Life in the Later Lane
Former art galley president helps people craft their deepest feelings in ‘lasting letters’ to loved ones
Looking out at Monterey Bay from Santa Cruz early one morning last year, a pair of silhouetted...
September 1, 2026
S.F. protest’s Tin Man has a history of making good trouble on behalf of empathy and kindness
Arthur Persyko loves to make trouble. The good kind, that is. As a young man, he protested...
August 24, 2026
Born to dance: Tammy Thornton struts her stuff with the Warriors’ senior dance team
It’s game night at San Francisco’s Chase Center and the Golden State Warriors are not the only...
August 10, 2026
Childhood bond with an older neighbor steered law officer’s choice of career and community work
A tarnished silver coin from 1964, likely worth only $10 to any dealer, reminds Richard Lyons Corriea...
August 2, 2026
As a teacher, playwright & screenwriter, Cary Pepper has lots of inside Hollywood info to share
You probably stream most of your movies. But if you happen to rent a film on old-style...
July 15, 2026
All-women punk band still on stage thanks to leader’s career, which started in a mortuary
Invite Klara Lux somewhere, and she’ll always show up early – except on the rare occasion when...
July 6, 2026
Playwright Lynne Kaufman, the author of two dozen plays and five novels, is still going strong, despite some hiccups
The day after Lynne Kaufman retired in 2005, she woke up in tears. “What had I done?”...
June 29, 2026
A win for people power: Supervisors and mayor restore millions of dollars in cut to services for city’s most vulnerable
A months-long campaign by advocates for seniors, the disabled and other vulnerable populations has convinced San Francisco's...
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...
June 4, 2026
Couple’s script for their own movie? Shared creative passions and a bent for banter
“I'm Chiquita Banana, and I'm here to say, bananas have to ripen in a certain way,” Margot...
May 28, 2026
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...
April 14, 2026
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...
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My fashion wants are clashing against the lure of fast clothing and my need to be a good environmental steward
A SENIOR BEAT COLUMN Several recent online purchases of clothing that turned out to be flubs got me to soul searching. Maybe if they had been winners, I wouldn’t but they weren’t. As a woman who enjoys fashion, I want new clothes, but thought: Do I need them? I remember becoming aware of the difference ...
Vibrant B&B owner transcended constricted, somber childhood as partygoer and planner, vintage costume designer and decorator
Growing up in a strict Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, Sheila Ash almost never had a birthday party. Celebrations were reserved for the High Holy Days observed in the fall. So, when this youngest daughter grew up, she became a partygoer, a party thrower, an event and wedding planner, hostess, costume designer and ...
Retired Fortune 500 development consultant brings home her lifelong interest in improving cities and communities
Renee Berger’s childhood was full of ice cream and Yankee games and parents who had “great faith and trust in me.” They were the first of many who were to guide her on her way to and through a career as a management consultant for Fortune 500 companies, top public and private foundations, government agencies ...
Love of food and baseball frame a life of service to the city of San Francisco
Ricardo Hernandez, a die-hard fan of both the San Francisco Giants and food of all kinds, had no idea that after retirement, he’d have a change of heart. From his youth in Puerto Rico through moves to other countries and settling in San Francisco – where he held positions as city Rent Board director and ...
Urban Alchemy helps the formerly incarcerated find stability while as ‘practitioners,’ they help stabilize the Tenderloin
It’s the day after Thanksgiving and Chris Purcell’s corner of the Tenderloin is uncharacteristically quiet. There’s a couple of young men sitting in the gutter smoking weed, a few homeless people pushing loaded shopping carts, and the occasional loud argument on the street. “The weed smokers don’t bother us; we’re not here to bust chops,” ...
Before ‘Riverdance,’ Irish dance school owner was learning the steps as soon as she could walk
“Riverdance,” the phenomenal stage performance of floor-pounding Irish stepdance hit American shores in 1996. But Irish dance had been in Mary Jo Murphy-Feeney’s bones for half a century. “My mother taught me to step dance as soon as I could walk,” she said. For the Irish, step-dancing has been as much a part of life ...
