Life in the Later Lane
Three generations of a San Francisco family thrived running popular oceanside eatery overlooking Sutro Baths
It was, you might say, the last breakfast. On a summer Saturday in 2020, dozens of family...
Art and science vied for Sarah Young’s heart: Both found a place
Few who end up in the hospital are likely to be thinking about whether there’s a sufficient,...
Baking for bodily autonomy: Nan Wiener tackles controversial end of Roe v. Wade with brownies, macaroons, muffins and more
SENIOR BEAT GUEST COLUMN – Many years ago, I spent a year baking desserts in a restaurant...
New author and former drinker embracing alternative therapies to help others break the habit
Seated in the backroom of a café on Polk Street, Kevagne Kalisch leans against the wall and...
From fisherman to cook to inmate to owner: Frankie Balistreri’s odyssey to opening his dream restaurant
When his mother, Lucrezia, was diagnosed with cancer, then 25-year-old Frankie Gaetano Balistreri cared for her at...
Wisdom of the Japanese Tea Garden helped volunteer Chrisie Giordano come to accept a child’s absence
It’s an overcast summer morning, and Chrisie Giordano is leading a tour of Golden Gate Park’s Japanese...
It’s the little things that count for Margaret Lew, swept up in the world of miniature craftmanship
If you think dollhouses are just for children, you haven’t met the artisans and collectors, like Margaret...
Desire to learn mah-jongg helped Stephanie Riger overcome her own biases toward seniors
SENIOR BEAT GUEST COLUMN – Even though I’m 78 years old, I have resisted seeing myself as...
Retirement can be scary. Library worker hoping the end of his career will be the start of a happy new chapter
Seventy-one-year-old Richard Marino is on the cusp of retirement. And it’s making him anxious. He’s gone through...
German Gonzalez, the maestro of Golden Gate Park, has spread music and joy for more than 50 years
He was in the sixth grade and really wanted to be in the school band. But his...
At 67, Lauren McNamara has embarked on a new career and she’s charming customers at a downtown hotspot.
Lauren McNamara makes sure to remember where the regular clientele at Sam’s Grill like to sit. She...
You can get — almost — anything you want at Joseph Omran’s Nob Hill grocery store
LeBeau Market calls itself Nob Hill’s Community Grocery Store, where you can get almost everything: from Lay’s...
Deborah Drysdale: social justice evangelist, bridge instructor, and amateur mixologist
Summers for Deborah Drysdale meant idyllic days at her grandparents’ cattle ranch in the Blue Ridge mountains...
Jonah Raskin: Tireless Bay Area peace activist, prolific writer, and educator
Jonah Raskin was 10 in 1952, during the height of the anti-communist fervor of the Cold War....
She brought the magic to the screen, finding the perfect San Francisco location to shoot movies, TV shows, and commercials
If you’d been walking along one of the steepest streets in San Francisco one sunny afternoon in...
She relives history as a guide on the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, one of the WWII Liberty ships that brought troops and cargo to Normandy beaches
Eve Maher hands out programs to visitors boarding the SS Jeremiah O’Brien for a tour and memorial...
Pen pals from afar build rich relationship over 60 years through old-fashioned correspondence – no WhatsApp about it
A SENIOR BEAT GUEST COLUMN – My correspondence with Jutta Mengersen (now Brockhaus), the “World’s Ideal Pen...
This Mexican immigrant fought in the ring, started a dozen restaurants, raised five children, and never let defeat wear him down.
When 17-year-old Jose Heriberto Garcia came courting the young girl who’d become his wife, his future mother-in-law...
The ghosts of San Francisco’s past are still there if you only look and listen
SENIOR BEAT COLUMN: I got my first job in San Francisco nearly 40 years ago, in the...
Mutual support but separate hobbies and workshops keep crafty couple’s marriage going strong
A stained glass window by Bill and a "fishing" quilt Etta made for him adorn a hallway...
All Posts
‘Wandering bard’ delivers care and calm through ancient tales of adventure and delight, fidelity and hope
Once upon a time, before the written word, there was the oral tradition. Skilled storytellers addressed people’s hopes, fears and dreams by weaving a good tale. “Fairy tales, also known as ‘wisdom tales,’ were told to adults in olden days,” said Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy. “Life was hard and in the magical delight and adventure of ...
Parkinson’s patients gain strength in darkened boxing gyms as well as light, airy ballet studios
Rebecca Lum never thought she’d find herself in a boxing gym. But there she was in a dark room, one wall plastered with pictures of “mean-looking” boxers and heavy metal as background music. But it’s where she first found relief from the stiffness of Parkinson’s Disease. After years searching for a diagnosis for the wild ...
At 86, veteran travel agent still cruising along, with special advice for seniors
When people ask “What’s next?” Martha Nell Beatty responds, “Where’s next?” The consummate world traveler has visited more than 110 countries and five continents in her 86 years and still has many miles to go. When interviewed she had two trips booked back to back — first off to Portland and then to Cabo San Lucas. She’s no vagabond; travel ...
Reframing Aging – ‘Older ≠ Lesser’: City embarks on effort to squash aging stereotypes
If it’s Wednesday, you’ll find 76-year-old Annie Biderman at her Spanish class –unless the retired nurse has decided to go birdwatching or spend extra time working out on the elliptical machine in the basement of her Glen Park home. If it’s Thursday, Susie Tyner, 73, is playing the steel drums in a band she organized, ...
Reframing Aging – Determination never gets old: Energetic knitter who once fled war finds fruitful work and friends in U.S.
Every morning at about 8:10, Xue Ya Yu leaves her Visitacion Valley home and catches Muni’s 44 O’Shaughnessy. After a transfer and an 80-minute ride that takes her across San Francisco, the 84-year-old grandmother is at the Jackie Chan Senior Center, ready to go work. Yu, a bit frail but energetic and cheerful, has been ...
Reframing Aging – Leadership never gets old: Retired youth counselor helped families overcome ‘disconnectedness’
Mario Martinez is not a lonely man. He’s married and has four daughters, four sons-in-law and nine grandchildren. Yet the 65-year-old retired family therapist talks and thinks about loneliness quite a bit. “Sometimes isolation is forced upon us by health concerns, but a lot of times isolation is a choice,” he said. “And if you ...
