Life in the Later Lane
As a teacher, playwright & screenwriter, Cary Pepper has lots of inside Hollywood info to share
You probably stream most of your movies. But if you happen to rent a film on old-style...
July 15, 2026
All-women punk band still on stage thanks to leader’s career, which started in a mortuary
Invite Klara Lux somewhere, and she’ll always show up early – except on the rare occasion when...
July 6, 2026
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?”...
June 29, 2026
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...
June 4, 2026
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...
May 28, 2026
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...
April 29, 2026
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...
April 14, 2026
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....
April 5, 2026
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...
March 25, 2026
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,...
March 16, 2026
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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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.
30th Street center takes steps to battle senior-on-senior bullying
But some seniors do bully. And it starts early. “Young bullies just become older bullies,” said Dr. Patrick Arbore, founder and director of Elderly Suicide Prevention & Grief Related Services at the Institute on Aging. “Bullying is a learned behavior. Unless someone called a stop to this behavior or the bully is fortunate enough to ...
Director of I.T. Bookman wants to widen community center’s embrace
Felisia Thibodeaux, the new executive director of the I. T. Bookman Community Center, had been on the job just over four months when we talked, and she had already developed some big plans. “We need to redirect I. T. Bookman … for the whole community, including people with disabilities,” she said. “We want to offer ...
From Tea Garden to internment camp to Berkeley degree: Fitness instructor now 80 and still teaching
After age 80, more people are attending classes than teaching them. Yet, Tanako Hagiwara, who joined City College as a sports coach in 1967, is still at it – 51 years later. “I have no plans to stop teaching as long as my health allows and students want my classes,” said Hagiwara, 80. She wanted ...
