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
Chance encounter with a Curry Center worker lifts bipolar sufferer back to engaged life with a new friend
CREATING COMMUNITY – Depression and confusion marked the first decades of Ray Walsh’s life. Only recently has the 66-year-old begun to feel free from the demons that controlled him. A San Francisco native, Walsh dropped out of school at 18, hoping to make it as a musician. He studied piano as a child and picked ...
Child of sharecropper and housecleaner in segregated Alabama felt destined for a better future
Mary Crenshaw came of age in segregated southern Alabama in the ‘50s, just prior to the turbulent Civil Rights Era. Her father was a sharecropper on a white person’s farm and her mother did day work for white people. But Crenshaw saw different a life for herself. “I’m a believer in that some things you ...
Stanford business grads launch service so busy young adults can help aging parents
Mon ami is a matching service for older adults. But it’s not for romance; it pairs them with college students for companionship. The start-up launched on the Peninsula and recently expanded to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Founders Joy Zhang and Madeline Dangerfield met at an orientation for new students entering Stanford’s Graduate School ...
Vision loss ‘like moving to a foreign country’ – but plenty of help available to learn the language
When Susan Kitazawa started losing her sight 15 years ago, one of the first things she started to do was self-monitor her driving. She restricted herself to places she felt more comfortable driving: only in the daytime, not in the rain, not on the freeways. And she asked for help. “I asked three friends of ...
Get testing, counseling, training then go shopping at Lighthouse’s store for low- and hi-tech vision aids
I kept looking for the brightness button on my TV to lighten up scenes that seemed to be filmed in the dead of night. Unfortunately, there’s no “time for cataracts surgery” pop-up message on the screen, even on the smartest TV. Apparently I’m not alone. About 10 percent of adult Americans 18 and older (some 26.9 ...
Feistiness and array of support services keep senior active and independent despite damages of diabetes
Diabetes has ruled Marlene Hunn’s life since she was diagnosed at age two. But not wanting to become isolated or housebound, she has made a point of getting support from her friends – and the wide range of services available to her in San Francisco. She may have her bad days and crying jags, but ...
