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...
All Posts
Are you in a RUT? Trying a new soup recipe sparked my anxiety
One day a couple of months ago, I realized I was in a food rut. I enjoyed what I was eating, but I also craved something new. Ruts are vastly different. There are serious ones like a job or relationship that isn’t working, where outside help is vital. Then there are perplexing ones like Donna ...
San Francisco women at mid-age and older find tattoos an eye-catching way to celebrate values, memories and independence
Cecile DeForest never pictured herself sporting a tattoo, but when she changed her mind at 67, the San Francisco-based educator had no doubt what she wanted imprinted on the nape of her neck: Om. DeForest is part of an eye-catching trend captivating women in their 50s and beyond. They’re flocking to tattoo parlors and decorating ...
Age no barrier to firefighting, says SFFD retiree, but staying in shape is essential
Starting a new career at 50 isn’t unusual these days. But when he reached the half-century mark, Steve Muller decided to leave his good-paying job as a painter and become a firefighter, one of the most physically demanding jobs you can imagine. It turned out to be a good career move. Muller retired from the ...
Unbound by silence closeting his early years, first chair of City College LGBT Department offered students a symbol of support
Jack Collins found his calling in 1980, when he started teaching “Gay Literature” at City College of San Francisco. “I had come out of the closet in 1974 while doing graduate studies in comparative literature at the University of Cambridge,” he said, “and I couldn’t think of anything better than teaching the literature I loved ...
Grandfather’s dementia solidified decision to specialize in geriatrics, says On Lok chief medical officer
“Gomer, get out of my emergency room.” Gomer was the code language for ailing seniors used by Jay Luxenberg’s fellow trainees at Albany Medical College in New York. The cruel dismissal, out of earshot of any patient, was Luxenberg’s call to duty. His grandparents, he thought, could be “gomers” in the eyes of these classmates. ...
ARE YOU GRATEFUL? Giving thanks doesn’t have to wait until the 4th Thursday of November.
Being that it’s November, my thoughts turned to Thanksgiving. Visions of past family gatherings flit through my mind when each of us in turn said what we were thankful for. Expressing gratitude, such a lovely tradition. Then I think, “Why wait for Thanksgiving when I can express gratitude anytime?” I immediately pulled up a recent ...
