Special Project: Senior Housing
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 of health issues, including slow-moving Parkinson’s,...
Life in the Later Lane
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...
City College café owner customizes and caters to make students, staff and professors feel at home
Thanks to Alberto Campos, students at City College of San Francisco’s Mission Campus can get an affordable...
One bold step opened up education and a career charting demographics in low-income countries
Sara Seims, an 18-year-old British girl, walked into the admissions office at New York University and knocked...
K.D. Sullivan: From Park Bench to Publishing House
At 15, K.D. Sullivan was homeless, hungry, and sleeping on park benches in Honolulu’s Aina Haina neighborhood....
Retired conference consultant embraces San Francisco and its history with tour of her own neighborhood
As she strolls toward the smallest park in San Francisco, Bonnie Wallsh calls back to the group...
Farm life couldn’t compete with the excitement of big cities and the challenge of the executive life
In college, Bob Britt worked as a night auditor at a roadside Holiday Inn in Southern Illinois....
Successful sous chef finds equilibrium and support after career sidetracked by health and hard times
Jon Insco has been a go-getter most of his life — always hustling for his next adventure....
Being an ‘old soul’ isn’t just about age but an attitude – best nurtured by intergenerational contact
SF SENIORBEAT GUEST COLUMN – There’s a corner of Gen Z internet culture that has popularized the...
How a dedicated teacher of young children became a dedicated civic volunteer.
Sharon Yow’s father drove a truck and tried his hand at farming. Her mother worked a switchboard...
Famed boogie-woogie pianist embroiders her performances with her own hand-crafted art
Caroline Dahl has never forgotten the glamorous, red-haired woman in a sequined dress she saw at a...
The biggest, best walk – and bath of a lifetime.
Tina Martin SENIORBEAT GUEST COLUMN – I love San Francisco, and I love to walk. So when...
‘So hard, all the losses and pain:’ Personal and world tragedies led daughter of Holocaust survivors to life of helping others help others
Juliet Rothman was living in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1992 when her 21-year-old son Daniel attempted a double...
Rock ‘n’ roll and diamonds shaped the life of Arthur Indenbaum
WRITER'S NOTE: Arthur Indenbaum died on November 28, 2025, with his wife and daughter by his side....
All Posts
She persisted: After chilly entry to San Francisco, disability specialist now on three city commissions and living happily in senior housing.
Terry Bohrer didn’t get the warm welcome she had hoped for when she moved to San Francisco. Like many new arrivals, she found the city a tough place to make friends. She and her husband joined clubs, took adult classes, and even threw parties in their apartment –to no avail. “We were lonely,” she said. ...
What’s your fashion flavor? I’m happy Birkenstock sandals are back in favor.
The waist has left me. The arms will never meet another sleeveless blouse. But the changes in my body don’t deter me from still being interested in fashion. I dress conservatively in monotones, but I want to step outside my comfort zone and add some flair and – gasp! – color. So, I looked around ...
Innovative use of new types of fabric put designer’s creations on the haute couture map
Technological innovation, but not the kind built on bits and bytes, helped launch the career of San Francisco fashionista Julienne Weston. Her mastery of the overlock sewing machine (or, serger) and her embrace of cotton Lycra, a stretchy blend of natural fibers and spandex invented in 1980, made her creations stand out as she built ...
She can’t see, but guides patients at SF General, dodges the maskless on MUNI and seldom lets obstacles dampen her high spirits
Here’s a thought: If you are blind, how do you know if people are wearing their masks? If you are disabled and blind, it’s scary stepping off the sidewalk to avoid a loud-talking, apparently non-masked person. If you are disabled and blind and riding the 14-Mission, the 38- Geary, or the 9-San Bruno every day, ...
Orchids a beacon of light for medical researcher/ clinical pharmacologist who switched to patient care during dark days of AIDS
Joanne Whitney sits in a large conference room, eyes focused on an interviewer, arms slightly raised, palms up and in a pronounced Bronx accent says, “What can I tell you; I’m eclectic.” She points to a long list of diverse roles in pharmacy, medical education and public service over a career spanning five decades. When ...
Teaching children, students and adults about planets, black holes and asteroids is this astronomer’s true calling
Famous people and even not-so-famous people in San Francisco have streets named after them. But Andrew Fraknoi, a well-known science educator and astronomer, goes those long-dead presidents, generals, and madams one better: He’s the only person in the city to have an asteroid named after him. The International Astronomical Union dubbed a hunk of space rock ...
