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...
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Kids, parents, grandparents and all kind of trucks: Enjoying the magic at McLaren Park
It was a big day in McLaren Park– warm and sunny – perfect for parents and grandparents to enjoy the magic combination of children and trucks. The Park and Recreation Department’s second annual Big Truck Day, on Oct. 10, drew more than 400 children and nearly as many parents and grandparents. Beeps, hums and roars ...
Homeowner seeks lodger. Renter seeks home share. Home Match puts them together.
Joyce Calagos, 71, a homeowner in the Crocker-Amazon neighborhood of San Francisco, is determined to live out her days in her own home. Social Security isn’t going to cover all her expenses. So, she began looking for a roommate. On the other side of the coin is David Reffkin, 67. He’s looking for a room ...
Accumulating wisdom: from teen Olympian to gay pioneer to new discoveries at 67
From reaching for gold at the Olympics at age 14, and coming out as gay in Portland, Ore., from letting go of a 30-year marriage to walking 500 miles along Spain’s Camino de Santiago, Carolyn Wood has accumulated some wisdom. That was in evidence Tuesday, Aug. 28, at the Institute on Aging, when Wood read ...
Dedicated China volunteer eventually adopts, now hoping for grand-panda kids
Carol Magidson, having no children of her own, adopted a giant panda. And someday, she hopes to be a grand-panda-parent. In the late 1960s, Magidson and her mother went to London specially to see the giant pandas and became entranced. After many trips to China to visit and work in the panda reserves, Magidson,78, adopted ...
Collage artists use found objects to capture neighborhood identity and history
OUR COLUMNS On the fourth floor of the downtown San Francisco Public Library, a collage exhibit teased my mind _ and my fancy. More so, when I realized I knew one of the artists. David Cox and Molly Hankwitz, of the Bivoulab Studio collective, have glued, pasted and duct-taped everyday objects in ways that are oddly ...
Pickleballers rejoice! Six new courts just for their beloved sport
San Francisco has opened its first courts solely for pickleball, a blend of tennis, badminton and ping pong that has been called the fastest growing senior sport in the United States. San Francisco pickleball enthusiasts have been angling for dedicated courts for some time. Although there are a number of courts around the city where people ...
