Life in the Later Lane
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
Social justice lawyer and activist infusing others with her love of SF’s Great Blue Herons and dedication to conservation
One day in 1993, on her daily walk from her Richmond District home to Golden Gate Park’s...
April 29, 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
Bass playing lawyer takes on the landlords when seniors call for help
During the day, you’ll find Thomas Drohan in court or at his law office on Mission Street....
April 5, 2026
Former SFSU teacher shifts to helping union workers build leadership abilities
Like some people need coffee, Joan Wong needs to walk – and talk. Mornings, she puts in...
March 25, 2026
Joe Edley, a three-time national champion, has been racking up great Scrabble scores for decades
Joe Edley tucks his co-authored book, “Everything Scrabble,” under his arm and surveys the room. Around him,...
March 16, 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
‘Shopping for the apocalypse’: grocery worker offers a peek behind the scenes at beloved Rainbow Coop
Sarah Kennedy does it all as a longtime member of the team that runs the Rainbow Coop, one of the city’s oldest worker-owned groceries. Kennedy, 52, has seen plenty of changes over the years, but nothing compared to the effects of the Covid-19 virus. The one thing she never expected entering the food industry was ...
‘I’ll show them:’ After a career challenging sexism, pioneer and icon of underground comix for ‘wimmin’ fends off ageism
Reading comic books leads straight to delinquency. That’s what many parents believed in the 1940s when Trina Robbins, now 81, was growing up. Fortunately, Robbins’ family was not among them. Robbins, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., recalls taking her weekly, 10-cent allowance to the neighborhood candy store and after studying the week’s selection, buying ...
Those who saw something of value in him helped African-American chemist reach career heights
Charles George had charisma, smarts and a purposeful nature. They propelled him through life despite the constraints of poverty and racism. He was shepherded along the way by people who valued his worth. When George was born in 1923 in Wilmington, N.C., life was hardscrabble for most African Americans. “My father took jobs where he ...
Coping with Covid-19: Shanti Project partners with city agency in new program to help the most vulnerable
The Shanti Project, created in 1974 to support people with life-threatening illnesses, has launched a new project to address the coronavirus pandemic, in partnership with San Francisco’s Department of Disability and Aging Services (DAS). The CERV (COVID-19 Emergency Response Volunteer) program provides one-time or occasional practical support to older and vulnerable adults, who are strongly ...
Coping with Covid-19: Perspective, resilience and optimism buoys seniors’ apartment building
It takes a lot to scare 90-year-old Esther Goldberg. She survived the Holocaust, hiding for years from the Nazis who occupied Brussels. Martin Pennisi, 82, has a high threshold for fear as well. He spent more than a decade in a combat zone during the Vietnam War – with shrapnel scars to prove it. And ...
Architect embraces ‘the magic’ of chocolate in a second career where he blends creativity with science of the craft
That year in Paris. It was everything 32-year-old David Upchurch had dreamed of. The streets, the galleries, the shows, the people. A charming apartment not far from the Moulin Rouge. A chocolate shop at one end of the block, a patisserie at the other. “That first truffle was magical. I spent all my money on ...
