Life in the Later Lane
Former sailor and academic researcher forged unique bond as writing and editing duo
It’s a Thursday morning and the North Beach branch of the San Francisco Public Library has just...
Teacher, translator, artist, and full-time caretaker: Finding time is just one of his challenges
Hitoshi Shigeta has perfected the art of juggling. Not the act you might see in a circus,...
Support housing tenant makes the most of his microwave and contributes to the nabe with ‘pedestrian protection’
How do you eat If you are on a fixed income and live in a single-room occupancy...
Military background and delight in the job help ‘star’ Muni driver keep things running smooth
Jolt after jolt, from stop to stop, veteran San Francisco Municipal Railway driver Angel Carvajal has piloted...
Insatiable curiosity led free spirit to bio-science career, travel, health activism and now, acting online
A cross-country train trip when she was 9 is a joyful memory for Jane Merschen, one of...
Painful college experience unexpectedly leads to successful career for man from Mississippi
Imagine having such a vicious toothache and no access to a dentist that you take a pair...
Writer of science fiction for the young tries to impart their simultaneous sense of wonder and danger
The path to success for many novelists is paved with rejection slips, but not for Ellen Klages,...
Wattusi Trio dancers embraced by U.S. jazz greats and European club scene of the ’50s-’70s for their fantastical, “exotic Africa” perfomances
An animal trainer from Barnum and Bailey Circus trained Deloris Perlmuttter, center, to use a whip in...
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Covering the American Society on Aging Conference: Badge a symbol of belonging to this ‘sea of humanity’
Our Columns My first session was Monday morning at 9 a.m., so I set my iPhone alarm for 6:30. But I had never used the alarm and didn’t trust it would work – I’m such a Luddite. I woke and 5 a.m. and dozed and woke off and on until the alarm went off – as ...
True grit – and a good car – gets her through farm life, earthquakes, tsunamis and an overseas job
In March, 1964, a 9.2 earthquake and multiple tsunamis hit Kodiak, Alaska. Fran Roberts was 38 and working there as draftsperson for the government. She was as much concerned about saving her car as her life. “You had to have a car to get around, and I had just been to the States to buy ...
Life after polio? For this mother and activist, not a missed step
From the time she contracted polio at four, Susan Suval has never let the disease that took the use of her right leg define her life. “My mother thought she’d have to take care of me her whole life,” said Suval, now 73. “I proved her wrong.” Her mother fought to send her to public ...
Fifth-graders learn what it’s like be older – by interviewing seniors
Once a week, a group of fifth graders visits some of the seniors who live at Valencia Gardens, down the street from their school, for games and conversation. “People think that seniors are cranky, grumpy and mean. They’re not,” said student Jaxon Howard. “It was special to hear them talk about their lives.” That’s just ...
Mayoral candidate forum draws record crowd of seniors and adults with disabilities
EDITOR’S NOTE – Senior Beat Staffer Judy Goddess contributed to this report. In wheelchairs and on foot, navigating with canes and guided by seeing-eye dogs, they funneled through the Herbst Theatre’s narrow entranceways to fill its venerable auditorium in April. Candidates for San Francisco mayor were going to answer their questions. Adults with a variety ...
Advocates rally for justice for the vulnerable in City budget
Activists making up the Budget Justice Coalition rallied on City Hall steps to highlight the need for increased funding for for the poor, the homeless, seniors and people with disabilities. The coalition is a broad based collaboration of more than 30 community-based and labor organizations serving impoverished people working towards a City budget that prioritizes poor communities in San Francisco.
