in which she again challenged the prevailing stereotypes, arguing that an active, engaged life was the secret to a rewarding old age. The book earned mixed reviews, with some critics faulting her for presenting an overly optimistic view of the stage of life Friedan herself was experiencing.

In her last years, Friedan split her time between homes in Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Washington, D.C., spending more time with her children -- Daniel, of Princeton, N.J., a theoretical physicist at Rutgers University; Jonathan, an engineer in Philadelphia; and Emily, a pediatrician in Buffalo, N.Y. She is also survived by nine grandchildren; a sister, Amy Adams of New York City; and a brother, Harry Goldstein of Palm Springs.

Friedan never remarried nor shied from including men in her view of the perfect social equation.

"I thought once," she said, "about what should be put on my gravestone: 'She helped make women feel better about being women and therefore better able to freely and fully love men.' "

Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York City.