Life in the Later Lane
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?”...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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,...
Robert Wachter, the doctor who is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence to treat patients
Robert Wachter is the doctor who oversees all the other doctors at the University of California, San...
Couple beat ‘fast furniture,’ pandemic and other challenges to keep upholstery shop going for nearly 50 years
J & G Upholstery stretches back farther than it looks from the sidewalk on Balboa Street. Stacks...
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...
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Colored paper and fabric swatches help women consider new style choices for a new stage of life
They sat at tables topped with fabric swatches, pieces of paper in a variety of colors, scissors, glue and colored pens. But it was a group of older women not kiddies getting set to dig in. The women mixed and matched colors and fabrics, gluing their choices on heavy paper. “This is just like kindergarten, ...
Hilton manager fills the needs of the neighborhood with the excesses of city hotels and commercial buildings
Thousands of used mattresses, blankets, pillows, decorative bolsters, linens, furniture, and unclaimed swag from conferences – hotels produce a mountain of waste. What to do with it? For many hotels, the answer was, and remains, sell it to a liquidator, hold an employee sale or haul it to the dump. Holger Gantz, general manager of ...
First-ever celebration of all abilities joins Sunday Streets at the Civic Center Plaza
Sunday, Sept. 8, the day of the first annual Getting There Together: a Celebration of All Ages & Abilities dawned bright and beautiful. By the opening hour, 11 a.m., the resource tables were greeting the first fairgoers, the morning exercise leaders had warmed up, and the earliest audience members had taken seats in front of ...
Beauty is in the eyeglasses of the beholder; retiree’s eclectic style requires many pairs
Mary Novie, seen at an SF Jazz concert with her granddaughter Autumn, says her style is classic but eclectic. The 70-year-old confesses to be an eyeglass junkie. She has many pairs, she said. It doesn’t hurt that the retiree works part-time at OPT Optometric on Valencia Street. As for clothing, she shops at boutiques such ...
Army medic settles into good life and his own home after leaping discrimination hurdles
Dugal Mitchell spent five years in the Army as a medic, two in the Korean War. After all he did and saw, his passion was to become a doctor. But when he came home and applied to the University of Texas Medical School, he was turned down. It was the early ‘50s and segregation was ...
San Francisco’s first-ever Older Adult Hiring Fair was so popular, they might just do it again
Sel Butler worked concessions for the Warriors in Oakland. A San Franciscan, he wanted a job on this side of the Bay. Angela Lee, an experienced cook, was looking for a cooking job that paid more than minimum wage. Maureen Sansburn has been looking for work for the past eight months, since leaving her job ...
