Life in the Later Lane
Former art galley president helps people craft their deepest feelings in ‘lasting letters’ to loved ones
Looking out at Monterey Bay from Santa Cruz early one morning last year, a pair of silhouetted...
September 1, 2026
S.F. protest’s Tin Man has a history of making good trouble on behalf of empathy and kindness
Arthur Persyko loves to make trouble. The good kind, that is. As a young man, he protested...
August 24, 2026
Born to dance: Tammy Thornton struts her stuff with the Warriors’ senior dance team
It’s game night at San Francisco’s Chase Center and the Golden State Warriors are not the only...
August 10, 2026
Childhood bond with an older neighbor steered law officer’s choice of career and community work
A tarnished silver coin from 1964, likely worth only $10 to any dealer, reminds Richard Lyons Corriea...
August 2, 2026
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
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
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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Fire Department NERT training gets residents ready in case of an earthquake
We all know the “big one” is coming – an earthquake, a fire – some disaster that will wipe out a section of the city. We also know that when it does, emergency services will be overwhelmed. It may be three to five days before help arrives. The key to survival is being prepared. The ...
Neighborhood Circles create community for San Francisco seniors
Most seniors, 87 percent, want to stay in their homes as they age, according to the American Association of Retired Persons. Fortunately for San Francisco seniors, the San Francisco Village’s “neighborhood circles” help them do that. The nine-month-old Sunset Circle is one of 13 in San Francisco, including one for LGBT seniors, where neighbors meet ...
Miraloma Park Neighbor Fest focuses on safety, building neighborhood resilience
In late October, the Miraloma Park Improvement Club threw a Neighbor Fest. Some 450 neighbors came. Like other Neighborfests around the city, the purpose was to gather people together and turn “strangers into neighbors and neighbors into friends.” This Fest, however, also included extensive disaster preparedness information along with the hotdogs, coloring books, and camaraderie. ...
Art With Elders Program Harnesses Creativity and Yields Greater Health
Many of the students in the Art with Elders program have overcome significant physical and cognitive obstacles to produce their art, including the loss of the use of their dominant hand. “One of our objectives is to promote how our students use their wisdom and experience to overcome these obstacles. It’s tough!” said Mark Campbell, ...
Sunset seniors get pumped up putting their power into Taiko drumming
At the Cole Valley Fair in September, 11 members of the Kotobuki Taiko group demonstrated that seniors can drum energetically and with passion. They can also get healthier doing it. The Kotobuki (longevity) Taiko group was formed nine years ago at The Stonestown Family YMCA Annex, under the leadership of volunteer teacher Carol Ayers, 73, a longtime Taiko drummer. “I had some surgeries, ...
