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...
All Posts
Kent State murders jolted student into lifetime of activism – from campus protests to ‘White Night’ riots to queer youth and adult advocacy
Starting college is one of those life-changing events. For Paul Gross, the transformation began three months before he arrived at Kent State University. In May 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen, called in to remove thousands of anti-war protesters at a banned anti-war demonstration, fired into a crowd, killing four students and wounding nine. “I was immediately ...
NOT faster than a speeding bullet: ‘Giants Superfan’ dedicates 35 years collecting autographs of ’79 team
Already a huge San Francisco Giants fan at the age of 15, Charles Fracchia Jr. went one better than perhaps any other fan in the team’s history. He attended almost every game at Candlestick Park, had a worthy collection of memorabilia and chattered about his team incessantly. Then in 1979, he decided to collect the ...
When life bounced waiter who had just embarked on a new career in nursing, his ‘titanium heart’ pulled him through
When he was 41, Chad Folkers realized he needed to get sober, go back to school and find a new career. After eight years of full-time work as a waiter and full-time classes, he graduated from nursing school with honors. But within a short time, the future he imagined was derailed – twice. Just after ...
Glen Park book store owner finds Literature and Live Jazz the perfect match for neighborhood communing, musicians staying employed
Twenty-four years ago, Eric Whittington decided that a career as a word processor wasn’t how he wanted to spend the rest of his working life. Then 42, Whittington and his wife maxed out their credit cards and purchased a small, not-very-successful women’s bookstore in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood. They renamed it Bird & Beckett ...
“80 Over 80”: Interviews with elders is all about fostering respect for long life, endurance and the wisdom available to us
One too many magazines hyping the “30 under 30’”or “40 under 40” jolted a San Francisco geriatrician into countering with an “80 Over 80” project. After three years of interviewing these older city residents, the results can now be seen at 80over80sf.org. “It crystallized something in me: What about seniors?” Dr. Anna Chodos, an associate ...
A life of wine and orchids: French heritage nurtures ‘Orchid Doctor’s’ love of food and foliage
Wine and orchids have long played a starring role in Paul Bourbin’s life. When he was just seven, his grandfather would serve him a heavily diluted glass of wine with meals, a custom carried on by the Frenchman who made wine in the old country and later in California.” Eventually, Bourbin, too, became a wine expert, ...
