Life in the Later Lane
Free speech and anti-war activist Sue Trupin found her niche caring for AIDS patients and supporting black grandmothers
Sue Trupin spent more than a decade living in a countercultural enclave in Canyon, a community in...
She’s a photographer and a flamenco dancer who fights to reduce maternal deaths in poor countries around the world
The difficulties that pregnant women face in impoverished parts of the world can seem overwhelming. But Stacey...
Cathedral Hill doctor became a leader in the treatment and prevention of AIDS.
As a boy, James Campbell spent after-school hours in his mother’s lab. Ruth Campbell was a doctor,...
Through one-man performances, son of Holocaust survivor shares history with high school students
It’s a shocking and head-spinning image: A Jew in a German officer’s uniform is being ministered to...
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....
A lucky phone call steered him into a 54-year career as a shipping executive.
Tony Hanley felt stuck. He’d flunked out of San Francisco City College and was working at an...
He rode the rails, he slept on the streets, Kevin Fagan spent decades reporting on the homeless for the San Francisco Chronicle
It's a Friday night at Chief Sullivan’s, an Irish-themed bar in North Beach, and The Irish Newsboys...
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People over age 51 remain a steady, sizable portion of people living on the streets and in the shelters of San Francisco
Next time you see a homeless person on a San Francisco street, look again. There’s a good chance that person will be a senior. Since 2009, people over the age of 51 have consistently comprised nearly one-third of the people living on the streets or in shelters in San Francisco. In 2019, the last time ...
Master cobbler does it the old-school way: good prices but paper tickets, cash only – and a bit of chaos that for some customers just adds to the quirky ambience.
It takes a leap of faith to drop your shoes off at Alexander’s on Mission Street, near Valencia. Nicolas Torres is a master cobbler (the shop is named for his son) proud of his work and with no plans to retire. Many YELP reviews sing his praises as a meticulous craftsman of the old school. ...
Tenderloin resident fled the Nazis as a teen, then fought them as a member of the Soviet Red Army
The train steaming east across the Russian heartland was packed with hundreds of refugees and livestock, crammed into every available space in the freezing cars. They clung to the boarding steps, even the roofs. As it fled the onrushing Nazi war machine, the train was attacked from the air. Several cars were destroyed. Fifteen-year-old Yekaterina ...
“Just a people person” has been handing out joy for years, getting back smiles at work and at a home for kids with serious illnesses.
You may not be able to see it, but even covered by a Covid mask, Bobby Thomas’s smile lights up the meat counter he presides over at Andronico’s Market. Day in and day out, the 6-foot-3-inch butcher is there with a kind word and helpful suggestions for his customers at the Inner Sunset store. Barry ...
HOW ABOUT YOU? Covid put my need for intimate relationships and friends into sharp focus
During the first few weeks of the Covid 19 lockdown, my friend and I called each other daily. What a weird circumstance to be in – physically cut off from family and friends. It was unnatural, like a war zone, the virus being the enemy. I also looked forward to 7 p.m., when neighbors would ...
‘Just One Tree’ just one of this dedicated environmentalist’s many accomplishments
“Food banks need citrus and one lemon gives you 75 percent of daily vitamin C requirements,” said Isabel Wade. That’s why “Just One Tree,” the brainchild of Wade and her nonprofit, Urban Resource Systems, is encouraging San Franciscans to plant a lemon tree. Just One Tree was launched in 2012 with a goal of 12,000 ...
