Special Project: City Budget Cuts
Seniors and people with disabilities fight down to the wire to save programs that serve them
As Yogi Berra once said, "it ain't over till it's over." The baseball legend was referring to sports, of course, but the adage...
Life in the Later Lane
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
