Special Project: Senior Housing
As the city’s older population swells, seniors who can no longer live at home face high costs, limited choices
EDITOR'S NOTE: Full profiles of the seniors interviewed will be published each day after today's introductory story. Publishing dates are noted in the...
Life in the Later Lane
Stephanie Ernst-Scott runs the last tackle shop in San Francisco. It’s been in her family for 60 years.
Walk through the doors of Gus’ Discount Fishing Tackle, and you’ll likely be greeted before you even...
City College café owner customizes and caters to make students, staff and professors feel at home
Thanks to Alberto Campos, students at City College of San Francisco’s Mission Campus can get an affordable...
One bold step opened up education and a career charting demographics in low-income countries
Sara Seims, an 18-year-old British girl, walked into the admissions office at New York University and knocked...
K.D. Sullivan: From Park Bench to Publishing House
At 15, K.D. Sullivan was homeless, hungry, and sleeping on park benches in Honolulu’s Aina Haina neighborhood....
Retired conference consultant embraces San Francisco and its history with tour of her own neighborhood
As she strolls toward the smallest park in San Francisco, Bonnie Wallsh calls back to the group...
Farm life couldn’t compete with the excitement of big cities and the challenge of the executive life
In college, Bob Britt worked as a night auditor at a roadside Holiday Inn in Southern Illinois....
Successful sous chef finds equilibrium and support after career sidetracked by health and hard times
Jon Insco has been a go-getter most of his life — always hustling for his next adventure....
Being an ‘old soul’ isn’t just about age but an attitude – best nurtured by intergenerational contact
SF SENIORBEAT GUEST COLUMN – There’s a corner of Gen Z internet culture that has popularized the...
How a dedicated teacher of young children became a dedicated civic volunteer.
Sharon Yow’s father drove a truck and tried his hand at farming. Her mother worked a switchboard...
Famed boogie-woogie pianist embroiders her performances with her own hand-crafted art
Caroline Dahl has never forgotten the glamorous, red-haired woman in a sequined dress she saw at a...
The biggest, best walk – and bath of a lifetime.
Tina Martin SENIORBEAT GUEST COLUMN – I love San Francisco, and I love to walk. So when...
‘So hard, all the losses and pain:’ Personal and world tragedies led daughter of Holocaust survivors to life of helping others help others
Juliet Rothman was living in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1992 when her 21-year-old son Daniel attempted a double...
Rock ‘n’ roll and diamonds shaped the life of Arthur Indenbaum
WRITER'S NOTE: Arthur Indenbaum died on November 28, 2025, with his wife and daughter by his side....
All Posts
Retired hospital nutrition scientist savors new challenges as an art museum docent
Carol Porter was conducting a docent tour in the American collection of the deYoung Museum when a married couple of Iranian descent, recent emigres, asked her a question. “What is the difference between Protestants and Catholics?” She answered the question to the best of her ability, trying to keep it concise in deference to her ...
Later-in-life learners credit Project Read, national one-on-one tutoring project
Ollie Smith grew up in the rural south. School wasn’t easy for him and he dropped out at the end of fourth grade to work on the family farm. In 1967, Smith and his wife moved to San Francisco, where he drove a truck and found a job in construction. He was a good worker ...
Casual Bohemian fits this former social worker, now Zydeco dance teacher
FASHIONISTAS – Casual Bohemian is this 70-year-old’s style. Julia Scott-Jackson, formerly a social worker, is now a Zydeco dancer and teacher. Her hobby is portrait photography. She lives in Pacific Heights. Her favorite places to shop are the Gift Shop at Mt. Zion and Citrine on Fillmore.
New literary & art review showcases the works of Osher Lifelong Learning students
A suburban yogi signs up for a spiritual experience, but gets a little more spirit than he’d bargained for. A young man hitches a ride from an older Texan in 1968 and prepares himself for the inevitable clash of viewpoints. A young woman from Indiana who settled in San Francisco in 1968 remembers her precarious ...
Creating Community – From San Francisco to Japan, officials embracing programs to build human connections, curb isolation
CREATING COMMUNITY – In his younger years, Charles Francis was fearless and unconventional, open to trying new things, many of which he recounted in his memoir, “Encounters.” A writer and photographer for NASA and the Veterans Administration, he would regale his friends with stories of his travels and the unusual people he met. Now 92, ...
Young adults find interesting tales and sometimes new family through senior storytelling program
CREATING COMMUNITY – Tiffany Hasker has been listening intently to Harry Wong over the past several months. She’s going to write a book about him. The two have met at least 10 times in a private room in the Rosa Parks Senior Center. A former editor and now full-time mom in her 40s, Hasker was ...
