Life in the Later Lane
A face of medical care in the Mission, Kattia Balestier has been on the front lines for nearly 40 years
Contact her at naomimarcus@sfseniorbeat.com The patient stormed out of the doctor’s office and headed straight for the...
Early computer nerd – now a regular at future-focused public space with bar – slowly realized he “was in the middle of something big”
Contact her at myrakrieger@sfseniorbeat.com When Theo Armour was a young boy, he played a lot, but not with...
Out of the classroom and onto the airplane. Peter Mundy takes his middle-school students around the world.
Peter Mundy wants nothing more than to educate, motivate, and mentor his young students -- and to...
A life of resilience: Escaping Soviet antisemitism, Tatyana Yasnovsky built a life in San Francisco as she practiced psychiatry
For Tatyana Yasnovsky, a retired psychiatrist and émigré from the former Soviet Union, her arrival in America...
Things of heaven and earth – but mostly earth – have captivated neuropsychologist who once pondered the priesthood
When he retired in 2009, Charles Vella began volunteering at the California Academy of Sciences. He became...
With more than 28,000 movies and TV shows on hand, Colin Hutton’s Video Wave store has survived the onslaught of Netflix and Amazon Prime
It was a rainy winter afternoon, and it wasn’t until Video Wave, the last standalone movie rental...
Sixty years later, a writer returns to her childhood home in Mexico and savors the sights, smells and flavors of a changed San Miguel de Allende
Have you ever wondered about retiring to Mexico? Not me, no expat life for me. But I...
‘Wild writing’ softens clinical healthcare leader’s shift to solo career and enriches retirement
Kathryn Santana Goldman showed an affinity for science as early as grammar school when she captured and...
Host of group that supports women forge new life after retirement fitting out her Dodge van to recapture the joys of childhood camping
It’s 11 o’clock on a Saturday morning and Janice Wallace is on Zoom hosting the Bay Area...
Retirement sends Vonn Scott Bair full speed into long days as actor, playwright and game developer
"Do what you want, and you will never work a day in your life." That old adage,...
All Posts
Sock hop celebrates first in-person event for LBFE since Covid amid director’s City Hall win to keep the seniors program going
Poodle skirts, Elvis tunes, and peppermint candy all combined to create a modern-day version of a ‘50s sock hop. But it wasn’t an event for teenagers. Dozens of seniors strutted their stuff on the dance floor, played bingo, and snacked on sweets. The sock hop was the first in-person event Little Brothers – Friends of ...
For teacher and author whose parents fled both Nazis and Russians during WWII, history is in his blood
An anxious call from Henry Michalski’s mother, Felicia, beckoned him into a world of writing, publishing, book tours and promotion – things he knew little about. “She wanted me to write her story and speak to not only the witnesses of the Holocaust but all who came after,” he said. “Apart from my two brothers, ...
Photography instructor says it’s easy – and a way for retirees to get to know their community, meet new people
Jeff Weston, who has been teaching photography part-time at City College of San Francisco since 1988, said people can learn photography easily by watching a video on YouTube. But that, he said can be lonely. Especially for seniors. As for what to photograph, he suggested just walking around the neighborhood. “We all like to think ...
Care, confidence and connections shot portrait photographer to heights of San Francisco and Hollywood social worlds
Russ Fischella was struck by the cover of a Life magazine in the fall of 1970 that featured Martha Mitchell, the flamboyant socialite and wife of then-Attorney General John Mitchell. The glamorized photo transformed the conventionally pretty, middle-aged woman into a beauty, he recalled. At the age of 20 and with only a few photography ...
Aqua aerobics instructor gathers devoted congregation with Motown and gospel music, party mood and empathy for the water timid
There are almost 80 bodies joyfully bobbing and weaving, swaying and swinging –ºmaking waves in the shallow lanes at the Martin Luther King Jr. pool on Carroll Street in the Bayview. Soul music pulses out from a large speaker on the pool deck. Like a queen in her water court, right at the heart of ...
Running devotee expands friendships and perspectives joining groups for the physically disabled and those in addiction recovery
It’s 5:45 on a cool, damp Friday morning in the Tenderloin and Joe Kaniewski is about to take seven Tenderloin residents on a two-mile jog through the ‘hood. After brief warmup exercises and a sharing circle punctuated with a team cheer, the runners head over to Market Street. Less ambitious members of the group walk ...
