Special Project: City Budget Cuts
Seniors and people with disabilities fight down to the wire to save programs that serve them
As Yogi Berra once said, "it ain't over till it's over." The baseball legend was referring to sports, of course, but the adage...
Life in the Later Lane
Following in the footsteps of heroes: My visit to the cradles of Civil Rights
SF SENIORBEAT COLUMN – March 17, 1886. A date you probably never considered. Carroll County, Mississippi. A...
Nonprofit director is happy to bug you, whether you’re 2 or 92, about saving the wild
If you grow up in Los Angeles, where do you find the wild? Norm Gershenz is not...
Bass playing lawyer takes on the landlords when seniors call for help
During the day, you’ll find Thomas Drohan in court or at his law office on Mission Street....
Former SFSU teacher shifts to helping union workers build leadership abilities
Like some people need coffee, Joan Wong needs to walk – and talk. Mornings, she puts in...
Joe Edley, a three-time national champion, has been racking up great Scrabble scores for decades
Joe Edley tucks his co-authored book, “Everything Scrabble,” under his arm and surveys the room. Around him,...
Robert Wachter, the doctor who is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence to treat patients
Robert Wachter is the doctor who oversees all the other doctors at the University of California, San...
Couple beat ‘fast furniture,’ pandemic and other challenges to keep upholstery shop going for nearly 50 years
J & G Upholstery stretches back farther than it looks from the sidewalk on Balboa Street. Stacks...
As the city’s older population swells, seniors who can no longer live at home face high costs, limited choices
EDITOR'S NOTE: See full profiles of the seniors interviewed by clicking links within the story. A panoply...
Stephanie Ernst-Scott runs the last tackle shop in San Francisco. It’s been in her family for 60 years.
Walk through the doors of Gus’ Discount Fishing Tackle, and you’ll likely be greeted before you even...
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Gigs at worldwide festivals support entertainer’s humanitarian work: ‘Clowns without Borders’ and the ‘Medical Clown Project’
Nurses smile and wave as a slim man in an oversized coat strides briskly past them. His wiry hair sticks out, Bozo-like from under his floppy hat, a ukulele is slung over his shoulder and he’s brandishing a gigantic paper sunflower. His nose is bright red and shiny over his KN95 mask. Popping into an ...
SENIORS TALK : Even if they avoided Covid, there is an emotional toll and worries about others
Although the worst of the pandemic has apparently passed, Covid remains an important concern for seniors. SeniorBeat went to the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center in the Bayview district and asked seniors how Covid has affected their lives, the lives of people close to them, and what they are doing to stay safe. (Photos ...
Ikebana expert explains that a flower is not always just a flower, a stem not just a supporting actor
In the minimalist flower arranging practice of ikebana, certain rules must be followed: flowers are focal points; plant stems are not just supporting actors but lines in a work of art celebrating all of life. Begun centuries ago in China, then perfected in Japan, ikebana could be described as a physical manifestation of the Buddhist ...
Growing need for senior models opens unexpected new career for retired executive assistant
The linoleum on the floor of the attic bedroom in Seattle, where Alice Arikawa grew up, was embedded with the image of a prince looking longingly at the blond, blue-eyed, long-legged young woman. She would stare at it for hours. “I wasn’t anything like the blond girl – being short, stout, and Japanese, but I ...
High school programming prodigy keeps engaged in retirement with bridge, tennis and little spaceships
Bill Char was a tech bro before it was cool to be a tech bro. He learned to program a minicomputer when he was still in high school – back in the late ’60s, and early ’70s. He was so devoted to Star Trek that he conceived and helped develop a first-generation computer game called ...
Longtime business owners committed to keeping neighbors happy with chocolates from around the world and quirky packaging
Enter Jack Epstein’s cool, narrow shop and you walk a chocolate gauntlet down a central aisle: bars from around the world line the walls on either side. Individual confections, truffles, and foil-wrapped hearts perch on the lower shelves. No wonder the longtime Noe Valley business is called Chocolate Covered. He sources the sweet-smelling wares from ...
