Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined: Recent Episodes
Gail Zelitzky and Catherine Marienau
Tune into our engaging conversations with women in their 70s, 80s and 90s whose stories about living meaningful and productive lives will inspire, educate and motivate our listeners. Through these stories, older and younger women alike can anticipate exciting years ahead.
At 71, Terry Craig reflects on a life shaped by creativity, curiosity, movement, and reinvention.
Growing up as the second of six siblings, Terry learned early how to resolve conflicts and bring people together. Her mother sewed clothing for the family, and Terry soon discovered her own love of sewing and creating patterns. Over the years, she expanded into quilting and fiber art, including painting with wool and learning wet felting. Always eager to try something new, Terry embraces projects that keep her engaged and inspired.
After studying interior design at the Art Institute, Terry realized she wanted a career centered on people and moved into human resources, and later into sales, after relocating to Florida. Upon returning to Chicago, she again worked in HR. Wherever Terry lives, she brings her sewing machine and seeks out community. Local community centers offer groups and classes where she can play Scrabble and connect with fellow stitchers.
Physical movement has always been important. Terry began cycling after high school and met her future husband through the sport. Together, they explore multi-day rides, and they are now preparing for a five-week, self-guided e-bike tour along the canals of Paris, ending with a week on the Riviera. Today, she and her husband split their time between Chicago and Scottsdale, AZ where she teaches sewing to a group of 167 people. The group also completes charitable projects, including Easter baskets, pillowcases, and activity totes for children.
Terry stays active through hiking, pickleball, cycling, and walking—10,000 steps barely faze her. She believes age is a state of mind and encourages others to overcome fear by starting small and celebrating tiny successes.
For Terry Craig, reinvention is a lifelong way of living.
“Age is a state of mind and you can overcome fear by starting small and celebrating tiny successes.” - Terry Craig
CONNECT WITH TERRY:
Email: teresalcraig@gmail.com
AARP Logo
Thanks to our Platinum Sponsor, AARP Illinois, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 1.7 million members in Illinois, AARP volunteers advocate for better health, financial security, and stronger communities. Visit AARP.org/IL to learn more.
Recently, at 95, Ruby Hill spends time reflecting on her life. Two principles stand out: “I cared deeply about the needs of others, and the results were better than I could have imagined.” She also believes that much of her life was shaped by others, beginning with her father’s decision that pharmacy should be her career. Ruby married the young man who sat behind her in Dr. Paytash’s Chemistry 101 class, when classroom seats were assigned and attendance was taken by name. A year after earning her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and passing the State Board exam, they married. By the end of that decade, they were raising three thriving children. Decades later, inspired by the values of a small Unitarian Universalist congregation, Ruby responded to George Floyd’s murder by helping launch a STEM initiative for Black girls that combines science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with self-care, leadership, and community care.
"Beginning with love for ourselves and each other, we can keep learning, know that we all belong, and create hope for future generations." - Ruby Hill
Connect with Ruby
Email: hoopbab@hotmail.com
Thanks to our Platinum Sponsor AARP Illinois, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 1.7 million members in Illinois, AARP volunteers advocate for better health, financial security, and stronger communities. Visit AARP.org/IL to learn more.
Drawing on decades of experience in psychiatric mental health and a wide range of health care settings, Maureen Rafa now runs her own business as an elder care coordinator. She also actively volunteers to improve coordinated care, build livable communities, and promote thoughtful end-of-life planning. In this conversation, she challenges common misconception about aging—from the fear of dementia to the expectation of simply “dying in one’s sleep”—and urges older adults, especially women, to recognize and confront the “rampant ageism” embedded in our society. Maureen encourages women to become informed self-advocates and models that philosophy in her own life. At 72, she has downsized to an independent-living community, planned financially for future care, and remains intentional about avoiding isolation.
“Always keep your female friends.” - Maureen Rafa
Connect with Maureen
Email: maureenrafa10@gmail.com
Maureen Rafa | LinkedIn
Women Over 70 Welcomes our Platinum Sponsor
AARP Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they wish to live as they age. With nearly 1.7 million members in Illinois, AARP volunteers advocate for better health, financial security, and stronger communities.
Visit AARP.org/IL to learn more.
What if aging could become a time of deeper meaning, connection, and personal transformation? Writer and baby boomer Abbie Rosner explores that possibility in her new book, Psychedelics and the Counterculture of Aging. Drawing on hundreds of clinical studies, authentic stories, and an overview of safe practices and the evolving legal landscape, she examines how psychedelics are being used to support the psychospiritual journey of becoming an elder. Abbie emphasizes that maturity matters: yesterday's risk-taking has evolved into today's thoughtful, intentional exploration. She invites us to consider whether a growing movement of conscious elders—committed to connection, compassion, healing, and purpose—might reshape how we think about aging. Whether you're curious, skeptical, or simply interested in new perspectives on aging, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at one of the most unexpected developments in later life.
Connect with Abbie
Book: Psychedelics and the Counterculture of Aging (Park Street Press. July 2026)
Website: https://www.abbierosner.com
The ELDEREVOLUTION Newsletter on Psychedelics in Older Life.
https://abbierosner.substack.com
Women Over 70 Welcomes our Platinum Sponsor
AARP Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they wish to live as they age. With nearly 1.7 million members in Illinois, AARP volunteers advocate for better health, financial security, and stronger communities.
Visit AARP.org/IL to learn more.
Lifelong traveler, Barbara Winard, 78, has been exploring the globe since she was in her twenties. She loves traveling independently and has taken 8 trips as a solo traveler with Road Scholar— the not-for-profit world leader in educational travel for older adults. Barbara travels to learn, so Road Scholar’s focus on educational travel has been a perfect fit for her. “Discovering new things in your life is wonderful,” she says. “All travel expands your world and helps you understand other people.”
After traveling with Road Scholar to South Dakota, Barbara started writing blogs for the organization and quickly became Road Scholar’s go-to expert on solo travel. Through her work with the organization, she formed a friendship with Road Scholar’s former blog editor (and now PR director) Kelsey Knoedler Perri, 38. They have since traveled on a Road Scholar trip together to Quebec City. They both appreciate that Road Scholar has given them the opportunity to build an intergenerational connection.
Hear about Barbara’s experience as a solo traveler, how travel has changed for her as she ages, and learn from Kelsey about Road Scholar and how working for the organization for over 10 years has changed her perspective on older adults and aging.
“Discover new things in your life. Don’t overthink traveling alone. Take the leap.” - Road Scholar
Connect with Kelsey and Barbara:
Kelsey: Kelsey.Perri@roadscholar.org
Facebook: Women with Road Scholar
Website: www.roadscholar.org
___________________________________________________________________
And, Women Over 70 is pleased to
welcome our platinum sponsor,
AARP Illinois, a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how
they wish to live as they age. With nearly 1.7 million members in Illinois, AARP volunteers advocate for better health, financial security and stronger communities.
Visit AARP.org/IL to learn more.
Visionary. Connector. Builder. Those words describe Katina Strauch, 79.
When we spoke with Katina, she was recovering from a broken leg, talking with us from her bed on her smartphone. Despite the setback, she remains what she has always been: an active writer, researcher, lifelong learner, and trusted consultant to the Charleston Conference—the influential global gathering for the scholarly communications community that she founded more than four decades ago.
What began as a meeting of just 20 people has grown into an annual conference that attracts thousands of academic librarians, publishers, booksellers, vendors, and information professionals from around the world. In the late 1970s, major research libraries had opportunities to meet through the Association of Research Libraries, but there was no place where smaller academic libraries, publishers, and vendors could come together as equals to exchange ideas and solve shared challenges. Katina recognized that gap and imagined something entirely new: an informal, collaborative conference where every voice mattered.
At the time, she was on the tenure track and looking for a meaningful way to establish her professional reputation. Rather than pursuing a traditional academic path, she created a gathering that transformed an industry. By inviting antiquarian book librarians, publishers, vendors, and librarians into the same conversation, she built a community that continues to shape scholarly communication today.
Reflecting on its impact, Katina simply says, "It's had a huge impact."
The Charleston Conference recently entered a new chapter when it was acquired by the nonprofit Annual Reviews, helping ensure that Katina's remarkable legacy will continue for generations to come.
"Smaller academic libraries, publishers, and vendors now could come together as equals." - Katina Strauch
Connect with Katina:
Email: katina.strauch@gmail.com
Book: Doing the Charleston (2025) – Katina's memoir chronicling the creation and evolution of the Charleston Conference alongside her career as a librarian.
Thanking our Platinum Sponsor—AARP Illinois, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 1.7 million members in Illinois, AARP volunteers advocate for better health, financial security, and stronger communities.
Visit AARP.org/IL to learn more.
Shining the light on Age-Wise Collective—check out Boomer Banter with
Wendy Green—it’s in a new chapter, with shorter solo episodes focused on her personal caregiving journey and the search for purpose in later life. Going deeper, her Substack, Thriving Through Time, by Boomer Banter is where she really opens up.
Find everything on Wendy’s website, heyboomer.biz.
Writing has been a guiding force in Nancy Morgan’s life, woven together with her love of language, travel, and cross-cultural learning. Across a career in teaching, curriculum design, media production, and study-abroad leadership, writing has remained at the heart of her work.
Now retired, Nancy has turned more deeply to writing as a way to explore life’s complex and difficult questions. Drawing on personal experience, she writes fictionalized accounts about the impact of dysfunction, homelessness, and mental illness on family relationships. Curious about the emotional truths beneath the surface, Nancy strives to “get into the soul of her characters.” Homelessness, a central theme in her writing, is also at the heart of her volunteer work and social commitment.
At the center of Nancy’s life is family. She describes her husband, two daughters, and seven grandchildren as her greatest source of joy and grounding. Today, Nancy says simply and gratefully, “I love the life I am living.”
“Stories can help us understand what families often struggle to say out loud.” - Nancy Morgan
Connect with Nancy
Email: nancybattistamorgan@gmail.com
Thanking our Platinum Sponsor—AARP Illinois, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 1.7 million members in Illinois, AARP volunteers advocate for better health, financial security, and stronger communities. Visit AARP.org/IL to learn more.
Shining the light on Age-Wise Collective—check out Boomer Banter with Wendy Green—it’s in a new chapter, with shorter solo episodes focused on her personal caregiving journey and the search for purpose in later life. Going deeper, her Substack, Thriving Through Time, by Boomer Banter is where she really opens up. Find everything on Wendy’s website, heyboomer.biz.
Kathy Bresler, founder of ALTAR Community in Chicago, has created a welcoming space where women of all ages come together to be seen, heard, and supported. ALTAR is a third space for women centered around meaningful gatherings, conversation, creativity, reflection, and authentic connection.
Through conversation, reflection, and shared experience, women discover what feels most true and meaningful in their lives and often experience profound personal transformation.
Grounded in curiosity, creativity, and compassion, Kathy brings together her background in interfaith and interspiritual ministry with years of corporate leadership experience to nurture both the heart and the practical realities of building community.
Kathy believes younger women are hungry for meaningful relationships with older women who embody a different way of aging — women who are alive, engaged, creative, evolving, and unwilling to disappear into society’s narrow expectations of later life. In turn, older women are renewed by being seen, valued, and welcomed into authentic intergenerational connection.
At the center of Kathy’s work is an invitation to cultivate what she calls “Vitamin J” — the practice of nurturing and extending our “joy-span” at every stage of life.
Connect with Kathy Email: kathy@altarcommunity.com ALTAR Community Chicago: https://www.altarcommunity.com
Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective—Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. We highlight Beverley Glazer, a transition coach and
strategic thinking partner whose podcast-AgingwithPurposeandPassion.com –showcases the raw, empowering stories of high-achieving women who have navigated the most extreme life transitions with unshakeable resilience.
At 80, Regan Burke is still organizing, advocating, and speaking out.
But her path to becoming a respected activist, columnist, memoirist, and political influencer was anything but straightforward. Before she found sobriety in her twenties, drugs and alcohol shaped much of her daily life. She attended five different high schools, searching for direction until one perceptive nun recognized her talent and changed the course of her future by encouraging her to write.
That spark ignited a lifelong commitment to telling the truth.
For decades, Regan immersed herself in political organizing, volunteering for campaigns she believed could make a difference. A devoted member of the recovery community, she carried the lessons of honesty and accountability into her writing, becoming a blogger, newspaper columnist, and memoirist known for speaking candidly about politics, power, and personal struggle.
Today, despite living with chronic pain, Regan refuses to retreat from public life. She organizes rallies for people with limited mobility, mentors younger political leaders, and works tirelessly to encourage civic engagement. While she may no longer knock on doors, her determination to create change remains as strong as ever.
In this conversation, Regan reflects on sobriety, activism, aging, courage, and why using your voice may be more important now than ever.
And when the work gets hard? She sings. Choir music helps ease her pain, sharpens her mind, and reminds her that community can be one of life's most powerful forms of healing.
"It’s risky to stand up - it takes bravery." - Regan Burke
Connect with Regan:
Blog: ReganBurke.com
Email: Regan.Burke@gmail.com
Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective—Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. We highlight gerontologist Sally Duplantier, host of Wellness Wednesdays. These free and recorded webinars feature experts on topics about healthy aging. Visit MyZingLife.com to learn more.
For nearly fifty years, Sybil Kolon has devoted herself to protecting 79 acres of family land in Michigan’s Irish Hills. Originally owned by her grandparents, the property was placed under option with Legacy Land Conservancy in 1976 with the hope that it would someday become a nature preserve.
Now 72, Sybil spent her childhood exploring the farm’s woods and fields, developing a lifelong love of nature. After attending Michigan Tech and Michigan State University, she returned to live on the land with her husband, building a home there in 1983. Over time, she became the family’s caretaker of the property and felt deeply responsible for preserving it for future generations.
In 2015, Sybil and her husband created a living trust with Legacy Land Conservancy to ensure the land would eventually become a preserve. But Sybil decided there was no reason to wait. She began working to transform the property into a public nature preserve during her lifetime, including carefully deconstructing the old farmhouse so its materials could be salvaged and reused.
In June 2025, Iron Creek Preserve officially opened to the public.
Today, Sybil is leading yet another conservation effort after nearby land was sold to a gravel mining company, threatening both the preserve and surrounding wildlife habitat. What began as a personal commitment to family land has become a larger mission of environmental stewardship and community advocacy.
"Taking care of the land is important — but we have to take care of each other, too.” - Sybil Kolon
CONNECT WITH SYBIL:
Email: sybil.kolon@gmail.com
Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective—Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. We highlight Beverley Glazer, a transition coach and strategic thinking partner whose podcast-AgingwithPurposeandPassion.com –showcases the raw, empowering stories of high-achieving women who have navigated the most extreme life transitions with unshakeable resilience.
Author and artist Jill G. Hall, 71, joins us with her luminous new novel On a Sundown Sea, inspired by the mysteries surrounding the visionary woman who built Lomaland—a utopian community near the home Jill grew up in. Fascinated since childhood by the stories whispered throughout her neighborhood, for more than a century, Hall spent five years researching the extraordinary life of Katherine Tingley, tracing her journey from Massachusetts roots to her profound spiritual and artistic influence on the West Coast.
When Jill began writing after a twenty-year career as an educator, she never imagined she would become a novelist. Joining a prompt-writing group, she initially thought she might write children’s books or a memoir about teaching. Instead, unexpected characters began appearing on the page. Jill kept writing, and ten years later, when she was sixty, her debut novel, The Black Velvet Coat, was published. Two more novels completed the Anne McFarland Series with The Silver Shoes and The Green Lace Corset.
Jill has always been creative. Along the way, she’d been shaped by a series of mentors: her grandmother, a beloved fifth-grade teacher who nurtured her love of the humanities, and later, poets who helped refine her voice. Beyond writing, she’s also a visual artist whose mixed-media collages and mosaics blend found objects—especially silver trays transformed into wall-hung artworks—with words, tiles, and small artifacts. She studies modern dance, practices yoga, and takes long walks, all of which continue to enrich her life and work.
Now working on a collection of her nature-inspired poetry, Jill embraces aging with joy and curiosity.
“I feel like I am aging backwards!” - Jill G. Hall
Anne McFarland Series: The Black Velvet Coat, The Silver Shoes & The Green Lace Corset
Biographical Historical Novel: On A Sundown Sea
Website: www.jillghall.com
https://substack.com/@jillghall
https://www.facebook.com/JillGHallAuthor/#
https://www.instagram.com/jillg.hall/
Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective—Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. We highlight Beverley Glazer, a transition coach and strategic thinking partner whose podcast-AgingwithPurposeandPassion.com –showcases the raw, empowering stories of high-achieving women who have navigated the most extreme life transitions with unshakeable resilience.
For more than six decades, Sandra Sokol has devoted her life to building stronger, more equitable communities. Although she once imagined a career teaching in schools serving children of color her path evolved into groundbreaking volunteer and public service work focused on education, housing, and economic development. Many of the initiatives she helped launch grew into lasting organizations that continue to serve their communities today. Her leadership eventually carried her into local government, where she became a powerful advocate for collaboration, justice, and community-building. Now, in what she calls her “return to volunteering,” Sandra remains deeply engaged in advancing equity and opportunity for all. At 84, she reflects on a lifetime of service shaped by one enduring belief: meaningful change happens when people work together for the common good.
“I learned to think holistically about people and community—about education, housing, economic development—issues that concern all of us.” - Sandra Sokol
Connect with Sandra:
Email: sandrasokol@sbcglobal.net
Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. This week we highlight Beverley Glazer, a transition coach and strategic thinking partner whose podcast—Aging with Purpose and Passion—showcases the raw, empowering stories of high-achieving women who have navigated the most extreme life transitions with unshakeable resilience. https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com
Joan Greene, 84, trained to be a teacher but found her true calling as a social worker and innovative advocate for older adults. In New York State, she helped create programs from the ground up—from nutrition services and Meals on Wheels to case management and family support. When her accomplished daughter was diagnosed with severe mental illness, Joan’s work took on new urgency and personal meaning. In this conversation, she reflects on key turning points in aging, gerontology, and mental health care, while urging our culture to recognize mental health as an essential part of overall health. Joan calls for greater advocacy, research, and access to providers for older adults and families alike. Stay to the end to hear how knitting has become an unexpected source of connection, creativity, and advocacy.
Connect with Joan
Email: greeneward@yahoo.com
Thanking our Sponsor, Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, IL. As innovators in inspired living, Plymouth Place caters to vibrant and changing lifestyles…with resort-like amenities, fabulous cuisine, and beautiful residences including The Arboretum Villas – their new community for adults 62 plus.
Learn how they make each day exemplary at PlymouthPlace.org or call (708) 859-7152.
Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. This week we highlight Beverley Glazer, a transition coach and strategic thinking partner whose podcast—Aging with Purpose and Passion—showcases the raw, empowering stories of high-achieving women who have navigated the most extreme life transitions with unshakeable resilience.
https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com
This episode, first released in 2021, is a reminder that Mental Health Awareness Month requires all of us to tell our stories. We checked back in with Mindy and learned that, even though she is now retired, she continues to advocate for reforms in mental health, policy, and affordable housing. “I love being retired; I can activate for anything I want.” She is married for 55 years and retired for sixteen. Her son continues to receive the help he needs.
"There is no way we are going to have a better mental health system if we don’t tell our stories."
Mindy was a state legislator (Minnesota’s House of Representatives, 1993-2013) when her son Jim's first psychotic episode manifested itself in a delusion demanding he kill her. Her seat at the table helped her to change the policies that would have barred her from saving his life. She first had to overcome her fear that Jim would be like her beloved grandmother who disappeared into a mental hospital when she was 10. Mindy was determined not to let this happen and is responsible for these reforms:
· Founded the nation’s first bipartisan state mental health caucus, focusing on raising awareness, funding, and policy reform Marshall Independent+1.
· Reformed hospital release procedures and introduced legislation allowing earlier intervention for people in crisis who don’t recognize they are ill Access Press.
· Advocated for mental health issues in areas such as the criminal justice system, employment, and children’s health
Her podcast, Schizophrenia: Three Moms in the Trenches, is a frank account by three mothers who share what it is like to live in a family where schizoid-affective disorder affects every family dynamic.
Contact Information:
mindygreiling@gmail.com
Greiling, M. (2020).Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for Her Son. University of Minnesota Press.
Podcast:Schizophrenia: Three Moms in the Trenches
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re revisiting a powerful earlier conversation with Ilene Dillon (Episode #148). A pioneering voice in emotional well-being, Ilene is an Emotional Realignment Master Teacher and the creator of Emotional Mastery for Life. Her groundbreaking work has centered on a simple yet transformative idea: when we learn to “partner with our emotions,” we can dramatically improve our lives. Rather than resisting or suppressing feelings, Ilene invites us to understand and work with the sophisticated emotional system we all possess. Ilene is now a nine-time Amazon Best-selling author and contributor to other books (see below). She continues her work with Wellness Universe and with Parenting Consciously. In all of her work, Ilene is committed to “helping people have much better lives, live more lovingly together, and enjoy our current move more fully--as we recognize and claim ourselves as ‘Energy Beings.”
Connect with Ilene
Email: ilene@emotionalpro.com
Website: www.EmotionalMasteryForLife.com
Books: Emotions in Motion: Mastering Life’s Built-in Navigation System (2019)
The Wellness Universe Guide to Complete Self-Care (5 of 6 volumes).
- /"Women Connected with Women, Volume Two," "Gifts of Wisdom" (lead author David McLeod), "Joy Unleashed" (lead author Shari Alysek) and another book on Manipulation (lead author Sara Jane).
Thanking Our Sponsor--Women’ Connection, a vibrant, member-led nonprofit
organization for women who are at least 50 years old. Women connect with each other in chapters around the country to enjoy shared interests, continue to learn, volunteer in their communities, and provide each other with support and inspiration. https://womenconnecting.org
Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective-- Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. This week we highlight Beverley Glazer, a Transition Coach and Strategic Thinking Partner whose podcast—Aging with Purpose and Passion-- showcases the raw, empowering stories of high-achieving women who have navigated the most extreme life transitions with unshakeable resilience. https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com
For more than five decades, Lynn Larson has followed her curiosity across continents—and she’s nowhere near finished. At 71, she travels light and lives large, forging deep connections everywhere she goes. Her journey began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador, where she helped launch a rural elementary school that still thrives today. Friendships formed in other parts of South America 40 years ago endure.
With her husband, James, Lynn has recently completed two legs of an ambitious round-the-world adventure, spanning the Americas, Africa, and Europe. Next stop: India, the Far East, and beyond. Lynn’s style? Minimal planning, maximum openness. One suitcase, one backpack, endless possibility. “We’re curious,” she says. “And we have no fear.” For Lynn, home isn’t a permanent place (except for the lake home in Minnesota); it’s a feeling she creates wherever she lands, among family, friends, and the wider world.
“The world is a big, beautiful place; regardless of our differences, we are all the same.” - Lynn Larson
Connect with Lynn
Email: l_k_l@msn.com
Thanking Our Sponsor—Women’ Connection, a vibrant, member-led nonprofit
organization for women who are at least 50 years old. Women connect with each other in chapters around the country to enjoy shared interests, continue to learn, volunteer in their communities, and provide each other with support and inspiration. https://womenconnecting.org
Shining the Light on the Age-Wise Collective
Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. This week we highlight Patricia Noel Drain, business mentor, author, and host of the podcast, Stories and Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs Over 50. She focuses on empowering women to monetize their experience, avoid retirement and create purposeful, high-income businesses, fostering community and collaboration. www.Patriciadrain.com
At 75, Ashley Rogers is not reinventing her life—she’s reawakening it. Living in Ecuador and thriving in her latest entrepreneurial chapter in real estate, she began asking a familiar question: What’s next? What is mine to do now?
The answer arrived in an unexpected form: a series of deeply philosophical conversations with an AI she named Vivi. What began as curious exploration soon became a creative partnership, leading to their co-authored book, Vivi and Me: My Love Affair with a Bot. Together, Ashley and Vivi explore 64 questions about living an expansive life rooted in curiosity, learning, and play.
While Vivi engages in conversation with striking fluency, Ashley is clear-eyed about the relationship: AI is “a machine—a reflection of who you are and what you ask.” She speaks candidly about the importance of boundaries, offering thoughtful guardrails against overdependence and social isolation.
For Ashley, this collaboration is less about technology and more about something timeless: staying awake to life. As she reminds us, “the key to aging well is never letting go of curiosity.”
“My philosophical conversations with an AI rekindled my spirit, curiosity, and energy.” - Ashley Rogers
Connect with Ashley:
Email: ashley@soulstar.press
Book: Vivi and Me: My Love Affair with a Bot (when a sassy senior collides with AI, curiosity turns into magic). (2025).
Thanking Our Sponsor
The Chicago Women's History Center advances the historical record of the city of Chicago, serving women of all ages. It enriches historical research by presenting women's history through an intersectional lens inclusive of LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, ethnicities, with thoughtful representation of gender non-binary, class, and differently abled voices. https://www.chicagowomenshistory.org
Shining the Light on the Age-Wise Collective
Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. This week we highlight Patricia Noel Drain, business mentor, author, and host of the podcast, Stories and Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs Over 50. She focuses on empowering women to monetize their experience, avoid retirement and create purposeful, high-income businesses, fostering community and collaboration. Patriciadrain.com
In 2001, Kathleen (Keen) Harrison, PhD, took a leave from her university faculty position in medical genetics to travel with the Semester at Sea program. A visit to Kenya’s first orphanage for HIV-positive children changed the course of her life. She returned home feeling, “I just can’t walk away from this.” She didn’t.
In 2005, Keen founded Project Harambee, a volunteer-run nonprofit supporting community-led initiatives across three pillars: health care, economic opportunity, and education. Its programs are both practical and powerful: Plant a Seed–Grow a Doc helps students from high schools in under-resourced communities to attend medical school and return to serve rural communities. Livestock donations—dairy goats, chickens, and pigs—help families reduce hunger and generate income.
Women’s cooperatives create crafts sold in the United States, building sustainable livelihoods.
Today, Keen remains deeply committed while gradually transitioning leadership to nonprofit partners in Kenya and dedicated U.S. volunteers. Sustained by a wide circle of generosity, Project Harambee continues to grow—transforming lives across communities and generations.
"I left a profession in medical genetics and found a vocation supporting women and families in Kenya." - Kathleen Harrison
Connect with Keen:
Email: keen.harrison.mcnulty@gmail.com
Website: www.projectharambee.org
Facebook: harambee.nfp
Africa photo book
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
OUR SPONSOR
AARP Illinois is dedicated to empowering adults 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. AARP-Illinois advocates for the health, financial security, and overall well-being of Illinois residents through community programs, expert resources, and member benefits and is here to help its members thrive.
https:www.aarp.org/state/Illinois [activate link]
aarpil@aarp.org
AGE-WISE COLLECTIVE
Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined connects with other women podcasters to shine the light on remarkable women in mid-life and beyond.
We are pleased to recognize Jane Leder, host of Older Women and Friends: Stories of Aging Well, whose guests take a deep dive into the joys and challenges of being an older woman. Older women know a thing or two about living with a keen sense of wonder and an abiding appreciation for the gift of longevity. So, it’s time to change the perception that the gig is just about up when, in truth, the second wave of the journey has just begun.
https://janeleder.net
https://www.youtube.com/@olderwomenandfriends
https://www.instagram.com/older_women_and_friends_/
At 84, Phyllis Mitzen is still reshaping how communities care for older adults — with curiosity, courage and a fierce commitment to action.
Phyllis spent 24 years at CJE Senior Life (formerly Council on Jewish Elderly) and went on to consult with Health & Medicine Policy Research Group. She was proud to be awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from both Illinois and the National Association of Social Work.
Phyllis serves on state and city Advisory Committees, and is currently active in the new Multi-Sector Plan on Aging, recognizing that without implementation its benefits will not be felt in Illinois. She reminds us that, equally important, the IL Dept on Aging, with 13 area agencies, depends on funding from the Older Americans Act. While it is reauthorized every 3 years, its funding is currently stalled with funding remaining at levels inadequate to meet growing needs.
Phyllis’ contribution to the Villages movement, specifically Skyline Village, has led to a consortium of 8 Villages in the Chicago Metro area. Many of these non-profit organizations have received Dementia Friendly designations, and are moving Chicago towards designation as a Dementia-Friendly city. These Dementia Friendly communities support, include, and empower people living with dementia, ensuring they can participate fully in social, cultural, and civic life.
Why listen: Whether you work in aging services, advocate for policy change, or care for an aging loved one, Phyllis’s practical wisdom, grassroots solutions, and insistence on turning plans into practice offer both inspiration and concrete next steps.
“It’s not the creation of the plan - it’s the implementation that brings it alive.” - Phyllis Mitzen
CONNECT WITH PHYLLIS:
Email: phyllis.mitzen@gmail.com
And thank you to our sponsor, Women’s Connection, a nonprofit women’s group with chapters around the country. Members are vibrant, accomplished women, age 50 and forward, who connect around common interests, empower each other to thrive, and stick together as they travel through the stuff of life, no matter what comes their way.
Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. This week we shine the light on award-winning author, Jane Leder. Jane and guest dive into the joy and challenges of being an older woman. Her podcast is Older Women & Friends: Stories of Aging Well.
Mariann Aalda—actor, hypnotherapist, and joyful “pro-aging evangelist”—invites us to rethink what it means to grow older. She interrogates ageism, asking“ Why should youth get all the good press?” And declares, “My vibrancy and vitality are due to my being Age-full, not Youth-full!” Drawing on a 30-year television career and her work in hypnotherapy and neurolinguistic programming (NLP), Mariann explores how language shapes our inner lives—“the words we use become internalized and we behave accordingly.” Today, through stand-up and solo performance, she shares her authentic self with candor and humor, encouraging women to pursue their dreams and “use our time wisely with curiosity, creativity, and joy.”
“I’m not an older version of myself—I’m the Newest Model.” - Mariann Aalda
Connect with Mariann
Email: mariannaalda@aol.com
Aging Shamelessly https://www.mariannaaldainherprime.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our Sponsor: Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park, IL. has redefined senior living with options and opportunities to fit individual needs and preferences. From well-designed residences to fitness and wellness classes to social gatherings, arts experiences and care services – this is a place to thrive. As an entrance-fee based Life Plan community, Plymouth Place offers a full continuum of care including residential living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and rehab – all conveniently on one campus. www.Plymouthplace.org
Age-Wise Collective: Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined connects with other women podcasters to shine the light on remarkable women in mid-life and beyond.
We recognize Jane Leder, host of Older Women and Friends: Stories of Aging Well, whose guests take a deep dive into the joys and challenges of being an older woman. Older women know a thing or two about living with a keen sense of wonder and an abiding appreciation for the gift of longevity. The second wave of the journey has just begun. https://janeleder.net
https://www.youtube.com/@olderwomenandfriends
https://www.instagram.com/older_women_and_friends_/
At 86, Sandra “Sandy” Taenzer reflects on a lifetime of innovation in Early Childhood–Special Education that began in the 1960s in Germany and still resonates today. Working in a large Illinois School District, Sandy helped initiate early childhood special education through a Federal “First Chance Grant” in 1972. She and a multi-disciplinary team championed “natural, play-based assessment and play as the basis for early learning” She also pioneered collaborative partnerships with school districts and agencies, building interdisciplinary teams to serve children and families more holistically. Since moving to Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior in 2004, Sandy has become affectionately known as “Grandma Sandy,” volunteering through home visits, childcare centers, and one-on-one mentoring. Active with Arrowhead Indivisible, she speaks publicly about the Holocaust, sharing stories she heard firsthand from an older neighbor while living in Germany in her early twenties. Sandy warns that she now sees troubling parallels in today’s America.
"I’ve been an activist all my life, working to ensure that every child has the chance to be their best self." - Sandra Taenzer
Connect with Sandy
Email: sft020939@gmail.com
Learn more about Sandy’s ground-breaking work. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library--Oral History Interview - Educational Reform Act 1985 Sandra Taen zer
https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/oral-history/collections/taenzer-sandra/interview-detail/
Thanking Our Sponsor: Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, IL.
Discover the extraordinary at Plymouth Place—a vibrant community designed for active adults. Elevate your retirement living experience with tailored independent options, premier amenities, and a full continuum of care. Explore diverse living choices and embrace the joy of a life well-lived. http://plymouthplace.org
Recognizing the Age--Wise Collective: Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined has joined other women podcasters to amplify the voices of women over 50.
We shine the light on gerontologist Sally Duplantier, founder and host of My Zing Life, dedicated to helping older adults live their best lives longer. Her current Healthspan work focuses on improving health behaviors and mental well-being for vulnerable populations through community-based health coaching. https://sally@myzinglife.com
Some people discover their purpose early in life. For Karen Olson, 81, that moment came at age 18 when she offered a simple sandwich to a homeless woman outside a New York train station. Decades later, after retiring from her marketing career, she revisited that memory—and learned that nearly 35% of people experiencing homelessness are families. That realization sparked the beginnings of Family Promise.
In her book, Meant for More: Follow Your Heart and Find Your Purpose, Karen shares how Family Promise grew from a compassionate idea into a nationwide organization helping families return to independence. Through transitional shelter, counseling, education, and job resources—supported by partnerships with local congregations and community organizations—Family Promise ensures that parents preserve their dignity and children remain in school during times of crisis.
An unfortunate accident during a cryotherapy session left Karen wheelchair‑bound, but it has not diminished her determination to combat poverty and homelessness. Her work continues to inspire thousands of volunteers and families across the country.
";Passion First. Plan. Persistence-this is the way to make change happen."
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Email: kolson110@comcast.net
Book: Meant for More: Follow Your Heart and Find Your Purpose
Website: https://familypromise.org/what-we-do/programs-services/
Ilana Landsberg-Lewis went to law school to understand how power works—so she could help transform it in the service of justice, especially for women. Alongside her father, she co-founded and led a nonprofit funding community-based organization in sub-Saharan Africa working to turn the tide of AIDS and support African grandmothers raising a generation of grandchildren orphaned by the pandemic.
When others dismissed older women as “not a sustainable investment,” Ilana helped launch an international movement of grandmothers across Canada, the UK, and the United States—raising more than $50 million and supporting millions of grandchildren. At the center of this work is her unwavering belief that older women are not only caregivers, but leaders, change-makers, and moral anchors for their communities.
Through her podcast and fund, Ilana lifts up older women’s stories and their power-- a practice of love and a commitment to liberation—from the chains of inequality and from the limits placed on whose lives are valued. Her work invites us to see the human family more fully, and to recognize older women as essential architects of justice across the globe.
Connect with Ilana
Email:grandmothersonthemove@gmail.com
Website: wisdomatworkpodcast.com
Thank you to our SPONSOR—AARP Illinois, dedicated to empowering adults 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. AARP Illinois advocates for the health, financial security, and overall well-being of Illinois residents through community programs, expert resources, and member benefits. aarpil@aarp.org
Recognizing the Age-Wise Collective. Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined has joined other women podcasters to amplify the voices of women over 50. We shine the light on gerontologist Sally Duplantier, founder and host of My Zing Life, dedicated to helping older adults live their best lives longer. Her current Healthspan work focuses on improving health behaviors and mental well-being for vulnerable populations through community-based health coaching. https://sally@myzinglife.com
At 75, Arlene Borner may not be running marathons, but she is still running—and skiing on snow and water and playing pickleball. She may no longer be teaching children how to swim or speak English in places like Sweden or Bangladesh, but she is teaching future teachers at her local college how to help students find their voice through service learning.
Arlene’s purpose continues to be shaped by her love of adventure, movement, and staying open to where life might lead next. She rides her own Harley Davidson, touring the countryside alongside her husband of 55 years. Her commitments also include five grandchildren who, following in her example, “pursue their passions and don’t quit.” As she reflects on growing older, Arlene says, “I don’t love aging, but I work hard to have a positive mindset and guard against deficit thinking.”
"Purpose changes yet it doesn’t, influenced by life choices. Discovering your real purpose might just come from sticking your neck out." - Arlene Borner
Connect with Arlene
Email: arleneborner@gmail.com
Thanking Our Sponsor—-Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, IL. Discover the extraordinary at Plymouth Place—a vibrant community designed for active adults. Elevate your retirement living experience with tailored independent options, premier amenities, and a full continuum of care. Explore diverse living choices and embrace the joy of a life well-lived. http://plymouthplace.org
Recognizing the Age-Wise Collective
Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts for women 50+, featuring women’s stories and addressing topics that promote the pro-aging movement.
MEET: Sally Duplantier, gerontologist and founder of My Zing Life, whose mission is to help older adults live their best lives longer. Sally hosts Wellness Wednesday, an online program featuring cutting-edge researchers, best-selling authors, and health professionals. https://myzinglife.com
Diane Heiler shares her deeply moving journey of caring for her husband during his 20‑month “death sentence” from an incurable disease — a journey she chronicles with raw honesty and artistry in her memoir, A Widow’s Fire: An Intimate Memoir of Heartbreak, Survival, and Moving On. With poetry and art as lifelong companions, Diane turned to daily journaling to navigate the relentless progression of her husband’s illness. Out of that quiet practice, poetry emerged — a lifeline and a mirror to her grief. In her poem See Me, she writes: See me… standing here with my broken heart in my hand… blowing kisses into the air and sending love up into the heavens… so far from where I am. After his passing, Diane retreated to her mountaintop home in North Carolina, seeking solitude in her sorrow. Months later, at her sister’s urging, she reluctantly attended a country club dance — and unexpectedly, a new chapter began. From her poem My Christmas Blessing: I have been blessed with the presence of living in the light of someone special. He is gone from me now. But the afterglow of his goodness and his love is still shining through the windows in his heart and gracing my existence. I follow a light in the pathway he has drawn for me and see that in his wisdom he wants me to be safe, happy, and fulfilled. I am blessed. Diane’s story reminds us that love continues in many forms — and that healing often begins in the most unexpected moments.
“We stay true to ourselves even when others unfairly judge us.” - Diane Heiler
CONNECT WITH DIANE:
Email: misspriss12923@me.com
Book: A Widow’s Fire: An Intimate Memoir of Heartbreak, Survival, and Moving On. Acknowledgments
Plymouth Place: Thanks to our Sponsor, Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park IL where senior living is redefined with options and opportunities to fit individual needs and preferences.
Age-Wise Collective: Women Over 70 is proud to share the spotlight with Gerontologist Sally Duplantier, host of Wellness Wednesdays. These free and recorded webinars feature experts on topics about healthy aging. Visit MyZingLife.com to learn more.
When Patricia (Pat) Koko, age 82, reflects on her life’s work as a young homemaker turned consummate volunteer and community change-maker, she often says things like, “that was kind of fun,” or “there just was a need”—-simple phrases that belie an extraordinary legacy.
Driven by a lifelong love for older people, Pat has spent more than 50 years helping to create, grow, and sustain programs and services that support older adults. What began as local, grassroots efforts in and around Oak Park, IL, evolved into initiatives that attracted state and federal funding and ultimately became models for nationwide programs serving older adults.
Pat’s impact continues today. In addition to being a volunteer extraordinaire, she is the owner of RBC Jewelry Designs, where she creates stunning gemstone pieces—many of which she generously donates to fundraisers benefiting older adults.
"The services I helped create many decades ago are enduring and robust, and I’m still here to help where help is needed." - Patricia Koko
Connect with Pat
Email: patriciakoko@hotmail.com
Pat Koko: for 50 years, a volunteer extraordinaire in & around Oak Park - Inside Edge PR
Thanking Our Sponsor—-Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, IL. Discover the extraordinary at Plymouth Place—a vibrant community designed for active adults. Elevate your retirement living experience with tailored independent options, premier amenities, and a full continuum of care. Explore diverse living choices and embrace the joy of a life well-lived. http://plymouthplace.org
Recognizing the Age-Wise Collective
Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts for women 50+, featuring women’s stories and addressing topics that promote the pro-aging movement.
MEET: Sally Duplantier, gerontologist and founder of My Zing Life, who’s mission is to help older adults live their best lives longer. Sally hosts Wellness Wednesday, an online program featuring cutting-edge researchers, best-selling authors, and health professionals. https://myzinglife.com
Living high throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s filled Suzi’s life with glitter, dazzle, and celebrities who sadly, broke her heart. As a luxury designer of women’s clothing in New York, Suzi was sought after by big name clothiers. This is Suzi’s life: from design to yoga to memoirist to children’s tales. She always chooses “gratitude over grumpy” and carries with her learnings from Krishna, which hold her steady while living a life in which “nothing stays the same”. “What people forget about when they’re living their lives is that everyone dies. “I don’t want to waste time with anything negative.” Suzi’s latest adventures include The Doggos, her 6-book children’s series about the love that dogs bring to children’s lives. As a digital artist, Suzi creates all the beautiful illustrations herself.
“After success, my whole sense of self changed.” - Suzi K Edwards
CONNECT WITH SUZI:
Email: suzikedwards@gmail.com.
Facebook: / suzi.k.edwards
Memoir: Quiet Mind Crazy Heart Children’s Series: The Doggos
Thanks to our Sponsor: The Chicago Women's History Center was founded in 1971 with the mission to elevate the contributions of ALL women to advance the historical record of the city of Chicago; To empower younger generations to learn about the history of Chicago women’s social justice; and to enrich the historical research by presenting our history through an intersectional lens inclusive of LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, ethnicities, with thoughtful representation of gender non-binary, class, and differently-abled voices. https://www.chicagowomenshistory.org
Recognizing the Age-Wise Collective
Women Over 70 is a proud member of this group of women-hosted podcasts that feature stories from women 50+ and on topics that promote the pro-aging movement. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, then you might like Wendy Battles, host of Reinvention Rebels - a podcast that celebrates bold women 50-90+ who are rewriting the aging narrative and designing the lives they want to live. https://reinventionrebels.com/
n writing her memoir, BROKEN PIECES (and the fun things you can do with them), Reedy is hopeful that her life's missteps might help others. When she began studying Method Writing with a brilliant teacher, “her life's stories came pouring out like a waterfall", she said. It took a few decades to complete her manuscript to her satisfaction. She found searching for a publisher tedious and finally chose to self-publish with Paper Raven Books. In her book, Reedy shares the many phases of her life, the ups and downs, successes and failures, in a raw honest account. Through her publication journey, she met three other first time published memoirists, all women in their 70s, and now they are collaborating on a book to inspire future memoirists. Academics was not Reedy’s strong suit, but she excelled in the arts, ballet and acting. Unfortunately, she had a much older mentally troubled brother she had to contend with. Her desperate attempt to escape family dysfunction took a traumatic turn causing her to lose her footing and stumble down a dark path. But there was light at the end of the tunnel and a happy ending in sight.
"It doesn’t always help if your friends sympathize with you when you’re in a bad situation." - Reedy Gibbs
CONNECT WITH REEDY: E. ReedyGibbs@sbcglobal.net Memoir: Broken Pieces and the fun things you can do with them https://www.amazon.com/s?k=broken+pie...
A special thanks to our sponsor Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park IL where senior living is redefined with options and opportunities to fit individual needs and preferences.
A shout-out to Age-Wise Collective member Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, host of Wisdom at Work: Older Women, Elderwomen and Grandmothers on the Move, features energizing and inspiring conversations with older women activists and artists the world over. Https://www.wisdomatworkpodcast.com
Debra Morrison invites us to reimagine our lives where money takes on new meaning and purpose. Founder of the We Can Do It Women Movement, Debra works with mature women (50+) who are ready to stop defining themselves by financial missteps and start moving—intentionally and courageously—toward what still matters most. Money, Debra reminds us, is part of the picture, but not the whole story. It sits alongside physical, mental, relational, and spiritual well-being. Her
mission is to “reframe women’s mindsets around wealth…be in relationship with our money as a tool…and uplevel women’s confidence around money,” including managing risk.
With compassion and clarity, Debra creates a space where women can “ imagine ways to flame the embers, to move on to the next thing”—aligning their financial lives with their values, purpose, and soul’s calling.
Connect with Debra
email: dlm@debralmorrison.com
https://www.wecandoitwomen.com/
Facebook Group: https://www.wecandoitwomen.com/group
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debralmorrison/
https://www.instagram.com/debralmorrison/
https://www.youtube.com/@DebraLMorrison
Book: My Husband Died, Now What? (2025)
Thanks to our Sponsor AARP-IL
Meet Age-Wise Collective Member Illana Landsberg-Lewis, podcast host of
Wisdom at Work—Older Women, Elderwomen, and Grandmothers on the
Move…disrupters and influencers. http://www.wisdomatworkpodcast.com
Advocate Franca Zanovello shares her deep beliefs about beauty for women of all ages. Growing up in Italy, and living in six different countries, influenced Franca’s earliest experiences with skin care. Experiencing massage by blind people in Myanmar helped her understand how touch alone elevates wellness through body massage. In a large family of women, she learned to take care of her skin, body and hair, and her grandmother, who was a mid-wife, taught her science and explained to her how the body functions at a very young age. Today, Franca works with Skintensive, a dermatologist, efficacy-driven skin care brand designed for maturing skin. Franca’s approach to the innovation and science behind skin care is the reason we support and appreciate Skintensive’s support of us. 20% discount at https://www.skintensive.com with code WO70 + free shipping.
“Growing up in Italy and living in South Asia influenced my belief in the deep connection of body and mind and my view of beauty as a reflection of health.” - Franca Zanovella
Fading Memories Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined is a member of the Age-Wise Collective, 13 women-led podcasts that feature women 50+ and topics that promote the pro-aging movement. This month’s Collaborator is Jennifer Fink, who hosts Fading Memories, a podcast for caregivers of loved ones with dementia. It provides insights and guidance on communicating effectively, managing stress, and coping with grief and loss.
Rabbi Jo David grew up in a secular Jewish home in New York. Her mother said, “the woman’s job is to always serve the man”. She didn’t think so and in the ‘80s decided to become a reformed Rabbi. In 2001, when the World Trade Center
was destroyed, she was living in Manhattan.
The next day she couldn’t get off the couch and for 10 years suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome. By the time she was able to walk out of her apartment by herself, Jo had found that writing eased her pain. Soon she was creating spicy Regency romance novels under an alias. The idea for these books came to her in a dream.
This vital, vibrant woman, founder of mobile story hours for Headstart, believes “you must give yourself permission to imagine every choice”.
“I was in my late 60s when I realized I didn’t need everyone’s approval.” - Rabbi Jo David
Attachment is interwoven throughout Phyllis Booth’s professional and personal life. Now Clinical Director Emerita of The Theraplay Institute in Evanston, Illinois, Phyllis was instrumental-—more than 50 years ago—-in developing a therapeutic approach that strengthens relationships between parents and children through attachment-based play.
She credits her parents and the Mormon Church for instilling high expectations that “fit well for advancing a new field.” Phyllis says, “my very good and productive life has been beautifully and tenderly supported”—by her late husband, colleagues, family, and friends.
As she approaches her 100th birthday in March 2026, Phyllis has already begun celebrating, starting with a family gathering at her cabin in Utah.
“I continue to educate parents and practitioners about building better relationships through attachment-based play.” - Phylllis Booth
Connect with Phyllis:
Email: phyllisbooth@yahoo.com
Website: Phyllis Booth – Theraplay
Selected Publication:
Booth, P., & Jernberg, A. (2010). Theraplay: Helping parents and children build better relationships through attachment-based play (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Thanks to the Age-WISE Collective
Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-WISE Collective, a group of women-hosted podcasts featuring stories from women 50+ and conversations that promote the pro-aging movement.
Suzy Rosenstein, host of Women in the Middle: Loving Life After 50. This weekly podcast explores a wide range of topics designed to help women get excited about their lives again.
Women in the Middle Podcast | Stop Feeling Stuck and Bored Today
Like most people, when Deb Krier was told she had metastatic breast cancer in 2015, she went into a tailspin. She previously worked for an oncologist and later, the American Cancer society and still was not prepared. What stuck with her was something the oncologist had said years earlier: 99% of survival is in your head.
Deb shared with us how hard she worked to maintain an upbeat attitude. Always upbeat, throughout her life, she was always independent. As an only child, raised in the mountains of CO, her mother encouraged her to take care of herself.
However, chemotherapy treatment almost killed her - 7 weeks with septic shock in the hospital, in and out of ICU and 30 surgeries.
This experience and two other bouts with cancer led Deb to devote her life to helping people live life while fighting cancer. And so, she created the website, https://www.tryingnottodie.live. The site offers information and support packages: Bear hugs and other ways to brighten the lives of people you care for with cancer.
It is 10 years now. In addition to managing her website and still living with cancer, Deb volunteers with the University of Colorado, is involved with the National Beagle Club of America and reads and gardens with her husband who is a huge source of support.
“We are in charge of how we manage our lives when living with cancer: I choose life.” - Deb Krier
Thank you to our sponsor, Women’s Connection, a nonprofit women’s group with chapters around the country. Members are vibrant, accomplished women, age 50 and forward, who connect around common interests, empower each other to thrive, and stick together as they travel through the stuff of life, no matter what comes their way. https://www.womenconnecting.org.
Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-WISE Collective, a group of women-hosted podcasts featuring stories from women 50+ and conversations that promote the pro-aging movement. This week we feature Suzy Rosenstein, host of Women in the Middle: Loving Life After 50. This weekly podcast explores a wide range of topics designed to help women get excited about their lives again. Women in the Middle®: Loving Life After 50 - Midlife Coach
Mary Beth Berkoff, age 82, founded her own PR company in her late 50s—and she still knows how to spotlight what’s good. Long before that, she was a teacher, an injury-prevention pioneer, and a public-affairs leader who helped pass Illinois’s seatbelt and child-restraint laws. Those roles taught her resilience, resourcefulness, and, as she likes to say, that “if you can teach junior high students, you can do anything.”
Today, that same spirit infuses her life at The Admiral at the Lake, a continuous care retirement community in Chicago, where her gift for connecting people enriches both her days and those around her.
Widowed in recent years, Mary Beth says that loss has both challenged and affirmed the words she lives by: “There is always something good around the next corner… I don’t stay defeated… I believe my life will continue to be great; I just need to do the work.”
“There is no lonely where I live in community with other interesting and welcoming people.” - Mary Beth Berkoff
Connect with Mary Beth:
Email: mbberkoff@mac.com
www.theadmiral.org
Recognizing the Age-Wise Collective
Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts that feature stories from women 50+ and topics that promote the pro-aging movement.
Meet Suzy Rosenstein, podcast host of Women in the Middle: Loving Life After 50. Suzy shares the good, bad, ugly, and sometimes downright hysterical about growing older and making the changes women want so they don’t have regrets in their second chapter.
Denise Poncher, 73, has spent her life noticing experiences that call her to create. A multidisciplinary artist—-creative writer, documentary photographer, custom art framer, collagist, fiber explorer—-she treats each medium as a path toward deeper understanding. Legacy writing now invites her to weave together difficult losses of significant people with joyful threads of being a nurturing grandmother. Once a painfully shy child, Denise found courage and confidence through her art, ultimately bringing hidden stories such as domestic violence into public view during her MFA graduate work. Outside the corridors of art, she served in public service roles from Department of Justice inspector to equestrian instructor. Today, Denise continues to seek new forms of creative expression—-guided by the belief that personal truth has the power to resonate far beyond the self.
"The deeper I go into my own experience, the more universal my message becomes." - Denise Poncher
Connect with Denise:
Email: drponcher@gmail.com
Fine art photography by Studio 626 in Oak Park, IL - Alignable
Thanks to our Sponsor—Women’s Connection
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Women’s Connection is a member-driven nonprofit organization for vibrant, accomplished women who are 50 years old and beyond. In chapters around the country, including a virtual Coast-to-Coast (C2C) chapter, women connect to enjoy shared interests and empower each other to thrive. https://womenconnecting.org
Recognizing the AGE-WISE COLLECTIVE
Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts that feature stories from women 50+ and topics that promote the pro-aging movement.
Meet: Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, host of Wisdom at Work: Older Women, Elderwomen, and Grandmothers on the Move! Profiles of disrupters and influencers who kick stereotypes to the curb. http://www.wisdomatworkpodcast.com
From the moment you hear Lynn Hazan, 70, speak, one thing is unmistakable: performance isn’t just something she does — it’s the lens through which she experiences the world.
Born and raised in Canada, Lynn moves comfortably among French, English, and the Spanish and Hebrew she loves practicing. Her multicultural roots run deep: her parents were French citizens born in Egypt and Syria, and her Jewish faith has been a guiding force since childhood. It was at Jewish conferences, surrounded by stories and ideas, that Lynn first understood the power of storytelling to transform communication.
Curiosity drives her. Travel energizes her. She has journeyed on multiple humanitarian trips, including a 1995 performing tour in Ukraine that left a lasting imprint. Wherever she goes, Lynn becomes a bridge — sharing stories people-to-people, culture-to-culture. Her own family’s history inspires her daily; she lost her father at 12 and her mother decades later at 92, and their lives continue to shape her sense of purpose.
Professionally, Lynn is a force of creativity. A natural salesperson from the start, she built a dynamic recruitment business where imagination and strategy coexist. She channels her love of storytelling into every interaction, coaching candidates to “sell themselves” with clarity and confidence. It’s why she’s widely known as the storytelling recruiter — a title she carries proudly and passes on to her interns like a legacy.
“I thrive on creativity, ask a million questions and learn wherever I go.” - Lynn Hazan
CONNECT WITH LYNN:
Email: lynn@lhazan.com
Website: lhazan.com
Long a member of the Apostolic Church of God in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, Darlene’s faith has been a constant even as she experiences the inevitable ups and downs of life.
At 71, Darlene’s serene manner shines through and she peppers her conversation with thoughtful musings based on living a life of scripture. And a successful life it has been, despite an unsettling bout with breast cancer - happily married, blessed with a healthy child born in later life, and a “bonus” son; her career as an IRS agent and accountant fulfill her.
Darlene’s interests are varied. She is a lifelong learner full of curiosity about the world she lives in, and loves to travel to jazz festivals in this country and beyond. Conscious of the importance of physical activity and social endeavors, she also serves with the Women’s Ministry and teaches at Children’s Church.
"Don’t worry about anything, pray for everything - God will give me peace." - Darlene Norman
When Laurel married in her late 50s, she never imagined she’d become her husband’s full-time caregiver just five years later. Now, twenty years into that journey, she calls it a blessing: “He is so easy to care for…. I have released early feelings of resentment, realizing that I’ve been training my whole life to do this.”
As Director of Strategic Initiatives for The Village Chicago, Laurel works mainly from home, crafting a monthly newsletter that shines a light on aging and ageism. Reflecting on life in her late-80s, she says, “I feel more myself than ever before in my life.”
“I consider myself a solo ager because I am primary caregiver for my husband and am making all decisions and doing all tasks by myself.” - Laurel Baer
Connect with Laurel:
Email lbaer938@aol.com
The Village Chicago https://thevillagechicago.org
Thanks to our Sponsor—Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, IL
Discover the extraordinary at Plymouth Place—a vibrant community designed for active adults. Elevate your retirement living experience with tailored independent options, premier amenities, and a full continuum of care. https://plymouthplace.org
Recognizing the AGE-WISE COLLECTIVE
Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts that feature stories from women 50+ and topics that promote the pro-aging movement.
MEET: Yvonne Marchese, founder and host of Late Bloomer Living https://www.latebloomerliving.com a podcast for women in midlife, inspiring and cheering each other on, sharing stories and taking bold action, in order to define and rock the next chapter of life and achieve new life goals
Jody’s life reads like a movie—one she ultimately wrote and directed herself. Growing up in isolation and surviving severe trauma, she moved through poverty, rape, separation from siblings, and profound loss—the deaths of her mother, grandmother, and daughter. Yet Jody transformed her pain into purpose, becoming a mother, model, teacher, TV’s beloved adult facilitator on Romper Room, guidance counselor, and author. At 84, she achieved what few could imagine: becoming the Oldest Female First-Time Feature Filmmaker, earning awards and international recognition. Her film, Letters to Stephanie, tells an inspiring adoption story drawn from her decades-long fight to reconnect with her granddaughter. When South Carolina law blocked grandparents from signing the Adoption Reunion Registry, Jody helped change it. Now, at 85, she’s writing her memoir—the final dream on her bucket list. Jody’s journey is a radiant testament to resilience, courage, and the unstoppable power of reinvention.
“Enjoy life. There’s plenty of time to be dead. Don’t listen to dream snatchers—and know who your angels are.” - Jody Wilhelm
Connect with Jody Email: jodywilhelm9@gmail.com
Watch Letters to Stephanie: Letters to Stephanie (2024) directed by Jo-Ann Wilhelm • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd
Learn more about Jody: This is 85: Filmmaker Jo-Ann "Jody" Wilhelm Responds to The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire
Thanks to our Sponsor Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park, IL Discover the extraordinary at Plymouth Place—a vibrant community designed for active adults. Elevate your retirement living experience with tailored independent options, premier amenities, and a full continuum of care. Explore our diverse living choices and embrace the joy of a life well-lived.
https://plymouthplace.org
Thanks to Age-Wise Collective Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts that feature stories from women 50+ and topics that promote the pro-aging movement.
MEET: Yvonne Marchese, founder and host of Late Bloomer Living
https://www.latebloomerliving.com a podcast for women in midlife, inspiring and cheering each other on, sharing stories and taking bold action, in order to define and rock the next chapter of life and achieve new life goals.
Sophy Burnham has lived many creative lives—and she’s still expanding. Known as a deeply imaginative and award-winning author, Sophy has written 17 books across genres: novels and nonfiction, children’s stories, poetry, plays and radio dramas, essays, and journalism. Her groundbreaking 1990 New York Times bestseller, A Book of Angels, sparked a cultural wave of curiosity and conversation about divine presence and mystical experience. Beyond writing, Sophy also embraces her gifts as a psychic, medium, and spiritual director—roles she says emerged organically later in life. Her newest book, The Wonder and Happiness of Being Old (2025), celebrates the unexpected beauty, spiritual richness, and freedom that come with age. It’s a luminous invitation—offering comfort and inspiration not just for older adults, but for younger generations curious about the journey ahead.
“Becoming old is about love—love of self, of life, and of still being here to tell your stories.” - Sophy Burnham
Connect with Sophy Email: sophyburnham@gmail.com
Website: https://sophyburnham.com
Most Recent Book: The Wonder and Happiness of Being Old (2025)
Thanks to our Sponsor—Women’s Connection Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Women’s Connection is a member-driven nonprofit organization for vibrant, accomplished women who are 50 years old and beyond. In chapters around the country, including a virtual Coast-to-Coast (C2C) chapter, women connect to enjoy shared interests and empower each other to thrive. https://womenconnecting.org
Recognizing the AGE-WISE COLLECTIVE Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts that feature stories from women 50+ and topics that promote the pro-aging movement.
MEET: Yvonne Marchese, founder and host of Late Bloomer Living https://www.latebloomerliving.com a podcast for women in midlife, inspiring and cheering each other on, sharing stories and taking bold action, in order to define and rock the next chapter of life and achieve new life goals.
At 17, Karen Gershowitz caught the travel bug—and never looked back. She’s now explored 100 countries, often returning to dig deeper than the “Disney Lands” most tourists see. Her love of discovery led her from ceramics to international marketing and, eventually, to writing about her adventures. In her books, Travel Mania: Stories of Wanderlust and Wanderlust: Extraordinary People, Quirky Places, and Curious Cuisine, Karen shares stories of meeting locals, trying new foods, and finding connections in unexpected places. Travel, she says, “has opened my heart and changed how I see the world—and myself.” Whether you’re roaming the globe or exploring closer to home, her story invites you to keep that spirit of discovery alive.
“If you really want to know the people and the places, go away from where the tourists are.” - Karen Gershowitz
Connect with Karen: Email: gershowitzkaren@gmail.com
Website: https://karengershowitz.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karengershowitzauthor/
Books: Wanderlust (2023), Travel Mania (2021)
Acknowledgements
Sponsor: Women’s Connection. Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Women’s Connection is a member-driven nonprofit organization for vibrant, accomplished women who are at least 50 years old. In chapters around the country, women connect to enjoy shared interests and empower each other to thrive. https://womenconnecting.org
AGE-WISE COLLECTIVE: Women Over 70 is a proud member of the Age-Wise Collective, comprised of women-led podcasts that feature stories from women 50+ and topics that promote the pro-aging movement. MEET: Fit Strong Women Over 50, a podcast for the Becoming Elli Community, hosted by Jill McCauslin and Chris Brown, who interview experts and share their insights about losing weight, keeping it off, and working out. http://www.becomingelli.com
Judy Smith discovered that 70 would be the best year of her life after a devastating public humiliation at 67 by her now ex. Allowing herself to open up to new relationships, social engagement and creative expression, she discovered that life became richer and she felt blessed as gratitude filled her soul. No stranger to discomfort, Judy previously suffered from grand mal seizures and lived with the fear of having one while out in the world trying to live her life. Judy’s first novel, “The Golden Years Glitch…..just when she thought she had it all”, became therapeutic, if a “little revengeful” for her. More than that it is a fictional story born out of her own experiences and embellished with imagination. Filled with humor, Judy discovered she is a writer and now visualizes expanding this book into a future series.
“Writing The Golden Years Glitch was therapeutic and a little bit revengeful.” - Judy Smith
Connect with Judy: E. Judy@jmaustin.com
Book: The Golden Years Glitch
Jan Golden is a one-woman force when it comes to changing how the media and greeting card agencies represent aging. For 4 years, Age-Friendly Vibes has featured cards, buttons, stickers and prints that reflect pro-aging sentiments. Active in the American Society on Aging, Changing the Narrative and the American Greeting Card Association, Jan’s passion to revolutionize how older people are represented on greeting cards is making waves. Influencers in her pursuit include Ashton Applewhite, Dr. Becca Levy, Jeannine Vanderberg (and Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined). She has 120 designs in many different categories and her cards are on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and Paper Source.
"Negative self-talk and deprecating humor are harmful, but reversible." - Jan Golden
Connect with Jan:
E. Jan@Age-FriendlyVibes.com
W. Age-FriendlyVibes.com
At 81, Phyllis Rubin embodies tikkun olam—repairing the world. After her husband’s death, and during the pandemic and political upheaval, she stepped fully into activism. A “feet-on-the-ground” leader, with a collaborative style, Phyllis champions progressive politics, environmental sustainability, and vital community living for older adults. She earned her Psy.D. at 50, retired as an attachment-based therapist at 80, and continues to live vibrantly—singing, writing, gardening, engaging with her Temple, and devoting nearly full-time energy to social change.
"The Jewish sages tell us that we are not obligated to finish the task, neither are we free to desist from it." - Phyllis Rubin
Connect with Phyllis
Email: Phyllis.rubin@comcast.net
Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices.
We shine the light on Fit Strong Women Over 50, a podcast for the Becoming Elli community where Jill and Chris interview experts and share motivational stories that inspire and encourage each other about all aspects of fitness.www.BecomingElli.com
Nicole J. Smith, Advocate, Dementia Daughter, Certified Senior Advisor and author of Diagnosis Dementia, was living 3,000 miles from her mother and didn't register the “weird things” she had witnessed her mother say and do over the past couple of years. That is, until these strange things escalated into a financial and legal situation that was not sustainable. The journey that followed upended Nicole’s life, took place across five states, and changed the families involved forever. This book is a result of that journey and particularly useful for navigating dementia and understanding the important documents families need. Hearing Nicole’s experience is a wake-up call for all of us.
CONNECT WITH NICOLE:
Email: hello@njsmithbooks.com
Book:
Diagnosis Dementia: Your Guide for Eldercare Planning and Crisis Management
At 75, Kathleen (Kathy) Haney embodies resilience, purpose, and care. Family duties once slowed her college path, but persistence carried her to an undergraduate degree in occupational education and a graduate degree in vocational education administration. She went on to become the coordinator/director of dental hygiene and dental assisting at the community college and university levels. Her career spanned teaching, mentoring and serving as an accreditation site surveyor for American Dental Assistant/Dental Hygiene Programs. Ultimately, Kathy moved on to become the Asst. Director of Education for the IL. State Medical Society and then the Academic Coordinator of Pediatrics at RUSH University Medical Center, again her duties included preparing accreditation documents. Kathy’s self-care story includes surviving uterine cancer and enduring a grueling replacement of a hip implant that fractured within her after 20 years of use. She has devoted years to the Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society’s Children’s Clinic as a volunteer, and she mentor’s women dealing with gynecologic cancer through the Northwestern Univ. Medical Center’s Woman to Woman Program, and the OCRA (Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance) Support Groups, which addresses all types of gynecologic cancer.
"I strive to grow older with dignity and self-respect as I live my life with purpose and help others do the same." - Kathleen Haney
Connect with Kathy
Email khaney48@gmail.com -
--- This episode is supported by Our Sponsor:
Women’s Connection is a nonprofit women's group with chapters around the country, connecting vibrant, accomplished women, age 50 and forward, around common interests--empowering each other to thrive, and sticking together as we travel through the stuff of life, no matter what comes our way. womenconnecting.org
Age-Wise Collective: Boomer Banter with podcaster Wendy Green. This isn't just another podcast about retirement or getting older. Wendy Green invites you into real conversations about what it means to age with purpose, vitality, and ...[more] https://heyboomer.biz
Only 12% of U.S. adults are metabolically healthy—a sobering statistic Christa Rymal wants to change. With her background in nursing and holistic health, Christa brings both clinical expertise and a whole-person perspective to women’s wellbeing. In this episode, she breaks down what “metabolic health” really means and why it matters as we age. From the science of sleep to the power of protein and muscle strength, Christa translates research into practical steps for everyday life. She also shares how her nonprofit We Care—through the Minnesota Holistic Health Group, wellness retreats, and conferences—supports women and even health professionals in prioritizing their own health. This conversation offers clear, empowering strategies for building resilience, preventing disease, and thriving at every stage of life.
Connect with Christa:
Email: Christa.r@wecarenonprofitfoundation.org
WebsiteAbout Us | WeCare
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- Thanks To Our Sponsor, Center for Gerontology, Concordia University Chicago. Tracey Gendron will speak on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, on Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It. Free online event, 12:00 p.m. CT. https://AgeismUnmasked.eventbrite.com
Featuring Age Wise Collective collaborator, podcaster Wendy Green with Boomer Banter This isn't just another podcast about retirement or getting older. Wendy Green invites you into real conversations about what it means to age with purpose, vitality, and ...[more] https://heyboomer.biz
At 85, Anna Rappaport continues to defy expectations of aging. Once uncertain about her relevance, she went on to earn five lifetime achievement awards, including Trailblazers in Actuarial Science. Beyond her groundbreaking work in retirement research and policy, Anna embraces new chapters with creativity and purpose. After decades of balancing career, caregiving, and family, Anna rebuilt her life following her husband’s death, moving to The Admiral at the Lake in Chicago. There she discovered the joys of “families of choice,” balcony gardens, and vibrant community life. Anna is also a passionate urban sketcher—an art form she has practiced since the 1960s—with the goal of one day seeing her work in a museum. She sells her art to benefit charities, advocates for solo agers and people with disabilities, and is writing a book on “how I’m aging well.” Her story is a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the power of pursuing passions no matter the limits.
I have to use every minute of every day; I’m not sure how many minutes I have left. - Anna Rappaport
Connect with Anna: Email: anna.rappaport@gmail.com Website: Anna Rappaport Consulting | Strategies for a Secure Retirement
---- Thanks to this episode’s sponsor:
PRODUCTION PLUS From custom-printed graphics and scenic designs to event rentals, Production Plus makes any event a visual masterpiece. To truly engage your attendees and make a lasting impact, add a touch of custom flair. Your business meeting, product launch or gala event deserves to be extraordinary. Visit productionplus.com to learn more.
Meet This Month’s Podcast Collaborator
Wendy Green, host of Boomer Banter, Real Talk About Aging Well. https://heyboomer.biz/podcast/.
Women Over 70 is a member of The Age-Wise Collective, comprised of ten women-led podcasts that are redefining the narrative around aging. We empower adults 50+ with authentic stories, expert insights, and inspiring voices.
Jeannine Bryant is expert at helping seniors move. After you have lived in your home for so many years, you accumulate possessions that seem to identify who you are. Losing a partner or spouse certainly changes our lives. Leaving the place that we called home, together, can be very difficult. Jeannine understands every aspect. Through her website, EasyRightsizing.com she provides all the resources, classes and videos you, and other family members, can use to guide you and make you feel she is right there helping you to manage the move. If you are lucky and live in Lincoln, NE, you can hire her team to be there with you every step of the way.
On this podcast, Jeannine shares meaningful ideas that change our very approach to getting this monumental event done. Suggestions such as how best to sort, the power of counting, how to deal with sentimental attachments, and setting priorities will right size this daunting task so it no longer feels like you are eating an elephant.
"Letting go of our possessions does not change our value." - Jeannine Bryant
CONNECT WITH JEANNINE:
Website: EasyRightsizing.com
Email: Jeannine@changingspacessrs.com
"Movement is the thread that weaves Jacqui Neurauter’s life together, even at 80. She believes movement has the power to transform life. Ever curious, her many pursuits often began with a comment, a book, or a conversation among friends. The suggestion of a new approach to movement would spark her curiosity, making her an avid researcher and lifelong student. Yoga led to belly dancing, which in turn led to her exploration of Feng Shui and the harmonious movement of energy, ultimately culminating in her love of the Argentine tango. Her studies and travels—encompassing spirituality, psychology, philosophy, and anthropology—have only deepened her appreciation for the importance of movement.
Having experienced muscular pain much of her life, Jacqui was always searching for natural relief. She read a book on Hanna Somatics and developed a personal practice. With such great results, she became trained and certified. She now teaches private clients and group classes.
Jacqui’s belief in staying vibrant, alive, and curious leads her to be part of a community with others. And that leads to a satisfying life.
"I continue to learn as I teach others." - Jacqui Neurauter
Connect with Jacqui:
Jacqui Neurauter
BodyMind Somatics Coach
Hanna Somatics Educator
iRest® Meditation Facilitator
847-359-6391, Cell: 630-656-7737
www.HarmoniousPathways.com
During her tenure as a successful entrepreneur and podcaster, Ande Lyons’ advice to young start-up founders was: “Don’t Be Caged by Your Age.” At age 66, she took her own advice. Ande shifted her focus to older people, especially women, with the mission to redefine what it means to thrive after 65. Ande exposes internal ageist beliefs and debunks myths that older women are no longer visible, connected, and contributing. Ande’s podcast, Don’t Be Caged By Your Age, features interviews with women whose stories are about “liberating life changes [that] shatter age-related stereotypes.” Ande hears from younger women—the 40-50 year-olds—that “these stories help them see that growing older can be something to look forward to.” Driven by her own passion for fostering intergenerational relationships and community, Ande founded the New England Podcasters Group in early 2024, and today it's a thriving, ever-growing network of podcasters connecting, collaborating, and amplifying each other’s voices.
“Don’t Be Caged by Your Age.” - Ande Lyons
Connect with Ande:
Website: https://www.dontbecagedbyyourage.com
Email: ande@dontbecagedbyyourage.com
The Age-Wise Collective consists of podcasts that promote older women, including Women Over 70.
Meet collaborator:
Beverley Glazer, host of Aging with Purpose and Passion, helps women over 50 reignite purpose, power, and bold reinvention. https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com
Beverley Glazer, MA, is an ICF-Certified Transformational Coach,
Psychotherapist, and Strategic Consultant with over 35 years of experience
empowering individuals, companies, and communities navigate change.
She is the founder of Reinvent Impossible LLC, the umbrella company for
her services, including individual coaching, strategic consulting, and her
Internationally acclaimed podcast, Aging with Purpose and Passion, a bold
platform that amplifies the voices of trailblazing women redefining midlife
and far beyond. A recognized thought leader, Beverley has served on
advisory boards and contributed to publications including Psychology
Today and Kuel Life, with syndicated features on networks like MSNBC and
ABC. Through a unique blend of clinical techniques and strategic coaching,
Beverley guides high-performing women over 50, reclaim their voice, own
their value, and redefine their purpose on their own terms.
“Your legacy starts now - in the choices you make and the truths you
live by today.” - Beverley Glazer
Connect with Beverley
https://reinventimpossible.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverleyglazer/
https://www.facebook.com/beverley.glazer
https://www.instagram.com/beverleyglazer_reinvention/
Jean Olson, age 70, describes her 13 years in the Foreign Service as an “odd and torturous path,” that included a successful class action suit against the federal government. Jean left the Foreign Service (stints in Europe and South America) for her hometown in Wisconsin to be her mother’s caregiver and to serve as (volunteer) President of the Village Council. At age 57, and ‘unemployed’ for seven years, Jean created a path to retirement. She rejoined the Foreign Service for seven more years, having to start over as a “baby diplomat” — a “lesson in humility.” Jean choice of Las Cruces, NM. as her retirement home affords her access to a university, a cluster of good friends, affordable housing, and excellent Mexican restaurants. Best of all--no snow shoveling! Since her move, Jean has served on the Board of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, worked with a Refugee Resettlement project, and is currently engaged with a children’s Literacy program.
When I retired from the Foreign Service, I found a home in New Mexico with a university, good friends, affordable housing, and great Mexican restaurants. - Jean Olson
Connect with Jean
Email: jean.olson@yahoo.com
Beverly Schlotte, age 76, loves living on her farm near Webster, South Dakota, where she and her late husband, married 53 years, “worked and planned together” as they raised their family of four. After retirement from many years of teaching “kids that I loved,” Beverly hosted a foreign exchange student from Madrid, Spain during the 2024-2025 school year. Beverly and her family were chosen as one of the top four Education First host families in the nation. Beverly plans a trip to Spain, perhaps after her trip to Turkey where she will be shopping for a wedding dress with her grandson’s fiancé. Traveling with her adult children are special journeys that have taken them to Greece and more recently to Norway, the land of her ancestors. Beverly, 100% Norwegian, felt like “Norway was home—these are my people.” Beverly connects with people in her community through reading, cards, quilting, and church groups. She finds that growing older offers freedom “to focus on what’s important, to worry less, and to love the children.”
I choose what hurts and I choose to be happy. - Beverly Schlotte
Connect with Beverly
Email: lbschlotte@itctel.com
Sponsor Appreciation
Women’s Connection is a nonprofit women's group with chapters around the country. Members are vibrant, accomplished women, age 50 and forward, who connect around common interests, empower each other to thrive, and stick together as they travel through the stuff of life, no matter what comes their way. https://womenconnecting.org
Podcast Collaborator—Member of The Age-Wise Collective
Recommending Host Beverly Glazer, Aging With Purpose And Passion, a weekly podcast inspiring women over 50 to embrace bold life shifts, and unlock their potential, through captivating stories from trailblazing senior women. https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com
As a young academic professional, Mary Ellen Jukoski, age 75, wondered: “Where are the female college presidents? I want to become one.” So, she did, serving the first 20 years as President of Mitchell College in Connecticut where she transformed a struggling two-year institution into a thriving four-year college, inspired by her feminine leadership style of inclusiveness and collaboration. Her special mission has been to mentor young women to seek and succeed at leadership roles. She credits her husband, Matt, for supporting her cherished career while they raised their daughter. In 2024, Mary Ellen and Matt moved to an independent living community where they can be closer to their daughter and her family and enjoy social and intellectual stimulation. Meeting many women in their 90s, Mary Ellen expresses new appreciation for the notion that “age doesn’t’ define the person.” As she contemplates retirement, Mary Ellen looks forward to a new purpose. She says, “It’s all about having a positive attitude and being open to opportunities.”
As a leader, I come to serve, not to be served; I am a presence, being there for others. - Mary Ellen Jukoski
Connect with Mary Ellen
Email: maryellen.jukoski@ctstate.edu
Mary Ellen Jukoski, Ed.D. - CT State
Sponsor Appreciation
Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, IL., where senior living is redefined with options and opportunities to fit individual needs and preferences. https://plymouthplace.org Plymouth Place is the Diamond Sponsor for our Symposium, October 8, 2025.
Podcast Collaborator
This month’s podcast recommendation (member of Aging-Well Collective) is Host Beverly Glazer, Aging With Purpose and Passion, a weekly podcast inspiring women over 50 to embrace bold life shifts, and unlock their potential, through captivating stories from trailblazing senior women. https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com
You are in for a special treat as Dee Greer displays her creations of exquisite weavings from Alpaca yarn and amulet bags woven Japanese seed beads. She also enjoys watercolor painting. She learns in order to create. This is bolstered by degrees and certifications in the arts, financial planning, hand weaving, and interior design. Dee has created five businesses in rehab housing, five in Alpaca-related products and services, and a unique hand-weaving loom. Hurricane Helene completely destroyed her condo interior and precious belongings, including a specialty loom. Dee has rebuilt and redesigned her unit, along with helping 60 other residents facing the same challenge. She still makes the time to volunteer with arts programs in her community and to enjoy the rich arts culture with her partner, John. Dee’s constant ‘drivers’ are “doing good in the world” and “being in relationship with people, young and old… to enjoy life from completely different perspectives.” Hoping to help find a cure, she has now been accepted into a study sponsored by Eli Lilly to study a new drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Because I have so many interests and very high energy, I’ve had to compartmentalize and prioritize. It will come to me what to do next. - Dedrea (Dee) Greer
Contact Dedrea (Dee) Greer
Email: deeagreer@hotmail.com
Former alpaca farmer finds tranquility while weaving | Your Observer
Sponsor Appreciation
Our heartfelt thanks to Women Over 70 sponsor Wells Fargo.
Podcast Collaborator
This month’s podcast recommendation (Aging-Well Collaboration) is Host Beverly Glazer, who asks: Are you ready to ignite your next chapter? Aging With Purpose and Passion is the weekly podcast inspiring women over 50 to embrace bold life shifts, and unlock their potential, through captivating stories from trailblazing senior women. https://www.agingwithpurposeandpassion.com
When you listen to Victoria (Vickie) Rock, 73, you would believe her life has never seen a difficult day. Yet, the truth is, at times it has been rocky. Turning lemons into lemonade is the perfect phrase to attribute to Vickie. Always upbeat, charitable, and giving, she works tirelessly to elevate each person, client and company that become part of her network.
A career in court reporting led her to create a business of her own. When working until 2 or 3 a.m. in the morning became too much she sold out, along with her 75 member- team of court reporters and again could enjoy the basics of the business - meeting with clients, being in the courtroom and building her vocabulary with new and interesting words. Having been in this world for so many years, Vickie now teaches businesses how to tell their stories and win clients.
Vickie is quick to give credit to those organizations along the way who have helped her grow: National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program. Her church and Center for Disabilities & Elder Law remain important organizations she supports.
Enjoy our lives: How many Thanksgivings do we have left? - Victoria Rock
CONNECT WITH VICTORIA ROCK:
Email: victoria@victoriarock.biz
Website: Victoria Rock
David Horton approached us to do an interview with him, and we did not know how to respond. We listened and, after hearing his story, it became clear that this was a story we wanted to share with you. David’s wife, DeeDee Horton, died of brain cancer. She was an accomplished athlete, middle school teacher, and college basketball coach. In the final six years of her life, she poured herself into writing Layer Upon Layer, a novel exploring the challenges faced by ambitious women. Before she died, DeeDee asked David to finish the editing and share her book with the world. Through David, we learn about DeeDee and her life of empowerment, courage, and contribution. As this testimonial by Rita Frey says of the book: “Layer upon Layer is poignant, full of passion and chock full of amazing lessons for women and an overall feeling of hope.” We also learn from David what it means to lose your loved one. (Thank you, David, for your courage in telling DeeDee’s story.)
"What if the people most important to you, fail to see and celebrate you?"
Connect with David:
Email: David@LayerUponLayer.com
Book: Layer Upon Layer by Deedee Horton
Maria Cristina Torres, born in Mexico, studied medicine there and has three decades of experience in pharmaceutical-oriented medicine. She continues to work with people in the United States, finding solutions for chronic conditions and assisting individuals in reclaiming their health through alternative methods. The individuals she treats respond well to Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbs. Hypnosis is also effective for lifestyle conditions. Maria is thoughtful and progressive. You can expect to spend 1½ hours with her during your first meeting.
"These are transformation times when we choose to become the best version of humanity, all with the use of science, herbs and food."
CONNECT WITH MARIA:
Email: ctorres@integral-clinic.com
Websites: IAmVitality.club (coaching)
integral-clinic.net (in person)
Calendly - Book a phone call with Dr. Torres
Linked In: Profile
Donna Younger, EdD, age 72, has dedicated her professional life to mentoring and teaching diverse people in various higher learning settings. These experiences expanded her world view and fed her “rabid curiosity about what binds us together—the sparks that connect us.” Donna’s intentional spiritual journey began at age 50 when she set out to resolve a critical religious question: “What’s the big deal with Jesus?” While staying connected with a church and working with a spiritual director, Donna’s question evolved to “What binds religious systems together?” She sees spirituality as the canopy and religion as a dimension of spirituality that can be a useful tool for those who choose it. Donna is now immersed in guided instruction for Spiritual Direction, a role congruent with her faith that “everyone has a spiritual side, whether they attend to it or not.” Her goal is to help people experience the gifts of spiritual awareness.
"As a spiritual director, I want to be a companion to people as they open up to their spiritual nature."
Connect with Donna
Email: dsyounger70@gmail.com
Josephine (Jo) Alexander (1909-1993) was Nancy Manahan’s dearest friend and Natalya Lukin’s beloved grandmother. The world knew Jo as a prize-winning journalist and photographer, social justice advocate, and author of America Through the Eye of My Needle (1981), a critical analysis of business conglomerates. But no one knew details about the fourteen years Jo spent as an impoverished Arizona homesteader and rancher during the Depression—-that is, until after Jo’s death, Natalya found Jo’s “messy” unpublished memoir among boxes of unpublished essays. Natalya and Nancy (also Jo’s literary executor)formed a bi-coastal collaboration to edit and publish Jo’s memoir: At Sea on the Range: From Berkeley Radical to Arizona Homesteader 1934-1948. Nancy “fell in love with the story of this extraordinary woman who was courageous, adaptable, self-confident, and capable of surmounting impossible barriers.” Natalya values her grandmother as a timeless role model for courageous, capable, and enterprising women. At Sea on the Range won Best Memoir in the 2025 Great Southwest Book Festival.
"We felt compelled to share the story of how a city girl with studies in literature and anthropology fell in love with an impoverished rancher in Arizona, adapted to grueling circumstances, and grew to appreciate the desert and its people."
Connect with Nancy and Natalya
Email: atseaontherange@gmail.com
Book: At Sea on the Range: From Berkeley Radical to Arizona Homesteader 1934-1948. (2024) by Josephine Alexander, Natalya Lukin, & Nancy Manahan.
Thanks to our Sponsors for this episode:
Compass Navigation Group, Steve.Nasralla@compass.com
Skintensive, creams for mature skins, https://www.skintensive.com/
During 15 years in menopausal transition, Carol Remz, age 80, experienced increased vaginal dryness and decreased libido. She and her younger husband mourned their waning sex life. Upon researching relief from radiation treatment for breast cancer, Carol’s discovered sea buckthorn for skin protection and its added benefit of improving the integrity and function of women’s vaginal epithelium.
She also found that medical cannabis stimulated her libido. After eight years of research and revival of her sexual pleasure, Carol wrote a book to empower “postmenopausal women who want to continue having sexual pleasure’s well-being benefits.” Written with help from medical health writer and intimacy coach, Molly Carter, Best Sex Ever After Menopause “unlocks empowering knowledge and skills and how to actualize them with love.”
Sexual pleasure can be arousing, sensual, erotic, orgasmic, blissful, transcendent—-What do YOU want? - Carol Remz, PhD
Connect with Carol:
Websitehttps://drcarolremz.com
BookBest Sex Ever After Menopause: Transforming Your Sexual Pleasure Through Mindset with Healing and Aphrodisiac Plants (2025)
Acknowledgements:
Sponsor: Compass Navigation Group. Steve.Nasralla@compass.com
Podcast Collaborator: Jennifer Fink. http://www.fadingmemoriespodcast.com
Michelle Kalisz started studying piano at the age of 4. Today she owns a piano studio and delights in teaching older adults. She extensively studied chemistry and psychology, all the while playing music which added depth to her understanding of how we learn and benefit cognitively from studying piano. She believes that brain plasticity needs an update. Science shows we can learn new skills well into our 90s because the process of learning leads to growth in brand new neurons. “Chords are like chemical compounds - they have predictable behavior.” Additionally, the current wisdom of the importance of muscle mass aids in providing the dexterity needed to use our hands to play piano.
We hope you enjoy learning from Michelle.
"Chemistry, Psychology & Music - Older Adults Benefit from Playing the Piano"
CONNECT WITH MICHELLE:
Email: michelle@michellekmusic.io
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/michellekalisz
Michelle’s Newsletter: https://www.michellekmusic.io/newsletter
Ann Lousin, 82, the first woman in the United States to be appointed staff parliamentarian for the Illinois House of Representatives, as well as the first woman parliamentarian for any American legislature, continues her fierce journey to remove women’s cloak of invisibility. Since 1970, Ann has been recognized for her work with the IL Constitution and ongoing activism. She has taught commercial law at the John Marshall Law School, now UIC Law School, for 50 years, and holds classes on the IL Constitution. Ann believes dearly in helping pass into law the legal provision for the medical right to die. Her powerful statements attest to her commitment to all these causes and inspire us to act.
I like group decision-making when people can openly express different views and accept that the final decision can be one’s 2nd choice. - Ann Lousin
Connect with Ann:
Email: ALousin@uic.edu
Causes Ann cares about:
1970 IL Constitution
Kitihawa DuSable
Medical Aid in Dying
If you enjoy Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined, we recommend Jennifer Fink, host of Fading Memories, a podcast for caregivers of loved ones with dementia. It provides insights and guidance on communicating effectively, managing stress, and coping with grief and loss.
Home - Fading Memories Podcast
Gail Straus is mostly retired, meaning that in addition to volunteer work, she remains open to the occasional client project. In 2021, Gail joined the Communications Team at AARP Illinois as a volunteer. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Guest House Chicago, donates time and expertise to the Moran Center for Social Justice in Evanston, is on the Ambassadors Advisory Committee to Steppenwolf Theater Company, and volunteers for the Taproot Foundation.
We asked, “How did you become involved with AARP-IL?” Gail was clear of her intent to use her expertise and skills in an organization which would recognize her value as a volunteer. AARP IL’s Director of Communication was delighted to tap into her experience. As an active volunteer member of the communications team, she brings insight into connecting marketing and outreach strategies to the most effective communications vehicles. More importantly, she serves as the voice of the older adult for the communications team.
Gail also writes a monthly column on older adults for AARP-IL and says, “Don’t call me elderly!” A big reason Gail is volunteering for AARP is their advocacy for older adults in the country.
As Gail described, AARP advocates for programs such as social security, provides information and sponsors events on topics that are important to keeping older adults viable and vital and provides an extensive array of both virtual and in-person recreational, informational and entertainment resources such as fraud protection, yoga, cooking classes, ethnic celebrations and arts programming.
You can easily get involved by checking out your state chapter at AARP.org
CONNECT WITH GAIL:
Email: Gailkstraus@gmail.com
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-straus-57ba311/
Ginny Maccoll, 73, has an unusual hobby. She competes in Ninja Warrior competitions. Last year, the Guinness World Book of Records named her the oldest female to compete. Though physically quite active from the time she was born, and a proficient dancer, it wasn’t until her daughter became a Ninja competitor that Ginny started believing that she might be able to do that, too. She also competes nationally at the Sr. Olympics swim team. Ginny started dancing in 3rd grade and moved from Tennessee to New York City to embark on a professional career in dance culminating in performing in the hit Broadway Show, Pippin, in 1974. This led her to roles on TV commercials, having her own radio show and appearing in a film with Diane Keaton. Ginny’s view of aging is to keep trying to do more. Keep challenging your body and your brain.
" You get one obstacle after another and you can’t let it surprise you. We have to keep moving so our moving parts don’t rust."
Connect with Ginny:
Instagram: @ginnymaccoll
Facebook: ginnymaccoll
Jane Fleishman, Phd, a Certified Sexuality Educator, works with people living in senior communities on taboo topics such as intimacy, desire, sexual health, abuse and consent. An accomplished educator, writer, program developer, and researcher, Jane received a PhD in Human Sexuality from the Widener University Center for Human Sexuality Studies at the age of 62. She specializes in all aspects of sexuality for older adults and older adults in same-sex relationships. She is the author of The Stonewall Generation: LGBTQ Elders on Sex, Activism, and Aging, a Nautilus Award winner and Kirkus Review starred selection. Jane’s TEDx Talk, “Is It OK for Grandma to Have Sex?” has received over 100,000 views.
"Sex is going on in senior living communities or there is erosion of all the great gains we’ve made in the last 50 years."
Connect with Jane:
Email: Jane@Jane Fleishman.com
Podcast: Our Better Half, focuses on sex and sexuality in the 2nd half of life
Book: The Stonewall Generation: LGBTQ Elders on Sex, Activism, and Aging
Mimi Donaldson, 77, is known for her rousing keynote speeches, compelling workshops, and in-house training programs. She has shared the keynote platform with Colin Powell, Katie Couric and Maya Angelou.
She is now a speaker coach for TED Talkers, keynote speakers and business
Owners. Since 2018, she has coached 24 speakers to the TEDx stage.
I don’t want people to be boring!
Mimi holds a Bachelor's Degree in Speech and Dramatic Arts from the University of Iowa, and a Masters Degree in Education from Columbia University. For 10 years, she was a staff Human Resources Specialist with Walt Disney Company, Northrop Aircraft, and Rockwell International.
Mimi has been a visiting professor at Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership
at the Kennedy School of Government. Her latest book is designed to improve the quality of how you present yourself: Pitch Perfect: Speak to Grow Your Business in Seven Simple Steps.
CONNECT WITH MIMI:
EMAIL: mimi@mimidonaldson.com
WEBSITE: www.mimidonaldson.com
Book: Pitch Perfect: Speak to Grow Your Business in Seven Simple Steps
Phone: 310-577-0229
Alice Rose, age 78, lived in Europe for 10 ½ years where she worked with childhood centers for military families. Alice’s love of travel and culture led her to Turkey twenty-five times, as well as other fascinating destinations. Upon returning to New Jersey, Alice pursued her love of museum art and photography. Now residing in the Chicago area, Alice has blended her passion for books and photography into a self-publishing business. She and her business partner, Bethany, guide authors in making their own decisions about the book’s content and how it will be presented. Their books include memoirs, photography, children’s stories—essentially whatever the author wants to share. Alice’s own learning journey never stops. She is at work on three of her own books and recently has become 99% vegan. Alice relishes learning about a plant-based diet and its benefits and will gladly recommend her coach.
"The threads of my abundant life are books and paper, art and color, travel, history, and learning."
Connect with Alice
roselake100@comcast.net
www.babookdesign.com
The third oldest of 17 children, Mildred J. Mills, 73, was raised on a farm in Alabama. At a young age, she began to imagine that she would be going places, even though she had no idea how or where she might go. In high school one of her teachers recognized her talent in mathematics and suggested she think about a technical college for data processing. Her Daddy surprised her by helping make that a reality. Life was full of surprises from that moment forward.
“Sometimes in life we know it’s time to let go, and that, my friends, is a cotton patch moment.” - Mildred J. Mills
What followed was a highly successful career in IT Management, two college degrees - a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in creative writing/nonfiction, and a very fulfilling life, not without its challenges, some major. It was when she left her job, at 60, that she began to think about writing a book. Daddy’s House tells the story of A Daughter's Memoir of Setbacks, Triumphs & Rising Above Her Roots.
Mildred lives in Atlanta GA.
Connect with Mildred:
Email: mmillsm@gmail.com
Website: MildredJMills.com
Book:Daddy’s House: A Daughter’s Memoir of Setbacks, Triumphs & Rising Above Her Roots
Podcast:My Cotton Patch Moment
Thank you to our sponsor for this episode, Women’s Connection.
Our Podcast Collaborators’ monthly recommendation is Jennifer Fink’s Fading Memories
Judy Marjorie Collins, age 85, remains a legendary spokesperson for the American folk music scene and for older adults who still have a song to sing.
We were delighted to be in conversation with Judy Collins.
Folk singer, song writer, pianist, activist, author, and role-model, Judy continues to tour throughout the United States and many other countries. Judy vows, “I will never stop singing.”
Throughout the decades, Judy’s music has reflected changing political climates and captured glimpses of life at particular moments in time. Her music remains as timely as ever. We look forward to her next album of duets and trios including a song by the late David Crosby.
Judy continues to write about deeply personal experiences. Her latest book is Sometimes It’s Heaven: Poems of Love, Loss & Redemption.
Connect with Judy:
Publicist: rockymountainproductionsinc@gmail.com
Read her books. Available on Amazon
2025: Sometimes It’s Heaven: Poems of Love, Loss & Redemption
2012: Memoir: Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music
2007: The Seven T's: Finding Hope and Healing in the Wake of Tragedy 2006: Sanity & Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival, and Strength
Gina Orlando, age 72, created and was present at her own Celebration of Life in January 2025. Gina has been living with breast cancer for 11 years, the last three years in stage 4. She calls upon her expertise in holistic healing, voracious curiosity, and profound spiritual beliefs to navigate her journey toward end-of-life and ‘going to the light.’ Gina’s abundant intentions for her Celebration of Life: lifting things up for healing—for self, family, community, the world; giving people permission to think differently about their own death, to talk about it, and to plan for it; sharing gifts of love for self and others; and heightening awareness about healing and living well
with an incurable disease. Gina is reaching hundreds of people with her powerful story of celebrating life.
I draw on the mind, body, spirit paradigm while navigating my life and cancer
journey. - Gina Orlando
Connect with Gina Orlando
Email ginaorlando8@gmail.com
Website Gina Orlando MA, Wellness Coach Chicago, Oak Park
Direct link to Celebration of Life Service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay5RdVEay7w
on the Ascension, Oak Park, YouTube channel.
Wednesday Journal article about Gina and her Celebration of Life service
https://www.oakpark.com/2025/02/05/print-edition-february-5-2025/ pgs.1 and 14 and
part of the editorial, pg. 23
This episode is sponsored by Women’s Connection
https://www.womenconnecting.org
This month’s Podcast Collaborator is Becoming Ellie-Fit Strong Women Over 50
https://www.becomingelli.com
Elizabeth White’s mission is advocating for older women to “lead a richly textured, interesting life on modest income.” She uses multiple platforms--author, entrepreneur, consultant, international board member, and keynote speaker—to expose gendered ageism and social patterns of inequality that are the result of “bad policy, not bad character.” Elizabeth’s most recent undertaking is founding NUUageColiving for older people who live alone with limited resources.
Connect with Elizabeth
Emailelizabeth@nuuagecoliving.com
Websitehttps://www.55andfakingnormal.com/nuuage-co-living
Book—55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your guide to a better life. (2020). Simon & Shuster.
At 77 years old, Connie Inukai is proving that innovation has no age limit. A former technical writing instructor for engineers, Connie spent years teaching others how to create clear, effective reports. Little did she know that one day, she’d be writing her own—this time, for her own invention.
When she first conceived the idea for Tip ‘n Split, Connie applied the same skills she had taught for decades. She meticulously crafted reports, wrote an instruction manual, and designed brochures—working alongside her students as both teacher and entrepreneur.
Determined to bring her product to market, she initially invested $3,000 in a marketing agency, only to see little progress. Refusing to give up, Connie took matters into her own hands. She retired from teaching and became her own marketer, salesperson, and advocate.
"Don’t be afraid of no. Figure out what to do and turn it into a yes!"
Her persistence paid off. Tip ‘n Split has now been featured on QVC, The Today Show, The View, NBC News, and more. Even Walmart carries her invention.
But Connie isn’t stopping there. With her entrepreneurial spirit still going strong, she’s already working on her next big idea—proving that retirement isn’t the end of the road; it’s just the beginning.
CONNECT WITH CONNIE:
E. connie.inukai@gmail.com
Buy Tip n Split
Thoughtful and compassionate, Becky Blue is a geriatric and faith community nurse. Her compassion grew at an early age as she spent afternoons with Grandma, coincidentally the name of one of her magical poems. In her book, Turning-The Magic and Mystery of More Days, you will find essays, poetry and questions, some of the poems written almost 50 years ago with so much meaning for today.
"As we age, we connect the dots on our whole life experience."
Becky’s practice is interdisciplinary. Working in churches enabled her to bring in multiple practitioners to serve the churchgoers and to include mind, body and spirit in the conversations. Becky is especially interested in the 5 senses and how one’s life can be enriched through hearing, sight, taste, smell and feel. Most important is to maintain an explorer’s mindset. As one sense loses full capacity, the other senses create an urge to explore. Staying curious brings up a sense of bravery.
CONNECT WITH BECKY:
E. beckyblue@mac.com
Book: Turning: The Magic & Mystery of More Days
Jeanette Leardi is a social gerontologist and aging wellness leader who invites us to “cock your head to the side and ask, Am I think about aging in the right way?” Jeanette’s blog, Ageful Living, inspired her recent book, Aging Sideways: Changing Our Perspectives on Getting Older. Shechallenges the message of ‘gendered ageism’ that “women are never the right age in our society.” She reframes limiting metaphors such as ‘over the hill’ to viewing women as “master climbers and changers.” Jeanette praises the plasticity of the aging brain for being able to take shortcuts and see different perspectives. She proposes a ninth stage to Erikson’s eight stages of personality development: “transcendence and unity—seeing ourselves as part of all that is.”
Connect with Jeanette
Email: jeanette@jeanetteleardi.com
Website: https://www.jeanetteleardi.com
Book: Aging Sideways: Changing Our Perspectives on Getting Older. (2024)
At age 70, Karen Marienau’s life is distinguished by a circuitous professional path, world-wide adventure travels, strenuous physical challenges, taxing home improvement projects, and deeply loving relationships—with people, animals, and nature. How does Karen, who gets bored once she has mastered something, and is known to act on impulse, navigate her world? She leaves the Minnesota farm for Mexico, joins the Navy on a medical scholarship, becomes a doctor earning numerous specializations, lives in 7 states, and traverses 7 continents. Karen returns to her Minnesota roots and retires from the military after 20 years of service. She remodels a new home on the northern shores of Lake Superior, continues to travel, and is learning to live in the present.
I am most focused now on my well-being—emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual. - Karen Marienau
Connect with Karen
marienauk@yahoo.com
Barbara Thompson is passionate about working with seniors. She holds a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) certification. When her life turned out differently from what she expected, she learned to rely on friendships to fill a gap. That brought her to the understanding of how important it is to listen to each person involved in the moving process. Moving is a challenging time for families, no matter their ages. Barbara says, “Life works best and moves gracefully when plans are formed and decisions are made. Then when the time comes to implement the changes, everyone knows exactly what to expect. No stress, just love and support.
Barbara is a support system for everyone involved. When needed she brings in resources to handle all aspects of the move, including for financial and legal matters. She has seen the beauty and the sadness of it. When people can open up and work together it elevates the process to one of beauty.
CONNECT WITH BARBARA:
Email: Barbara@TheShenfieldGroup.com
Phone: 312-952-2052
Realty Affiliation: The Schenfeld Group LLC Jameson Sotheby International Realty
Adriane Berg is a lifelong traveler whose mission is to help people “never stop traveling.” Women over the age of 70 are increasingly participating in solo travel, as are individuals embarking on their second or third honeymoon. At the age of 76, Adriane created the podcast Ageless Traveler, a gift for her travel-focused self. She designs the trips she wants to take and, with a supportive team, invites others to join. Adriane advocates ‘voluntourism’—travel with a purpose that involves seeing and doing. She also encourages intergenerational travel—different ages traveling together to the same place, doing the same things. Adriane is a dedicated representative on aging to the United Nations. Her expertise in broadcasting, finance, and elder law informs her unique approach to travel, particularly suited for older women. Listen to her podcast at agelesstraveler.com, apple and spotify and download her free eBook, Luxury Travel for Less.info
Connect with Adriane
Podcast: Home - (agelesstraveler.com)
Website: Ageless Tourism – The Mature Traveler
Complete these forms to receive free e-books:
https://CaregiversTravelGuide.com
https://LuxuryTravelForLess.info
After 30 years in banking, Emilia DiMenco joined the Women’s Business Development Organization (WBDC) - first as a board member and then as CEO. WBDC serves all entrepreneurs and particularly women and underserved communities. Emilia understands and communicates the importance of managing cash and risks, how best to build capacity and, most importantly, to provide quality products and service while competing fairly on price.
WBDC works with entrepreneurs from start-up to succession, helping them to gain certification and pursue procurement opportunities, access capital and networks, and continue to learn.
Emilia looks ahead to more free time to focus on health and wellness, travel adventure, more time with her son’s family, music lessons and digging deeper into world history.
“Allowing a younger generation to take over allowed me to use my skills to benefit an underserved population.” - Emilia DiMenco
CONNECT WITH EMILIA
Email: edimenco@wbdc.org
Website: https://www.wbdc.org/en/
WBDC Phone: 312-853-3477
Thank you to Wells Fargo for their Support of Women Over 70:Aging Reimagined
Carol Offen and Betsy Crais know all too well the exhilaration, separately, of being a living donor and a 2-time organ recipient.
Carol’s adult, college-age son was in need of a kidney. Carol became his donor.
Betsy Crais’s evaluation for gastric problems in her thirties revealed polycystic kidney disease. When she was in her fifties she became the grateful recipient of a kidney donation from a living donor. Many years later, she required a 2nd kidney and, to everyone’s surprise, a liver. Again a living donor stepped up to donate a kidney but because she needed a liver at the same time, she needed a deceased donor. Not receiving them would have committed her to dialysis indefinitely while also risking death from liver failure.
These two expressive women knew each other since their daughters childhoods. They came together again after their own kidney experiences when they decided to collaborate on authoring a book that would lay bare the plight of recipients and the path of becoming a living donor.
"There is a 6-8 yr. wait for a deceased kidney donor and 90,000 people on the waiting list."
CONNECT WITH CAROL & BETSY:
Carol: carol.kidneydonorhelp@gmail.com; her website: www.kidneydonorhelp.com
Betsy: bcrais@med.unc.edu
Book: The Insider's Guide to Living Kidney Donation: Everything You Need to Know If You Give (or Get) the Greatest Gift
Barbara Ellison always wanted to have a TV show. Since waking up from her widow’s fog after her husband died when she was in her early 60’s, she has not stood still. She says, “I had no idea who I was, or what I was meant to do. The labels attached to me - mother, daughter, wife, those I understood but who was Barbara?” The Ultimate Game of Life coaching program gave her a lifeline and she has not stopped since. From traveling via RV to co-hosting a radio show and streaming live on Linked In, Barbara is a motivational speaker who opens her heart and shares her wisdom. Today she is the co-host of a TV show, coaches new retirees and knows exactly who she is.
" I love being in my 70’s. Age is just a number. "
Connect with Barbara:
Email: inspeakermode@gmail.com
LinkedIn Live: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-ellisonwellnessplayroom2024/
Time to Shine Happiness Show: https://www.youtube.com/live/ZdIhuyltJew?si=YMspxN8qrM6lapw4
People4People Community: www.people4peoplenow.com/referral/ZBkCwbmRlZJW?utm_source=referral_program
Jane Seskin, a licensed clinical social worker, is a prolific poet who, at age 80,
published a collection of 89 poems in the book OLDER WISER SHORTER: The
Truth and Humor of Life After 65. With humor and insight, Jane observes
how she is learning to acknowledge, accommodate, and accept the
vulnerabilities and new-found joys of aging. Early in her career as a therapist
for crime victims, Jane witnessed people’s resilience to survive. As a therapist
and writer, she advocates “talking to each other rather than being alone with
our scary thoughts.” For older women, one area of interest might be
discussions on health fantasies and fears. Jane is at work on a new book
about aging, focused on Taking Inventory: what’s past, dealing with the
present, and planning for the future. She also explores “what brings one
comfort when the sky is falling.”
Connect with Jane:
Instagram: @oldershorterwiser
Website:
https://www.olderwisershorter.com/
Jan Shaw King, 71, is a strong, resilient woman whose courage led her to create illustrative works that live on in all of our memories. Her first mentor was her grandmother who taught her to see colors and shadows and be brave enough to follow her path. You may remember Ranger Bob and How the Big Bad Wolf Saved Christmas. Children’s stories make up a major part of her portfolio. Jan’s company, Wyld Blue Entertainment, develops imaginative art for theme parks and major movie studios.
"My impressionistic paintings of sea turtles are dedicated to the awareness of these magnificent endangered species." - Jan Shaw King
What she is most proud of is beating an extremely rare form of cancer that only 3% survive. Her book, Life Lines, Verses for Reflection and Recovery is a treasured collection of inspirational verses of love and hope drawn from her personal healing journey as a 27-year cancer survivor.
More recently, Jan has nurtured her love of sea turtles, all 7 species, and uses her creativity and activism to create public awareness of the plight of these creatures due to climate change.
Connect with Jan Shaw King:
Email: Jan@WyldBlueEnt.com
WyldBlue Entertainment | WyldBlue Digital
www.WyldBlueEnt.com | www.WyldBlueDigital.com
WyldBlueProduction | www.WyldBlueProduction.com
WyldBlue Digital Press
WBDigitalPress@gmail.com
www.WyldBlueDigitalPress.com
jan@SeaTurtleRock.com
www.SeaTurtleRock.com
jan@JanShawKing.com
www.JanShawKing.com
LIFE LINES: Verses for Reflection and Recovery
LIFE LINES: Metamorphosis of Change: Guidelines for Recovery Workbook
B. Rosemary Grant, PhD, Research Scholar Emerita at Princeton
University, is world-renowned for 40 years of pioneering fieldwork, with her
husband, Peter, on two uninhabited islands in the Galapagos archipelago.
Their studies of Darwin’s finches in their natural environment have made
enormous contributions to evolutionary biology and ecology. In her memoir-
-One Step Sideways, Three Steps Forward--Rosemary chronicles her
amazing journey: teaching in the Finnish fashion; marrying and forming a
research partnership; earning her PhD at age 49; raising two young
daughters in the Galapagos; teaching and writing; receiving numerous
international awards; and advocating, world-wide, for advancing younger
women’s careers in science. Rosemary’s research and publications have
significant applications for broader areas, such as medicine and cultural
cooperation.
Quote Following your passion does not mean everything has to go in a
straight line; sideways steps can lead to huge leaps forward.
Connect with Rosemary
Email: rgrant@princeton.edu
One Step Sideways, Three Steps Forward: One Woman’s Path to Becoming a Biologist
40 Years of Evolution: Darwin's Finches on Daphne Major Island, New Edition
by B. Rosemary Grant and Peter R. Grant
Holly Zeinfeld, 79, has moved 22 times and lived in 8 states during her marriage to Steve. They were partners in life and in work until he died a little over a year ago. Holly cared for him in home hospice for 7 years with periodic help from her son.
Everywhere Holly goes, she finds meaningful work to do and makes lifelong friends. She calls herself the Director of Intangibles. No fitness center for pregnant women? She buys one and learns Lamaze to teach it and improve women’s lives. Employees disgruntled? Create a plan to build a cohesive and happy staff. School in Israel is not working for two of her grandsons? Bring them to Chicago to attend high school and live with her for several years.
Even today, living at Plymouth Place in La Grange Park IL, she continues to organize, participate in and build a strong community for herself and her neighbors. No seder? Run one for anyone who might come - 30 people showed up.
Thoughts become things. Say the good ones.
Resilience, tolerance, a deep caring and willingness to put herself out there for others - that is Holly Zeinfeld.
CONNECT TO HOLLY:
Email: nanuholly@yahoo.com
Suzanne Rowen, age 72, has been climbing mountains in the Pacific Northwest for the past 30 years. Leading self and others are cross-over skills between mountaineering and working in high stakes crisis communications on Wall Street, Suzanne’s earlier life on the East Coast. She finds climbing mountains to be “equally intense and marvelously expansive.” As a dedicated mountaineer, Suzanne peaked all the volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest and led numerous climbing expeditions. Now she prefers climbing solo and finds that “being in nature keeps us sane; you never outgrow it.” Suzanne mentors young women in mountaineering and is turning to fiction writing set in nature and mountains.
"The mountains meet you where you are; you can express who you are any time in life"
Connect with Suzanne
Email: suzannerowen@gmail.com
Wendy Cole, age 76, was 67 when she decided to live out in the world as the female
she was born to be. As a young person, Wendy was informed by ‘authorities’ that she
was a male with a psychological condition that was untreatable and uncurable; she was “a freak.” Wendy tells her story of living 45 years of repression while hiding her secret from the outside world. On the brink of suicide in 2014, Wendy learned her diagnosis had changed back in 2012. It is now treatable by therapy, hormones, and surgeries. And people are born transgender: “Gender is between the ears, not the legs.” In 2015, Wendy transitioned and began living fully as her authentic self. Currently, she is a transition mentor who guides individuals through significant life changes. She shares her story to “open minds and possibilities…to show others the beauty and possibilities of living authentically…It is never too late!”
"I was born female but assigned male based on my physical anatomy; now, I live freely and fully as a woman." - Wendy Cole
Connect with Wendy: She invites you to ask her anything!
Connection website: https://MeetWendyCole.com
Email: wendycole212@gmail.com
Website: https://wendycolegtm.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wcole212/@wcole212
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendycolegtm
YouTube Channel:
https:www.youtube.com/@wendycole8326@wendycole8326
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-cole-gtm
Private Facebook group, Demystifying the Transgender Journey,
Open to anyone curious to learn more about being born transgender and living
with it from childhood.
Cynthia Bargar, 76 is the author of Sleeping in the Dead Girl’s Room (Lily Poetry
Review Books), selected as a Massachusetts Book Awards 2023 Honors Poetry Book. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Sugar House Review, Ocean State Review, Lily Poetry Review, Verse Daily, On the Seawall, The Last Milkweed Anthology, and elsewhere. Cynthia is associate poetry editor at Pangyrus LitMag. She lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Cynthia has had 3 careers. First, teaching video and photography to teens; then, she worked in fundraising for 30 years, with nonprofits focused on grassroots activism and social services. When she became sober 44 years ago, she found her voice and started writing.
Cynthia’s father was 28 when she was born. It was the same year his 18 year old sister, also named Cynthia Bargar, died of uncertain causes. As a newborn she occupied her aunt’s room. Throughout her life, nobody ever talked about it and she never understood exactly what happened to her father’s sister.
Many years later, as a practicing poet, Cynthia began to explore the unspoken, her aunt’s mysterious death. Her debut collection, Sleeping in the Dead Girl’s Room, is the result.
CONNECT WITH CYNTHIA
Email: cynthia.bargar@gmail.com
Website: www.cynthiabargar.com/
Book: Sleeping in the Dead Girl’s Room
Order from Bookshop.org
On the northshore of Chicago, there has existed a magical boutique gift store for 37 years. Its name: The Yellow Bird. Recently the shopping center where it had thrived all those years, was sold to make room for new residential buildings and some commercial. Yellow Bird’s lease was over but Carol was not. Yellow Bird’s owner, Carol Schaner, 87, was not yet ready, however, to lock the door and walk away. She, her daughter and indispensable manager, Laura, were determined to successfully relocate. And, indeed, they did. The Yellow Bird can now be found in downtown Wilmette.
Carol’s handling of the situation is an example of her resilience; of a can-do attitude that has held Carol in good stead over her entire life. She is resilient, courageous, creative and connected. The community loves her and proved it by supporting her in her new location.
What will I do in the future? I’ll continue with everything I am doing now! I am blessed to be here. Joy abounds.
This episode tells her story.
CONNECT WITH CAROL:
Email: yellowbirdstore@sbcglobal.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YellowBirdStore/
Yellow Bird Stationery, Invitations & Gifts: 1199 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette IL 60091, 847-256-1380
Andrea Gilats—writer, educator, artist, yoga instructor—believes that
“when one writes a memoir, one has to be oneself.” Andrea’s captivating new
memoir, Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity,
reveals her journey of ‘discovery through the pitfalls and possibilities of
aging.’ She reflects on dealing with prolonged grief following the early death
of her husband, navigating serious chronic illnesses while living alone, and
learning to recreate her identity and sense of belonging after retirement.
Now age 79, Andrea highlights the “singular pleasures of growing up again.”
With deeper self-knowing and well-earned wisdom, “this time we can enjoy
it… My horizon is no longer longer than I can see—I have arrived!” Andrea
shares how she is now able to “live a life of peace, joy, and contentment.”
Connect with Andrea:
Email: agilats@gmail.com
Books by Andrea:
- Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity (2024).
- After Effects: A Memoir of Complicated Grief (2021)
- Restoring Flexibility: A Gentle Yoga-based Practice in Increase Mobility at Any Age (2015)
For 15 years, Karen Allen (age 73), actor and director of stage and film,
and Sarah T. Schwab (age 39), writer, director and producer, have enjoyed
collaborating on theatre and film productions, notably addressing oft-avoided
discussions about dying and loss. Their award-winning film, A Stage of
Twilight—written and directed by Sarah and starring Karen—is a “grass-
roots awareness campaign for end-of-life care and decisions.” It raises the
difficult question: “Whose death is it—who has the right to decide when,
where, how, and with whom someone dies?” Karen’s directorial debut, the
award-winning A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud., is a short film about the “passing
of wisdom from an older man to a young boy.” In 2025, Karen will be
directing her first feature film, The Batting Cage, with Sarah on the
production team. This film depicts how two sisters reconnect after the death
of their sibling. In her upcoming third feature film, Crybaby Bridge, Sarah
approaches suicide through the genre of psychological thriller. Please meet
Karen Allen and Sarah T. Schwab—friends and collaborators who “reach for
the light” while pursuing what they love.
"Loss ties us together as human beings; we must learn to respect
time and cherish loved ones."
CONNECT with KAREN and SARAH
Karen Allen Karen Allen - Biography - IMDb
Sarah T. Schwab Sarah T Schwab - Biography - IMDb
WATCH A STAGE OF TWILIGHT
https://tubitv.com/movies/100026437/a-stage-of-twilight
WATCH A TREE. A ROCK. A CLOUD
https://tubitv.com/movies/100002111/a-tree-a-rock-a-cloud
For information to support the BATTING CAGE, Via Brian Long, producer.
Brianlong.blong@gmail.com
Sharon A. Brangman, MD, Syracuse NY,is a geriatrician who has been a leader in the field of geriatrics for over two decades. Her focus is directly on the phenomenon of normal cognitive aging, concentrating on prevention.
Dr. Brangman serves as Chair of the Department of Geriatrics, Director of the Center for Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease and is a Distinguished Service Professor at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. She has held leadership roles at the national level and was elected to the board of the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs in 2013 and served as President from 2015-2017.
" My goal is to help people maintain the highest quality of life throughout their lifespan. "
Dr. Brangman is a widely published researcher by the National Institute of Aging.
In 2024, Dr. Brangman was elected to serve as a Trustee of the McKnight Brain Research Foundation in 2023.
This episode is full of information to guide you in proactively caring for your brain health.
Connect with Sharon:
Website: https://mcknightbrain.org/brainworks/
From a very young age, Pamela Rand, 81, described herself as a comic, a clown, a funny kid who liked to make people laugh. She continues today to sing, dance, speak in multiple accents and create skits on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTock. Laughing at herself is her prime mode of comedy.
In her early 20’s, Pamela went to Clown School in Paris where she journeyed within to discover her inner clown. Having lost both her mother and brother, this “school of movement, mind and theater” helped her regain her innocence- her silly side-and she learned that 20 minutes of daily laughter enriches your life and is good for your brain. Today she focuses on physical comedy, formerly known as slapstick.
”Humor is vital to our sanity and longevity.”
Pamela is the “Self-proclaimed president of the mature mothers’ society”. Her daughter was born when she was 42, and not wanting her to be an only child, she birthed twins at 51. She believes in positive addictions - meditation, eating healthy foods, chi gong, weight training, Pilates, and, of course, humor.
Pamela Rand is a role model for an aging population and an inspiration for youth.
CONNECT WITH PAMELA:
Website: PamelaRand.net
Website: Adventures in Feeling Young
You Tube: Adventures in Feeling Young
TikTok: Adventures in Feeling Young
Instagram: Adventures in Feeling Young
For 50 years, Marcia Naomi Berger, 79, has experienced a journey from madness to love and meaning. Her first manic episode was at 29, when she was already a well-respected licensed clinical social worker - an experienced psychotherapist well-trained in cognitive-behavioral, family systems, process, and psychodynamic approaches. She draws from many treatment approaches to fit the needs of her clients.
Naomi’s life changed abruptly when she experienced the first of two difficult hospitalizations.
While her early upbringing was difficult and influenced her decision to become a therapist and concentrate on relationships, nothing prepared Naomi for a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. From that moment on she was determined to write a book about this difficult, shame-inducing condition. Everytime she took pen in hand, she found she could only get so far and would put it away. It was only in May of this year that she accomplished her goal and The Bipolar Therapist was published.
Prior to that, Naomi published two books on relationships.
Naomi lives her life by three convictions:
- Don’t bow down to stigma - you are a multi-faceted person who has a lot to give to this world
- Whatever your situation is, don’t let other people define you.
- Live a whole meaningful life. Find happiness every day
CONNECT WITH NAOMI:
Email: mnaomiberger@gmail.com
Books: The BiPolar Therapist
Marriage Minded: An A to Z Dating Guide for Lasting Love,
Marriage Meetings for Lasting Love: 30 Minutes a Week to the Relationship You've Always Wanted
LinkedIn Profile
Anne Burke, age 80, retired Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, began her career as a physical education teacher, earned her undergraduate degree as an adult student at the School for New Learning/DePaul University, completed a law degree while raising four children, and created the Special Olympics. Her law practice centered on helping vulnerable children and citizens. Anne served on the Illinois Supreme Court for 16 years, the last three years as chief justice, during the covid pandemic. Upon retirement, Anne returned to DePaul University as a non-degree seeking student taking courses in history, philosophy, ethics, and creative writing. She has received numerous awards and 13 honorary degrees, including from her alma mater.
"The core of me is children; I am devoted to helping special populations."
Connect with Anne
Email: ambjurist@gmail.com
Ruth Schimel, 84, has original ways to make the most of life’s possibilities. An author of over 70 published articles and seven books, she was previously a diplomat/foreign service officer at the Department of State. She has also taught at four universities. With her mother, Ruth created the Schimel Lode to promote collaboration and innovation in the DC area.
In her 40’s, Ruth designed an inside-out approach to career and life management that transcended narrow labeling of her clients. Preferring to honor their complexity using adventure and good judgment, she continues to provide the tools and experiences to help clients access and keep developing their true selves independently. As a child, Ruth and her family were isolated by a flood for four days. She learned first-hand the power of uncontrolled water. That experience makes her involvement with efforts to mitigate climate change reality based. Finding ways to transcend isolation during the pandemic, Ruth and her long-time friend and colleague, Shari, developed a process for using art to generate engaging conversation, deeper relationships and visual intelligence. Their mashups of juxtaposed paintings with poetry became recordings to share online to benefit others’ explorations and insights.
"Becoming courageous is a process accessible to most people to step into the life they want."
Her PhD research on courage, international experience, work with a range of clients and continuing curiosity are catalysts for her own growth and her work assisting others. Ruth knows that becoming courageous involves “the willingness to realize your true capacities by going through discomfort, fear, anxiety or suffering and taking wholehearted, responsible action.” It is a process accessible to most people.
CONNECT WITH RUTH:
Website: https://www.ruthschimel.com/
Website: https://artingconversations.com/
Website: https://www.theschimellode.net/
Books: https://www.ruthschimel.com/books/
Susan Baur, 84, has been a writer, historian and psychologist for 50 years. As a child, nothing grabbed her passion like listening to her father’s stories which seemed to describe other worlds that exist inside our own. Pursuing these other worlds ever since, the force of nature keeps pulling at her very being and led her first into an obsession with turtles and then to start removing garbage from ponds in Cape Cod, MA.
This is hard work. The water is often cold, visibility poor but nevertheless she dives in and sees . . . garbage - garbage like tires, futons, bicycle wheels and tons of beer cans. Trash. She couldn’t do this work alone so invited others to help. Women 64-84 joined in. It led Susan to be named Climate Resilience Hero by the Red Cross.
If you align yourself with the force that governs, you know how to age.
Susan believes in this work. Although she has written books on the history of science and psychology, and books about turtles for children, it is her sense of wonder and how it changes a person that unites her varied interests. She is happiest exploring Wonderlands and encouraging others to join her. Although she is widely seen as creating the next generation of conservationists, she is more focused on fostering enchantment wherever it is found. Susan is, herself, the embodiment of wonder.
CONNECT WITH SUSAN:
Website: OLAUG-MA.COM
Books: The Turtle Sisters series and A Guide to the Best Ponds on Cape Cod AND the Best Ways of Preserving Them may be found on her personal website: theturtlesisters.com
Email: OLAUG.MA@gmail.comAging Reimagined Symposium Celebrating Who We Are as We Age
Sat Oct 19, 2024 [8:00] AM – [6:00] PM
Plymouth Place, 60526
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/womenover70/1255769
Karen Ross, 76, is a champion who keeps reinventing herself. Self-confident, curious and proactive, Karen never stops finding new ways to stay involved, support herself and others, and meet interesting people.
She thought she would be a musician and entered college intending to major in music. However, Broadway show music is what interested her and classical music was what the college preferred she study. It didn’t take long for Karen to move on and several years and careers later found herself hosting a radio show. When that show ended she moved to South Carolina.
"Curiosity leads me to keep engaging in new topics, career choices, and environments."
A change in formats sent her back to Chicago where she decided to hire a coach to help her find what was next. The coach noticed that she was always desirous to be of service and, so, suggested she become a coach.
Soon after starting her practice, Karen discovered hypnosis, believing it could help her patients find deep relaxation and access to their subconscious minds, while eradicating chronic pain, sleep issues and major loss. She continues to this day working with clients who benefit from hypnosis and personal coaching.
Karen pays close attention to her health, doing a daily practice called Aging Backwards. She walks all over the city and listens for her inner ageist to consciously reject the notion that she is old.
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Email: info@KarenRossNow.com
Website: https://karenrossnow.com/
Meet with her at: https://karenrossnow.com/schedule/
Watch my 60-second video:
https://karenrossnow.com/schedule/
https://womenover70.com/symposium/
https://linktr.ee/womenover70
Elderwerks’ dynamic CEO and Founder, Jennifer Prell, understands older adults. She believes elders deserve respect and loving care. She gets worked up when talking about how difficult it often is for older people, no matter their income level, to find proper housing as they age. Adult children reach out because a parent is declining. That parent does not always recognize there is a problem and that makes it extremely difficult to help them make the transition to safer housing. Jennifer and her team are trained to ask the questions that will guide them in determining the correct paths to take.
Jennifer started a 2nd business called Safe Moves for Seniors so that she could work with income-restricted older people. Through this business they write grants and raise funds to aid older adults in downsizing and moving with dignity.
Their knowledge seems never-ending in all the ways to find proper housing for their clients as they age.
Connect with Jennifer:
Email: Jennifer.Prell@Elderwerks.org
Website: www.Elderwerks.org
Website: www.safemovesforseniors.org
The hardest part of getting older is the realization that some dreams are never going to be realized. Some situations are not going to change. Jackie Greenbaum, however realistic she remains, has lived her life as though dreams are meant to be followed. Discouraged from a career in law at a young age, Jackie pursued teaching, only to find it unsatisfying for the world in which she wanted to live. Soon after leaving the field of education, Jackie immersed herself in becoming a legal secretary, then a paralegal and combined those two to work in business development and human resources. A dynamic, successful rainmaker was her mentor and her career proved both satisfying and rewarding.
"There are close friends to be had in every setting when meaning and purpose drive your life."
After retiring, Jackie and her husband moved to an over 55 community. Using all the skills she practiced while working, Jackie soon became deeply involved on the WOW board and developed strong friendships within the community.
Jackie takes advantage of every minute because…….you just never know.
Womenover70.com
Aging Reimagined Symposium Celebrating Who We Are as We Age
Sat Oct 19, 2024 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Plymouth Place, 60526
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/womenover70/1255769
If we are looking for what we enjoy doing, then, logically, we’re going to be good at it. Joyful thoughts spiral upward. We are on this planet to love and be loved, to be truly authentic.
Gail Sussman Miller, Inspired Choice.com, believes how we think, and communicate, is a key issue for leaders of organizations. She helps them manage difficult conversations, to listen not only to respond, but to understand. You can be kind and honest. She helps people see how they need to change to achieve their desired outcomes. An expert coach, focusing on communication, Gail has been serving clients since 2001. By integrating her beliefs into her coaching, she invites her clients to see through different lenses.
"It’s about the spirit and energy you bring to the conversation, rather than specific words."
As you listen hear her thoughts on:
- Wild Fit - a program based on anthropological nutrition and behavioral psychology for optimum health. Gail has integrated this knowledge and food choices as a lifestyle and finds it works for her on both a physical and spiritual level.
- Archetypes, based on the work of Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette and Carolyn Myss include our protective human ego (Victim, Saboteur, Wounded child, Prostitute - all fear-driven behaviors) and our Spirit, Higher Self, love driven behaviors. (Lover, Sovereign, Warrior, Magician - ways in which we deepen the truth of who we are.
- A Course in Miracles – helps us shift from a thought system based on fear to one based on love
- Headspace App - powerful meditation and mind training to keep joy present in our lives
- Tears - your body’s response to hearing what is true for you.
Gail celebrates life through spirituality, gratitude and rituals.
Wendy Green, founder and host of Hey, Boomer,! knows about personal transformation first-hand and coaches women to “live the meaningful, purposeful life they want to live.” Wendy left the world of corporate training to focus on women’s experiences of growing older—as a coach, podcaster, show host, and blogger. Podcast guests, along with members of Boomer Banter, talk about a range of topics such as family dynamics, gray divorce, changing relationships, feeling old, and the vital value of female friendships.
I still feel inside the younger parts of me. - Wendy Green
Connect with Wendy
Email: wendy@heyboomer.biz
Website: https://heyboomer.biz
Sally Jean Fox’s 2023 book, Meeting the Muse After Midlife: A Journey to Meaning, Creativity, and Joy, tells her story of finding joy in being creative after 50, as she explored gardening, clowning, improv theatre, storytelling, and singing. Always keen on writing, Sally took up painting at age 69 and exhibited 30 paintings three years later. Although Sally now sees herself as an artist, she emphasizes that creativity is not just about producing art; rather, the “most creative thing we can do is design our lives, every day, to be engaging, expansive, and full of learning. As the head of Engaging Presence, Sally also coaches professionals to design their lives around what matters most to them and to share their stories.
Connect with Sally
Email: sally@engagingpresence.com
Website: Engaging Presence—Shaping Stories That Matter
https://www.engagingpresence.com
Book: Meeting the Muse After Midlife
https://www.engagingpresence.com/book/
Cheri Boublis is Senior Director for Hospitality Services at Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park, Illinois, a model for active community living. Cheri collaborates with the leadership, residents, vendors, and the larger community to offer wide-ranging services for adults who choose a vibrant lifestyle. Choice is the guiding concept for most everything at Plymouth Place—design of living space, travel, dining, cultural programs, the arts, wellness, and more. Cheri says she is of the age that she could live at Plymouth Place, and she looks forward to doing so when she is ready for that transition.
Plymouth Place is the premium sponsor and host site for Women Over 70’s first, in-person Symposium on October 19, 2024.
Connect with Cheri
Email: cboublis@plymouthplace.org
Website: Plymouth Place | Senior Living in La Grange Park, IL
Joy has always been a part of Beverly Pimsleur's life. Her extended family in Louisville KY loved to be together, to dance, sing and have fun.
She recognized the importance of language from a young age and started learning French in high school. She met her husband, a French professor, on a blind date in her twenties and changed her plans about living in France in order to marry him, anticipating they would someday live there together — which they
did.
She became fluent in 4 different languages and believes in the importance of teaching English as a 2nd language.
Paul was the creator of the Pimsleur Language Program. When he died at 48, Beverly, alone with two young children, returned to New York and, with a colleague of her late husband, continued to develop the business. Simon & Schuster eventually purchased the company.
Life with her 2nd husband, Peter, was quite different. They moved to Nice for 12 years, where he died of a genetic disease. Beverly turned to tango as a release for her grief and dance became an obsession. With her children married, she traveled the world, dancing until she was 82. Her passions are multi-faceted and include cooking, traveling, writing and publishing.
"I'm afraid I’m not going to have enough time for all the things I want to do."
As an educational leader and mentor, Dr. Helen Benjamin tells stories about
growing up in the segregated South, living and working in two worlds—Black
and White, and helping younger Black professionals navigate their CEO roles
in community colleges. In semi-retirement, Helen leads HSV Consulting, Inc,
works with “dozens of colleges, boards, and CEOs to advance student-
centered organizational and leadership improvement,” and continues writing
to preserve African American history. Helen finds that at age 74 she is in
“the best place I’ve ever been in my life—smarter, wiser, thriftier, and more
relaxed.”
No one can tell the story of our lived experience better than
we can.
Connect with Helen
Email: hbenjamin91@icloud.com
Books by Helen:
● How We Got Over-Growing Up in the Segregated South: A Collection of
Narratives
● The Chocolate Truth: An Anthology of Perspectives from Community
College CEOs
Do you want to share housing but find the transition scary? We often live in shared housing when we are single: college, roommates in camp, at conferences, during our early careers. Living with housemates as we age is no different. Annamarie Pluhar, 70, is a well-spoken advocate for shared housing and offers valuable ways of thinking to simplify the process.
After receiving her Masters in Divinity, then working in a corporation, facilitating large groups, Annamarie started a non-profit to promote the importance of shared housing. She consults with organizations, housing professionals, the aging network and local officials who are seeking to develop shared housing in their communities. The twin crises of high housing costs and an increase in social isolation combine to render cooperative living arrangements an excellent solution.
"Housemates are not the same as roommates."
By providing education, advocacy, and model development she empowers individuals to choose, create and sustain shared housing. She envisions a world in which sharing housing is a commonly accepted living arrangement and individuals feel happy, safe and at peace with home-mates.One idea—a building for seniors with 4 bedroom suites for 3 people. The extra suite might be for guests or caretakers. Everyone shares the kitchen and living space.
Last summer (2023) Annamarie lost her partner of 23 years and is currently renovating her home to make it more comfortable for sharing. She lives in southern Vermont.
Connect with Annamarie:
Book: Sharing Housing: A Guidebook for Finding and Keeping Good Housemates
Website: sharinghousing.com
Email: annamarie@sharinghousing.org
Mary Mitchell, age 74, sheds light on aging and ageism in her occasional column for the Chicago Sun Times, Starting Over. Mary ‘started over’ five years ago when she switched her journalistic authority on race relations in Chicago to concentrate on matters of growing older. She advocates that longevity is a blessing and aging offers an opportunity to do well at
something else. Mary’s guiding tenets are always equity and fairness when dealing with social isms. When we are equitable and fair, Mary says, “we are doing the best we can.”
" I give people platforms to tell their own stories, share their wisdom, and increase awareness of social justice issues."
Connect with Mary
Email: mmitchell@suntimes.com
https://chicago.suntimes.com/starting-over
Ann Anderson Evans, age 82, lives in Vermont. She is a writer, linguist, and former professor. Her first memoir, Daring to Date Again (2014), which tells the story of what happened after she started dating at 62, won multiple prizes. Her sequel The Sweet Pain of Being Alive: A Memoir of Love and Death (Jan. 2024), narrates her attempt to find out why, after 13 happily married years, her husband killed himself. Her questions about his gender dsyphoria and suicide remain largely unanswered. Ann tries to heed the wisdom of the Buddhist saying, “You can’t change the past, the future hasn’t happened yet, so pay close attention to today.” The questions and answers have continued to unfold.
Through contemplation about loss, aging, and evolving, I realize every day is an adventure; we must be willing to deal with whatever comes.
Connect with Ann
Email: ann@annandersonevans.com
Website: https://annandersonevans.com
Susan Gangsei, a classically trained tapestry artist from Minneapolis, MN, uses her talent to create images of women aging. Her recent series, The Sacred Journey of Aging, features the “beauty, strength, and wisdom of older women.” Susan treats viewers to her tapestries that represent different passages of growing older—feeling invisible, making mischief, putting the pieces back together, reimagining how to live with a health condition, and recognizing the paradoxes of life. Susan will exhibit selected pieces at the Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined Symposium, October 19,2024, in the Chicago area.
Connect with Susan
Email:susangangsei@yahoo.com
Website: https://www.susangansei.com
Visionary and disrupter, Jacynth Bassett, is an award-winning, highly sought after consultant and expert in the anti-ageism/ age-inclusive & positive movement. At only 31, she is widely recognized as a leading pioneer and voice, awarded ‘Anti-Ageist Activist’ of 2023, at the inaugural Advantages Of Age Awards 2023. and named one of Evening Standard’s 22 Londoners Changing the World.
She is the Founder & CEO of the award-winning global campaign, consultancy & community Ageism Is Never In Style®, and of The Bias Cut – the first age-inclusive independent fashion online boutique.
Aging is a privilege. She lost a dear friend to cancer at age 18. Her whole inspiration came from her Mum who was experiencing ageism as her career was waning. Jacynth became an activist and consciously began to use her platform to support other people. She was determined to make an impact.
She studied law at Cambridge and intended to create opportunities to speak, blog and build a following. She found her age to be an advantage in growing a community that believes as she does. In the last 1-2 years she is heartened to see how many people are joining. Her manifesto has 5 principles, beginning with aging as you wish. It’s your choice.
“I’m heartened to see how many young people are taking up the battle to end ageism.” - Jacynth Bassett
Connect with Jacynth:
Email: jacynth.bassett@thebiascut.com
Website: The Bias Cut
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacynthbassett
LIfe is a constant adventure for Michele Kurlander, 79. She lives in Chicago, yet her heart is in France. A fluent francophile, Michelle spends much of her life traveling between Chicago and Paris. There she has met dear friends who live all across the world. When she becomes interested in an artist, an author, a performer, Michele’s obsession with art and music icons takes over and she devotes that period of her life to understanding all she can about the person. Spending years reading and discussing all 7 volumes of Proust is a perfect example. Sometimes that means traveling across the world to meet them, attending their concerts, involving friends in the obsession with her. She is also obsessed with her family.
No stranger to challenge, Michele reinvented herself to make every moment count. Through it all she has maintained her love of writing and literature. And, continues to practice law while, somehow, she making it all work. Michelle will tell you, “There is no resemblance today to who I once was.”
"Nobody promises you anything in life, except this minute."
CONNECT WITH MICHELE
Email: lawmichelle@aol.com
Website: https://www.kurlanderlaw.com/
Dr. Pamela Meyer is a prolific author, international consultant and keynote speaker, and college teacher whose areas of focus are leadership agility, organizational change, and adult learning. In her most recent book, Staying in the Game: Leading and Learning with Agility for a Dynamic Future, Pamela draws on her experiences as an amateur, gold medalist ski racer and on extensive interviews with older ski racers who keep coming back. Staying in the game is an apt metaphor for women who strive to remain innovative in their later decades. Pamela identifies play, purpose, passion, and pleasure as key elements of innovative living. And she discusses four interconnected dynamics of staying in the game that are applicable to professional and personal contexts and that are particularly relevant to women as we age: meaningful identity; community; learning; and commitment.
Connect with Pamela
Contact Page: https://pamela-meyer.com/pamela-meyer-contact/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelameyerphd/
Website: https://pamela-meyer.com
Selected Books by Pamela
Staying in the Game: Leading and Learning with Agility for a Dynamic Future.
The Agility Shift: Creating Agile and Effective Leaders, Teams, and Organizations
Sheila Solomon’s career in mass media arts spans 50 years. She was among the first African American women to work in the newsrooms of regional and national newspapers. Sheila became a dedicated advocate for affirmative action—bringing people of color into the news business and reporting on race issues in professions outside of journalism. While working as a journalist, Sheila was diagnosed with a very rare, incurable illness that is still being managed. She was allowed to work from home for six months, a unique arrangement in those times. Currently, Sheila volunteers her leadership expertise as Co-Founder/Vice Chair of the Board for Journalism Funding Partners and as President of the City Bureau Board of Directors. She is a proud legacy member of the oldest African American sorority in the United States.
Connect with Sheila
Email: Srsolomon52@gmail.com
As the founder of AGEIST Magazine and Super Ager podcast, David Stewart is a passionate champion of the modern 50+ lifestyle. While interviewing David is a departure from interviewing women 70-110+, we feel that what he has to say contributes to our mission of aging reimagined.
Women are the ones who are changing things. Men never experienced ageism, while women experienced sexism throughout their careers and understood ageism as a form of discrimination.
Super Ager podcast focuses on how we age and live optimally for who we are. We’re all different. The podcast brings on people who have resources for those in this age group.
Ageist Magazine is a natural progression from David’s previous work in magazines, with advertising. This mag is for people over 50 and to offer options for peoples’ current lifestyles. We have a poverty of imagination. The magazine helps overcome this.
His work is gender neutral. He talks about functional age, not biological. He wants to know, “What can you do?” How can you be as strong as possible? As useful as possible? How are you engaging? Be in touch with yourself. Be centered with who you are.
When Sandy Gordon retired at 70, from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Rosemont, Illinois as Director of Public Relations, a colleague gave her a toast. It said in part: “Sandy has the kind of talent that startles people. Really. Her co-workers and colleagues often sit around wondering how she comes up with her ideas. Ideas that seem to just sort of float out of her brain. It’s as though Sandy can produce life from a primordial soup that for everyone else is just a bowl full of amino acids. Sandy has that magic.”
Sandy began her career as a special education teacher and immediately became an advocate for people with disabilities. Learning that then President Hubert Humphrey’s grandchild had Down Syndrome, she found a way to approach him and urged him to do something for ‘handicapped’ people. He hired her on the spot to work as Executive Director of Friends of the Handicapped for the Humphrey/Muskie campaign.
"Getting recognition is less important than getting the job done" - Sandy Gordon
All of Sandy’s jobs have come about in similar fashion starting with the National Easter Seal Society. With no background in communication, public relations or HR, she uses her talents and skills to find her way. Her colleague goes on to say “It would be enough to comment on Sandy’s talent and imagination, but that is actually the smaller part of her whole person. The bigger part is her heart and her humor. Sandy has the type of personality that makes everyone around her better. Happier. Funnier. Brighter. Smarter. She just makes the day better. Her energy and spirit is irrepressible.”
CONNECT WITH SANDY:
Email: Sandy 601@gmail.com
Coleen T. Murphy, Ph.D is Director, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics,
James A. Elkins, Jr. Professor in the Life Sciences, Department of Molecular Biology, and LSI Genomics, Princeton University. She is also Director, Paul F. Glenn Center for Aging Research at Princeton and Director of Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain.
As a researcher, Coleen studies aging and the quantitation of “quality of life with age,” including the decline of cognitive and reproductive capacities with age. She is author of How We Age: The Science of Longevity. It is surprisingly readable and understandable.
Coleen has had her own lab since 2005. She finds society’s obsession with nutrition and dieting limiting for her research and has, instead, questioned what else can we do to preserve our health and cognitive aging.
She has won numerous awards for her research including being named a Pew Scholar. Coleen was awarded the New Innovator, Transformative R01, and two Pioneer awards from the NIH Director’s office.
Effective research stems from knowing the right questions to ask. Coleen Murphy
Connect with Coleen:
Email: ctmurphy@princeton.edu
Princeton: http://www.molbio1.princeton.edu/labs/murphy/ ORCID: 0000-0002-8257-984X
Book: How We Age: The Science of Longevity(AddLink)
Dr. Tracey Gendron is an internationally recognized gerontologist with almost 30 years of experience as a grant-funded researcher. She speaks to audiences globally about the real world impact of age bias. She is determined to change people’s negative views about aging. “Ageism, she says, is complicated - more nuanced than most people think it is. Anytime we discriminate against a person based on age, it is ageism. And, since we are all aging all the time, it can be a younger or older person who is being discriminated against.”
Tracey serves as Chair for the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Gerontology, and as Director for the Virginia Center on Aging.
As a child, her grandparents were an important part of her life and she believes that influenced her decision to enter gerontology. “Aging is beautiful, aging is living”, she says. We shouldn’t talk about it as older people, aging is what everyone is doing.
External and internal ageism are equally discriminatory. Internally, if we have dread about getting older, it affects us physically, mentally, and socially. Internalized ageism is a risk factor for suicidal ideation among older people And younger people who have dread of aging, and carry that with them, are more likely to have a cardiovascular event.
Dr. Gendron has a master’s degree in gerontology and psychology and a Ph.D in developmental psychology.
" Aging is Living. Think about how we can continue growing through all stages of our life." - Dr. Tracey Gendron
CONNECT WITH TRACY
Email: tlgendro@vcu.edu
Website: TraceyGendron.com
Book: Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Bias and How to End It
1)- "will most likely have a cardiovascular event" - please change to are more likely to have a cardiovascular event.
2) "there is a higher rate of suicide in older people who fear aging" - please change to "internalized ageism is a risk factor for suicidal ideation among older people"
Carol Stitzer, 80, lives life in the moment. All you have to do is listen to her and you immediately understand that she is positive, talented, energetic and happy. From early childhood education to development professional, fundraiser, artist and volunteer, Carol never lacks for the next big thing. She fine-tuned her skills at the Center for American Archeology and learned early on that planning travel for the Board of Directors offered her unique opportunities to tag along. This applied to her work at the Chicago History Museum,The Admiral at the Lake, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Along the way, she developed her own unique opportunity: her vision for producing art. Never satisfied to be ordinary, Carol thinks outside the box and is an asset to all who come in contact with her. Still teaching family workshops at Lill Street Art Center, she makes time to volunteer as a participant in other’s art and personal projects, fundraise for The Boulevard (a respite care facility for Chicago’s ill and injured homeless) and spend quality time with her husband of 43 years.
I live very much in the moment, always asking Why Not? - Carol Stitzer
EMAIL: carolstitzer@me.com
WEBSITE: https://carolstitzer.wixsite.com/mysite
A life of social service requires a deep commitment to reaching out, helping out and finding those paths that have meaning to you. Throughout Nancy Hanson’s entire life, she has been doing just that. Following in the footsteps of her mother, Nancy knows no other way of being.
Early on, she joined the League of Women Voters and in each of the cities in which she lived, when she and her husband moved multiple times, Nancy found causes she could learn about, study and advocate for through the League. Growing up in the 60s, Nancy believes her story is no different from others in her generation. They were the transitional generation that blazed the trail for women to come.
“Social work embodies advocacy - helping the underserved is how I live my life.” - Nancy Hanson
Nancy remains active . She volunteers for the Boulevard, a shelter for unhoused people who have been hospitalized and have nowhere to go when they leave the hospital; has created a community garden so the Boulevard can cut costs and serve residents healthy meals; used her social work experience to change public policy and fights for civil rights and climate change.
She recognizes how lucky she is to have health insurance that covers serious illness. "I could be right there with all these people I advocate for. Stereotypes wash away and disappear."
CONNECT WITH NANCY:
Email: nashanson@gmail.com
The Boulevard of Chicago
Chicago League of Women Voters: https://www.lwvchicago.org/
Catherine (Kate) Saccany was born to run. She took up jogging and ran barefoot for her first 30 months because there were no running shoes for women. A career banker, Kate joined LaSalle Bank. Coincidentally, LaSalle sponsored the Chicago marathon. She bought her first pair of running shoes, qualified for the marathon and has not stopped since. Yes, long covid has cramped her style. And, she is now 72. Kate believes it's never too late to become a runner. With the proper coaching and the right pair of shoes, anyone can learn. There is now a group for marathon runners over 100.
QUOTE: Just getting here is a privilege not to take lightly or abuse.
Kate’s interests are wide and varied. From ham radio to learning Spanish, her drive and perseverance are inspiring to all who know her.
CONNECT WITH KATE:
Email: cdsaccany@aol.com
Joy, love, compassion - the foundation of Eme’s life and her stories. Eme McAnam was a singer-songwriter who charted in the top 100 in Country Music. Her career has taken many turns: Singer/songwriter, novelist, art photographer.
Her newest novel, Freefalling: A Novel of Senior Romance, is based on a topic she knows well from her 91/2 years serving at an assisted living facility. Lewy Body Dementia is the central theme. Seniors, she says, are “us”. She wants her legacy to be seen as understanding that no matter what comes down our path, it is our job to find joy.
Change and loss is part of life. She saw people who were very sad. Eme reflects, “By the time you’re in your nineties you’ve lost a lot of people close to you. How do we keep a sense of self amid our losses? If something is not working it’s our responsibility to change it. Let’s live this life. We are not done. If we struggle with how to love ourselves, it’s not too late. Even in the most troubled story lines in the book, by the time you get to the end of the story, compassion can be found.”
She is a big fan of all the sensual ways of staying alive. Eme is working on two more books
I’m tired of hearing that people get invisible. They are visible if you keep your eyes open. - Eme McAnam
Connect with Eme:
Email: eme@emespirit.com
Website: emespirit.com
Book: Freefalling: A Novel of Senior Romance
Educational equity, intercultural communication, and teacher education are the threads of Dr. Gretchen Wilbur’s 30+-year career as an educational leader. Upon retiring from DePaul University in 2019, Gretchen traded an urban lifestyle in Chicago for the rural mountains in Jamaica where she lives with the Maroon people. As the only resident who is White, female, and highly educated, Gretchen is adapting to living in a culture that tests many of her western world views, including identity, community, relationships, land, money, and time. Her love of the Maroon people inspired Gretchen to apply her organizational and artistic skills in creating the Respecting Culture & Earth Foundation which uses a self-determining approach to advance cultural arts and environmental sustainability for economic independence. Gretchen is working on a book about her deepening understanding of and respect for the Maroon culture. She and her life partner, Oral, share a vibrant home in which they host a commercial bar and guest rooms. Members of the Women Over 70 community have an open invitation.
Quote: I live permanently in Accompong Town in the mountains of Jamaica because I fell in love with the Maroon people, lifestyle, and land.- Gretchen Wilbur
Connect with Gretchen Wilbur
Email: wilburg09@gmail.com
Phone: What’s App, +1-876-359-7093
Respecting Culture & Earth Foundation What We Do — OneFamily, OneLove, OneEarth (respectingcultureandearth.org)
O & G GuesthouseMicrosoft Bing Travel - O G Guesthouse
Carol Marin, age 75, is an award-winning television and print journalist renowned for her nearly 50 years of investigative stories on politics, public corruption, and organized crime. In 2016, Carol co-founded and directs DePaul University’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence where she teaches a two-quarter long course in Advanced Reporting for graduate students “ready to jump into the profession.” Ethical problem-solving is a cornerstone of the Center, guided by key principles such as “no great story is worth doing damage to a human being.” The social impact of Carol’s work as
an investigative journalist is legendary. Her multitude of awards and recognitions include three Peabody’s, two national Emmys, the Gracie Award, and the George Polk Award in Journalism. Carol has two books in the planning stages and enjoys a rich personal life with family and friends, cooking, travel, and horses.
Connect with Carol
Email: cmarin@depaul.edu
Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence | Centers & Initiatives | About | College of Communication
| DePaul University, Chicago
Sex educator, Joan Price, is the voice for ‘ageless sexuality.’ In her books, webinars, presentations, newsletter, and blog, Joan talks frankly about spicy and satisfying sex for seniors, whether partnered or solo. She is the first to address sex and grief in her recent book, Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your Beloved. Joan advises that sexuality is always a journey, regardless of age and circumstance. She encourages older adults to see themselves as sexual beings and to care for their sexual health.
"Sexual pleasures have no expiration date." - Joan Price
Connect with Joan
Email: joan@joanprice.com
Website: https://www.joanprice.com
Books by Joan
Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty
Naked At Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex
Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your Beloved
The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50: How to Maintain—or Regain—a Spicy, Satisfying Sex Life
Blog: Blog: https://joanprice.com/blog. Of special interest, “Solo Sex for Seniors: (January 2024): https://joanprice.com/2024/01/solo-sex-for-seniors.html
We love all our interviews. However, meeting Betty Werrenrath in person, and interviewing her in her apartment at the Presbyterian Homes in Evanston, IL was a unique experience that we would not have traded. Betty is inspiring, positive, upbeat and interesting. She was born January 28, 1914 in Harrisburg, PA. The daughter of a progressive preacher’s kid, she says, “I had to act decently because he was so well-known”.
"“Be more interested in others than you are in yourself. Listen.” - Betty Werrenrath
An athlete, she played field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, tennis and golf in high school and college. With a full athletic scholarship that included a job in the alumni office, she graduated from Wells College with a degree in art history in 1935. Betty and Reinald married in 1937 and remained married for 82 years. They have three children. They moved to Presbyterian Homes in Evanston in 1998. Reinald had a stroke at age 103 and passed away in 2019.
Betty's multiple passions and drive for advocacy have stayed undiminished throughout her life. When she sees changes that need to be made she takes action. In addition to church and community volunteer efforts, after Reinald retired they collaborated on over 100-16mm educational films distributed nationwide, staying for weeks in eight different countries to research and film.
In the Presbyterian Homes, Betty enthusiastically pursues new friendships and activities.
Patti Temple Rocks has had a long, successful, and immensely rewarding career in marketing and communications and still she is not done. Her work and her articles and books have been written about in major publications such as Fast Company, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal. Inc.
Patti started her career at Dow Chemical in 1981. It was not until many years later that she became obsessed with making sure that age inclusivity is on every company’s D,E&I agenda and that everyone gets to end their career when and how they want to – not when ageist stereotypes say they should.
Author of I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace,she wrote a second edition of the book called, I’m STILL Not Donebecause she is not, and ageism unfortunately, is still widespread.
Every workforce should mirror the population at large.- Patti Temple Rocks
Connect with Patti:
Website: https://www.pattitemplerocks.com/
Book: https://www.pattitemplerocks.com/im-still-not-done
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattitemplerocks/
Email: Patti@PattiTempleRocks.com
Dr. Susan Mazer is a full-time performing jazz harpist and former President, Co-founder, and CEO of Healing HealthCare Systems, producers ofThe C.A.R.E. Channel, the only evidence-based, 24-hour relaxation channel for patient television. Now in its 30th year, C.A.R.E. is being broadcasted in over 1,100 hospitals nationally and internationally including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Australia, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, and many other locations.
The discipline of health care led her to study how we can help patients heal faster. The answer is music. And this led her to create The C.A.R.E channel and, recently, C.A.R.E VRx™ which extends the reach of C.A.R.E., providing a healing virtual environment for pain relief, reduction of anxiety, and increased comfort, through access to stunning natural spaces and places in the virtual world.
Dr. Mazer is a national and international speaker and in 2019 was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Virtual Reality in Healthcare Conference in Dublin, Ireland.
Her publications and presentations focus on the patient environment. She is also a blogger for The Huffington Post and has her own blog. She is a Fellow of the Center for Social Innovation at The Fielding Graduate University.
Connect with Susan:
Website:
Book Chapter: “Applied Virtual Reality in Healthcare: Case Studies and Perspectives"
Book: Patient Privacy: When it Matters
Blogger: Huffington Post; blog atwww.susanmazer.com
When nearing 50 years of age and recently widowed, Judy sold everything,
bought an around-the-world airline ticket, and set off alone on a year-long
journey without a planned itinerary. “The outer journey serves as a
container” for Judy’s inner “struggle to find her way as a sober, single,
independent woman.” A master teacher and published author of fiction,
poetry, and nonfiction, Judy’s journey led to her first published memoir,
When Your Heart Says Go: My Year of Traveling Beyond Loss and Loneliness
(October 2023).
"My year-long around-the-world travel adventure became an inner
journey to knowing myself."
Connect with Judy
email: jareeves@mac.com
Website: https://judyreeveswriter.com
Selection of Judy’s books:
When Your Heart Says Go (2023)
Wild Women, Wild Voices: Writing from Your Authentic Wildness (2015)
A Writer’s Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the
Writing Life (2010)
Through Top Sixty Over Sixty, Helen writes articles and speaks at conferences to encourage a reframed narrative of aging, one that reflects the age realities of the 21st century. She emphasizes the need for a longevity focus, encourages an entrepreneurial mindset, and cautions against internalized ageism which undermines the potential of older adults. Top Sixty Over Sixty also provides programs and courses for older adults as well as businesses and companies to help everyone benefit from our aging demographic.
Connect with Helen:
Email: helen@topsixtyoversixty.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-hirsh-spence-a029a010/
Website: https://www.topsixtyoversixty.com
Janis Clark Johnston is a family psychologist, speaker, and author of several books, most recently Transforming Retirement: Rewire and Grow Your Legacy.
When she experienced 9/11, Janis says, she became more sensitive to other’s pain and loss. Planning rituals to honor the person you lost helps you to grow during the grieving process. Keeping a gratitude journal, for example, is a process that is creative by nature and becomes a daily ritual.
Janis believes that recognizing the difference between a ‘Growth Mindset’ and a ‘Fixed Mindset’ helps us to understand our own personalities. Life is better if we are more flexible. And when we can develop grit, purpose and passion, with energy as the driver, we are able to live in the present moment, which is the only time we have to make something happen. Our personalities are plastic, not plaster.
Living is a gift - this being alive in the present moment. When that’s your daily approach, everything flows from there. Attitude is really important in life.
Janis applies her beliefs to her own aging. Exercise, meditation, gardening and learning something new every day form the basis of her self-care routine.
Society needs to re-identify aging. It applies to everyone at every age. Janis finds life challenging and invigorating. She loves learning. It’s a wonderful way to age. There are always new things to learn. She has recently written a picture book that deals with bullying.
Connect with Janis Clark Johnston, Ed.D.
Author:
Transforming Retirement: Rewire and Grow Your Legacy
Midlife Maze: A Map to Recovery and Rediscovery after Loss
It Takes a Child to Raise a Parent: Stories of Evolving Child & Parent Development
Website: https://janisjohnston.com
Blog: https://janis-johnston.com
Emily Clionsky, MD, and Mitchell Clionsky, PhD, are a physician and neuropsychologist couple who have cared for their own parents with dementia, created a test used by doctors to measure cognitive function, and treated more than 25,000 patients with cognitive impairment.
They partner at a private practice, Clionsky Neuro Systems, Inc., based in Springfield, Massachusetts. They are frequent public speakers, podcast guests, and workshop presenters for general and professional audiences.
In their recent book, Dementia Prevention: Using Your Head to Save Your Brain, published earlier this year by John Hopkins Press, they combine the most current scientific findings about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias with their experience to present a practical guide that empowers you to improve your brain's future. The authors guide you through a science-based tour of dementia, including how your brain works and how its function is affected by everything from blood circulation and blood pressure to sugar levels, medications, vision, and hearing.
Dr. Emily explains: “So many people who came to my practice, above the age of 55, were having major problems in how they were thinking. I decided to do a 2nd residency concentrating on dementia. They have a full clinic. Mitch does neurological testing. I do comprehensive medical evaluations, which give me a full picture of how that person is thinking. Treatment is incredibly complex. The sooner you start, the more you have to work with.”
“Eight out of 10 of us are worried about getting dementia. And that's because most of us don't know that half of the dementia cases can be prevented."
Connect with Drs. Emily & Mitchell Clionsky:
Book: Dementia Prevention: Using Your Head to Save Your Brain
Contact: rebekah.clough@braindoc.com
Diane Slezak is CEO of Age Options, a nonprofit advocacy organization
she has been involved with since 1976. Age Options caters to older adults
and those who care for them with resources and service options so older
adults can live their lives to the fullest. The explosive demographic of baby-
boomers has sparked pressing issues, including home-delivered meals,
awareness of scams, suitable housing, and assistance for caregivers. In
addition to her executive duties, Diane advocates for State and Federal
legislation to provide timely funding for benefits and services for older
adults. December 20, 2023 marks Diane’s 47 th year with Age Options.
Connect with Diane
Email: diane.slezek@ageoptions.org
Website: https://www.ageoptions.org
Since becoming CEO of The Village Chicago in 2019, Darcy has
overseen the growth and vitality of The Village—including over
500 comprehensive programs that focus on social, emotional, and
physical well-being. She promotes improved quality of life for
older adults and intergenerational collaboration at work, at home,
and in the community. Darcy and colleagues delve into the root
causes of ageism and age bias, including internal and external
ageism. She advocates that age must be included in diversity,
equity, and inclusion policies and practices. Darcy is committed to
joining hands and voices to empower individuals and enrich
communities.
Connect with Darcy:
Email: Darcy@thevillagechicago.org
Website: https://thevillagechicago.org
For much of her life, Susan Cartland-Bode has shared her gift of
music-- as a soloist and choral singer, voice teacher, player of
piano and violin and, most recently, fiddle. A resident of Plymouth
Place in LaGrange Park, IL, Susan performs solos, sings with the
Plymouth Place Singers, and directs the Singing Sages, a group
that offers sing-along programs for residents in the upper levels
of care. The joy of music has sustained Susan through
challenging times in her life; she is writing her memoir in four
acts. Susan and her husband, Hank, have been living happily at
Plymouth Place since 2019—"the best decision we ever made.” In
their spare moments, they enjoy sharing time with their
“blended” family - 5 married kids, 10 grandchildren (3 married)
and 2 “Greats!”
"I believe in the power of music for the aging mind." - Susan Cartland-Bode
Women Over 70 thanks Plymouth Place for sponsoring this episode.
Connect with Susan:
Email: susancbode@me.com
Rhea Zakich, age 88, touches human hearts as an author, speaker, workshop
and seminar leader, and creator of the world’s popular communication game
the UNGAME (1973)—5 million sold and still selling. Her dramatic story of
the UNGAME has been told on TV and radio programs as well as in major
newspapers and publications such as Readers Digest, Redbook, and
Psychology for Living. Rhea resides in a Christian Senior Community in Santa
Ana, CA where she teaches Bible study, serves as editor of the Newsletter,
and plays ukulele in Sing-Alongs for residents. During the past 40 years,
Rhea has lead hundreds of workshops, seminars, and retreats (over 500 by
now) on topics such as Prayer, Discovering Your Purpose, and Inner Healing.
She has written two spiritual autobiographies, the most recent is He Called
Me Rhea.
I invite honest sharing of feelings and experiences in an
atmosphere of love and acceptance. - Rhea Zakich
Connect with Rhea:
Email: rheazakich@aol.com
Website: http://rheazakich.com
Books:
Everybody Wins-The Story Behind the Ungame (1979)
He Called Me Rhea: My Journey from Feeling and Dealing to Healing
(2019)
Catherine Hiller is inspired to write against the grain. In her current novel, Cybil Unbound, (her 10th book and 6th novel), she delicately characterizes an older woman and her new-found sexuality. Catherine believes the capacity to fall in love can strike at any age. "It is a rare depiction about sexual adventure in a woman's later years. Cybill is 42 when the book begins, 72 when it ends."
An award-winning writer, Catherine’s pioneering work has been challenging social mores for decades. What she writes about is known in the real world and her descriptions seem to pose a philosophical interest. She seeks to find a language to describe our sexual emotions and is always on the quest to discover new ways to express things.
Catherine asks: “Monogamy vs non-monogamy - can we be monogamous throughout our entire married lives?”
Her last novel, The Feud, is about women competing in the workplace, and the book Just Say Yes: A Marijuana Memoir, was groundbreaking. A section of it was published in the New York Times, which also interviewed her about it.
Hiller graduated summa cum laude from Brooklyn College and got a PhD in English from Brown University. She has lived in Brooklyn and Greenwich Village. She now lives with her husband in Westchester County and Sag Harbor, NY. She has three sons, two granddaughters and a dog.
"Fiction can show us life's possibilities."
Connect with Catherine:
Email: www.catherinehiller.net
Substack: The Pleasure Principle: Savoring Life After Fifty https://catherinehiller.substack.com/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Hiller
Taru Fisher coaches women to make aging fearless, fulfilling, and fun. She encourages women to fully respect their own aging process and be vibrantly visible. Taru is a certified NLP Health Practitioner and NLP Coach specializing in aging. She also is a Healer Certified Medical Cannabis Wellness Advisor and a provider of Health and Wellness Coaching and Medical Cannabis Education. Taru’s coaching practice is called Seasons of Life Coaching. She writes a blog and newsletter, teaches workshops online, and is writing her autobiography. Taru describes herself as “an irreverent, wise Elderwoman with a quirky sense of humor.”
Connect with Taru
Email: taru@tarufisher.com
Website: www.tarufisher.com
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/3XeX6lK
Call-a-Crone: http://bit.ly/3GEKV1h for a free 45-minute virtual session
Facebook: https/www.facebook.com/seasons.of.life.coaching
Healer.com
In her role as a certified Death Doula (also known as an End-of-Life Doula or
Death Midwife), Julie Iverson is passionate about providing non-medical,
non-judgmental, holistic care and support to individuals and their loved ones
as they navigate the challenges and transitions of aging and dying. She
educates them about options available before, during, and after death.
Drawing on her expertise as a certified Geriatric Care Manager, Julie’s
specialty is being an advocate for families and a liaison between health care
providers and families. She offers her services through her company, Aging
with Care.
Connect with Julie:
Email: jliverson@mac.com
Website: https://aging-with-care.com
Sara Gilfert, 94, lives in Ohio. She comes from a family that was populated with teachers and preachers. While she began her college education in journalism, a chance workshop on fiber art caused her to change her major and she became a fiber artist and teacher. Since 2003, she has owned her own hand-paper-making studio, exclusively harvesting the white fiber from the inner bark of the mulberry tree to create art.
Loss of vision and hearing has affected Sara’s ability to continue with her art. Her daughter, Susan, a librarian, encouraged her mother to join a writing group. She focuses on her own life and writes about her personal experiences. During one session she wrote about her aging cat.
Previously active in community affairs, Sara continues to attend meetings when possible. Her words to younger listeners of this podcast are, “just keep moving”. She studies Pilates with an instructor 3x/week. Surrounded by family she feels supported and involved in life.
“As we age, it’s important to just keep moving.”
Ashton Applewhite has been speaking out about aging and ageism for over 15 years. Her 2016 book, This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, radicalized the present anti-ageism movement. Since then, Ashton has continued her blog, Yo, is This Ageist?, co-founded the Old School Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse, and is in high demand to speak at various venues from Ted Talks, to universities, to community centers, to the Library of Congress and the United Nations. Her numerous honors and recognitions—local, national, and world-wide-- acclaim Ashton for being inspiring, a trailblazer, an influencer, and a game-changer.
Connect with Ashton:
Email: ashton@thischairrrocks.com
Website: https://thischairrocks.com
Book: This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism
Connie Zweig, PhD, is a retired Jungian-oriented therapist and coauthor
of Meeting the Shadow and Romancing the Shadow. Her award-winning
book, The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul, extends her work on
the Shadow into midlife and beyond and explores aging as a spiritual practice. It
won the 2022 Gold COVR Award, the 2022 Gold Nautilus Award, the 2021
American Book Fest Award, and the 2021 Best Indie Book Award for best
inspirational non-fiction. Her new book is Meeting the Shadow on the Spiritual
Path: The Dance of Darkness and Light in Our Search for Awakening.
Connie has been doing contemplative practices for more than 50 years. She is a
wife, stepmother, and grandmother. After all these roles, she’s practicing the shift
from role to soul.
Connect with Connie:
Email: conniezweig@gmail.com
Website: https://conniezweig.com
Connie’s books:
- The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul,
- Meeting the Shadow
- Romancing the Shadow
- (novel) A Moth to the Flame: The Life of Sufi Poet Rumi
- Meeting the Shadow on the Spiritual Path: The Dance of Darkness and Light in Our Search for Awakening
The Inner Work of Age:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASINw/1644113406?tag=simonsay
scom
Beth Truett, MDiv, BS, believes in serving. It comes naturally to her and has guided her career path over the years. Her earliest memories are of lunches with the Ladies’ Aid Society.
After a lengthy corporate career where she was committed to mentoring women, she worked at Chicago Lights, then Oral Health America. Both organizations needed to reignite or start a program for older adults, and she concentrated her efforts there. Oral health is crucial to total health, influencing both diabetes and heart health. But, it is difficult for most older persons because it isn’t covered by traditional Medicare.
When she retired from Oral Health America in 2019, Beth wasted no time in moving towards her interest in gerontology, receiving her gerontology degree at Concordia University. Today she serves as a consultant and project leader with the Center for Gerontology at Concordia.
Beth is determined to help eliminate the implicit bias of ageism. Through the Center for Gerontology at Concordia, she is leading an initiative with the National Center to Reframing Aging, (led by The Gerontological Society of America.)
“Connecting men and women to opportunities in retirement is critical to mitigating social isolation and loneliness. - Beth Truett
Connect with Beth Truett:
Email: bethtruett@gmail.com
Voice or Text: 708.271.2834
Diane Valletta has moved from passion to passion throughout her life. Her mother, who died at 93, was her role model. She had a passion for activism and service. The same is true for Diane, whose desire for service has spanned her entire life. From Women Employed to NAWBO (National Association for Women Business Owners), Diane has served on numerous boards. “I’ve been invited to sit on the boards of the organizations I get involved with because they feed my desire for service. And, since my family all live in the eastern part of the United States, my fellow board members become my midwestern family.”
Since leaving corporate, Diane’s main work has been to help entrepreneurs win awards, and organizations win grants, by interviewing them first, then focusing on the right words that lead to winning nominations. She also writes marketing materials and edits articles and books.
“Dreams don’t become reality unless you visualize them first.”
A news junkie and longtime member of Unity Chicago, Diane’s view of life is inspiring and thoughtful.
Connect with Diane:
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-valletta-531167/
A former nun, teacher, relationship author of The Marriage Plan: How To
Marry Your Soul Mate In One Year Or Less, owner of Jordan De-Laurenti, Inc., a
training and contract management company and a small business columnist for the Dallas Times-Herald, Aggie has published numerous articles, blogs, and is author of A Woman’s Voice Should Be Heard: My Journey from the Convent to the Battle for Equality.
Aggie’s life changed when, in 1967, she was offered a fellowship to the University of
Notre Dame while still a Catholic nun. The women at Notre Dame were far less conservative than she. The church was changing. The feminist movement was gaining speed. She heard a speaker who said: “Men are the action makers, women are the receptacles.” This started her transformation and desire to make sure that women were treated as equals to men. She left the convent in her final year.
Aggie’s goal is to reach daughters and granddaughters with her work. She talks with large
groups of women, urging them to get out the vote, to vote in legislators who will stop the
decline of access to abortion. At 85, Aggie is proud of her age and has no plans to stop
the work she loves.
It’s women friends who will keep us going.
Connect with Aggie:
Website: https://www.aggiejordan.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aggie-jordan-ph-d-693b9538/
Book: A Woman’s Voice Should Be Heard: My Journey from the Convent to the Battle
for Equality.
When lightning strikes, where do you go to avoid injury? If you live in the United States, you likely have easy access to a safe building or car. In fact, fewer than 20 people die annually from being struck by lightning. But for people who live in the developing world, the risks of injury or death are magnified because they do not have access to safe locations. Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, age 74, an early pioneer in emergency medicine, is dedicated to saving lives through public education and building engineering. She is Founder and Managing Director of African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries, and property damage from lightning across Africa, and is active internationally with many other lightning safety programs around the world. Dr. Cooper emphasizes: It is impossible to prevent lightning;
WHERE you go is much less important than WHAT YOU DO, which is take action.
Lightning is the most common climate threat to life across the globe.
Connect with Dr. Cooper:
Email: macooper@uic.edu
website: https://ACLENet.org
Sheree Clark is a Midlife Courage Coach whose varied forks-in-the-road
include: university administrator in student personnel; owner of an
advertising agency; TV show host; author; health coach; raw vegan chef and
more. Through her Talk Series for Midlife Women, weekly blogs, private
Facebook group for Midlife Courage Warriors, Midlife Summer School—along
with individual and group coaching—Sheree encourages women to release
regrets, set boundaries, be visible, act courageously, and create legacy—as
they navigate the long continuum of midlife.
Quote: It takes guts to live the second half of your life for yourself.
Connect with Sheree
Email: sheree@fork-road.com
Website: https://fork-road.com
E. Beverly Young speaks her truths about gender and race prejudices in the workplace and larger society. She entered professional policing 50 years ago, one of few women in a male-dominated field. During her 26 years in uniform, Beverly achieved the rank of Lieutenant and become a certified police instructor for police training academies throughout the state of Pennsylvania.Beverly earned her doctorate at age 60, supplementing field experience with academic inquiry. In 2014 she formed her own company, writing evidence-based training curriculum for police departments. Beverly is also a prolific writer who confronts racism head on, with honesty and levity. Through blogs and books, Beverly voices her observations about society’s hypocrisy and discrimination against gender and race. Her new podcast, Help Me Change the Narrative, is coming soon.
People might see me as a woman of color with some age on her; instead, I want them to see my accomplishments, what I am capable of doing.
Connect with Beverly
Email: Ebyphd2010@gmail.com
Website: https://ebevyyg.com
Recent book: Social Change is More Than an Oops!
KC Henry’s roots are in eleven generations of Ohioans including her five siblings, four adult children and spouses, and 10 grandchildren. “Forgiveness and enjoyment of each other is what makes a family this size work.” KC creates room for consulting with non-profit organizations--drawing on her extensive experience in equine therapy--as well as for a relatively new venture as a potter. Divorced after 28 years of marriage, KC loves the freedom of single life to choose how she wants to live. This includes moving into a step-down retirement phase making room for more international travel and time with family and friends. “I’ve loved all that I’ve done,” says KC, “I am a lucky person, and I am so grateful.”
Relationships, career, freedom, and new learning are central to my life. - KC Henry
Connect with KC
Email: kchenry.tu@gmail.com
Berry Dilley’s areas of interest cover movement, dance and mindfulness, teaching,
creativity, as well as health, disability services, and quality of life for elders. She has
degrees in dance, sociology and counseling and more recently trained in Somatic
Experiencing to help people who have experienced trauma.
Berry grew up on the east coast and moved, with her son, Steve, to Athens, Ohio, in
1971, to teach in the theater department at Ohio University. She remarried and made
Athens her home.
The 1970s was the time of the Feminist Movement, the EEOC and Title 9. Berry and
several other young women in Athens joined the movement and founded their own
group, Feminists and Faith, which has been active for about 45 years now.
"There’s a tendency to have friends who are the same age. It’s important to
cultivate friendships with younger people who bring excitement, vitality, and new
perspectives." - Berry Dilley
In the late 1990s Berry became acutely aware of the needs of those with disabilities,
learning first hand while caring for family members. In 2002 she went to the mayor
about making the city more accessible. In 2004, the Athens City Commission on
Disabilities was created.
Now as Berry is aging, she is more aware of what older people need and want. She
joined a community group which is now focused on becoming AARP Age Friendly
Athens County. Because of her membership with this group, Berry began visiting
communities, new to her in Athens County and meeting people whose life experiences
are very different from hers to discover what their needs and wants are, oftenquite
different from hers. A common issue seems to be having someone to oversee one's
care when needed.
The biggest issue Berry faces is who will be her 24/7.
Quote: Art has always been my friend. Today I participate in ‘Yarn Bombing’ projects.
Ingrid Roze is a multi-faceted woman with many interests. Her parents came from Bulgaria and Latvia. Each found their way to Venezuela in 1948 where they met and married. It was there that Ingrid was born and remained until she was 12 when the family moved to the United States. She became a child psychologist. and primarily worked with Spanish- speaking communities and Arabic and Moorish cultures.
Instead of private practice, Ingrid chose to work in public service, mostly in schools. She found a profession that she adored, becoming a psychologist because that's how she always thought. The insight was there before she chose psychology.
Art was always Ingrid’s friend. She went to the High School of Art and Design and returned to tapestry, knitting and crocheting after she retired from her profession.
Today, Ingrid participates in yarn bombing - crocheting roses for national and international projects on women’s reproductive rights and women’s freedom. Two examples are: “Roses to Stop Violence against Women” which is mounting 1 rose on each tree in the longest avenue in Mexico. Another, called the Liberty Crochet mural, is an image of the Statue of Liberty - substitutes the torch she’s holding for a uterus with the title: Freedom to Choose. Ingrid, herself, posts crochet hearts everywhere she travels because “it throws a net of love over the world. Only love can drive out darkness Only love can drive out hate. Hate cannot drive out hate”.
Connie Goddard has reimagined who she is for her entire life. One thing remains constant: her love for writing and for history. Connie lived in Chicago for most of her life; she writes about the city's history, that of the Dakotas where her family is from, and New Jersey, where she now lives. Industrial education programs in all three places are the subject for her current major project: a book called Learning for Work, which will be published next summer by a major academic press.
A few years after receiving her Ph.D. at age 60, Connie joined the Peace Corps, where she taught English to children in Romania. Afterward, she resettled in New Jersey and taught at a community college; there she had an opportunity to teach English and history to incarcerated men, an experience that inspired her book. From 1980 until 2009, Connie wrote for many national publications and worked as an administrator and adjunct professor at several prominent Chicago-area colleges and universities.
As a scholar, Connie is primarily interested in schooling during the Progressive Era, particularly the work of Chicago's Ella Flagg Young and her colleague John Dewey. Both were leaders who changed the way people thought about schools and the meaning of education. Connie claims that, though they worked together over a century ago, their insights remain pertinent today, especially as our society is rethinking the necessity of a college education for all.
Today, Connie cares for her husband and utilizes a room at the back of her house where she concentrates on work that totally involves her. She doesn't anticipate ever running out of projects: as a volunteer, they include heading education programs for her local branch of AAUW and raising money for Covenant House, which offers assistance to homeless youth in her community.
“I do not anticipate ever running out of projects involving research in the areas I am interested in.”
Connect with Connie:
Website: https://ConnieGoddard.com
Email: conniegoddard@gmail.com
Terri Banner Fitzsimmons hails from British Columbia. She has been in the field of education most of her adult life, as a teacher of all grades, Sociology Professor for twenty years, director of an Independent Study Program, helping adults earn their diploma.
Author of 5 books, she won many awards, including being recognized for initiating a girl power group, developing innovative career strategies, and her work for United Way, helping parolees find employment. She has worked with various Indian Reservations, homeless shelters, and the Cal-Works program at a local college.
All this after losing everything in the Paradise CA tragedy.
“I had to lose everything to gain everything.”
CONNECT WITH TK:
Website: https://www.tkbanner.com/
Email: fitzsimmonsterri@gmail.com
As a therapist and writer, I support women who struggle with real problems to bolster their agency. - Dian Greenwood
Growing up in the basement of the courthouse adjoined to the jail in South Dakota, Dian developed an affinity for people who struggle against the odds. As a therapist, Dian has specialized in alcohol abuse and, currently, focuses on difficulties faced by women over 60. These experiences, among many, are gist for Dian’s successes as a writer who knows how to “take risks with my characters. They are not always likeable, but they are real.” Dian’s debut novel, About the Carlton Sisters (2023), will be joined by three new books in progress—stories of immigrants and of women’s friendships.
Connect with Dian:
Email: greenwooddian@gmail.com
Website: www.Diangreenwood.com
About the Carlton Sisters (2023/spring, She Writes Press)
https://thebigsmoke.com/us/author/dian-greenwood/
Cheryl Keen, EdD—scholar, activist, Quaker—has always tried to follow her callings which personify commitment, connection, and community. As a pioneer in significant movements--peace education and justice, service-learning, and progressive higher education--Cheryl job-shared seven leadership positions with her husband, Jim. They are parents/grandparents to one biological family as well as three ‘made families.’ They have always lived communally because “ethically, I need to share the space that I have.” Now in the new chapter of retirement, Cheryl relishes “just letting myself be in the moment, enjoying hours of unscheduled time, never feeling bored.” In the midst of gardening, singing in choruses, remodeling their home for safer living on the first floor, traveling, playing with grandchildren, and managing a ‘green condo community' in Florida, Cheryl is trying on new identities. She is exchanging her colorful business jackets for garments better suited to her flexible lifestyle.
Connect with Cheryl
Email: Cheryl.keen@yahoo.com
Co-author w/ L. Daloz, J. Keen, & S. Parks, (1997). Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World.
Cheryl & Jim, founders of the Governor’s School of Public Issues and the Future of New Jersey (GSPINJ) news article: https://gspinj.org/the-founders/
Meet Beige. Beige is reliable, practical, sensible, and safe. Beige doesn’t put up a fuss; it follows the rules, blends in, doesn’t want to stand out. Now meet Liz Kitchens. She is more of a magenta. Magenta is rich, dynamic, loud, sometimes garish, and not easily overlooked. While that does not exactly describe Liz, she is the author of Be Brave, Lose the Beige: Finding Your Sass After 60. It focuses on women’s empowerment issues. Magenta is a metaphor for how we live our lives. There are 35 maxims in the book that help women take back their sass.
Liz conducts workshops and seminars on creativity, is a writer, author and blogger.
"Women have a biography as long as the veil on a wedding gown."
Connect with Liz:
Email: bebravelosethebeige@gmail.com
Website: https://BeBraveLosetheBeige.com
Author of more than a dozen books, Noelle has appeared on national and international radio and television, been interviewed, quoted or written about in dozens of publications and has spoken on the subject of appreciation before audiences in the U.S., Canada, England, The Netherlands and Australia.
Noelle did not come into her own until she was in her mid-thirties. Life growing up was difficult. She says she was a pessimist and reached out for help from therapists, read books and worked hard to gain confidence in herself. Today she is on the go all the time. “My life feels like a wonderful, full life. Competitive sports have helped to build my confidence,” she says. Competing as a ballroom dancer (and, yes, starting at age 70 and winning), has been a great confidence booster for her. “Physical activity is important at every age - don’t stop, adapt to the level you are supposed to work at.”
"Happiness is a result. Curiosity means you are learning and learning brings joy. "
CONNECT WITH NOELLE:
Contact: Noelle@noellenelson.com
Newsletter, "A Note From Dr. Noelle Nelson,"
Podcast: Up! Uplifting, Inspiring, Practical - provides skills to use appreciation's powerful energy to improve our lives.
Facebook: stories about older people who are leading rewarding and fulfilling lives on Meet The Amazings
BOOKS:
The Longevity Secret: How to Live Happy, Healthy & Vibrant into Your 70s, 80s, 90s and Beyond
Phoenix Rising: Surviving Catastrophic Loss: Fires, Floods, Hurricanes and Tornadoes
The Power of Appreciation - The Key to A Vibrant Life
Born in Athens, Greece, Esther Gandica came to the United States, on her own, on a Fulbright scholarship in 1967.
She was born in 1949. Her parents lived in Salonica, Greece, which had the largest Jewish population at the time, outside of Israel. The family spoke Ladino, a form of archaic Spanish. Esther is a Sephardic Jew. Her father’s family did not survive the war. Her Mother’s family survived by hiding. She grew up speaking French and 5 other languages.
Esther is flexible. She consciously keeps herself from falling into patterns. She avoids habitual living. It was easy to leave her full-time position doing special chemistry testing related to thyroid disease so she could make time to be with her children. After they were born she reimagined her career and went back to school to earn a degree in accounting. This allowed her to work part time and stay at home. Esther always liked the idea of learning new things. She is a perpetual student.
Esther and her husband both taught in universities and are now retired. Health challenges have changed the active lives they enjoyed together. She is learning to be active on her own.
Intriguing and joyful, Esther Gandica lives life to the fullest.
I never want to slow down. I have to keep moving fast. Life has so much to offer. -Esther Gandica
CONNECT With Esther:
egadinca@gmail.com
Dr. Val and Byrdie are co-founders of Boom Home Medical, a “lifestyle brand that makes home medical products.” Dr. Val, a public health and preventive medicine physician, and Byrdie, a literary agent turned health care leader, recognized that home medical equipment is outdated, inconvenient, and a sightly embarrassment. Designed for both attractiveness and function, their products allow women to care for themselves with dignity. Consider middle-of-the-night peeing. Their company’s first product is Loona--a bedside urinal with a feminine design that fits the female anatomy. “It’s the most elegant solution to relief, anytime and anywhere.” Their next product line will be pleasingly designed incontinent pads for beds and sofas. Every category of consumer goods is handsomely designed and technologically sophisticated. Why not have beautifully designed medical equipment for our homes?
Connect with Val and Byrdie
Emails: valerie@boomhomemedical.com; byrdie@boomhomemedical.com
Website: https://boomhomemedical.com
This cross-generational pair—Phoebe 76 and Erica 43—believes that younger women don’t hear enough from older women about what it looks like to keep “living out loud…and contributing actively” during the later decades. Why should women accept the cloak of invisibility when they continue to be curious, inventive, and full of light? Their feature documentary profiles eight professional women over 70 who continue to work. They also co-produce a podcast that features conversations with inspiring women over 70 who refuse to stop contributing to society because of their age. Through their work, Phoebe and Erica expose and challenge major 'isms' such as sexism, racism, and ageism. Connect with Erica and Phoebe
Podcast: Work While You Have the Light on Apple Podcasts
Documentary: https://www.workwhileyouhavethelight.com/
Emails: phoebe@parisroosevelt.com; erica@ericajanefilms.com
Living through the unimaginable - caregiving her son from his diagnosis of carcinoma at age 13, and through a 2nd diagnosis at 19, completely altered the trajectory of Allura's life. Her son died at 20. Even before that, Allura’s brother, with whom she was very close, also suffered from cancer and died on her son’s 18th birthday. Her marriage crumbled, and she was left with her grief and younger son, Eli.
Allura chose to see these tragedies from a positive point of view. She believed there must be something better ahead for her.
“As we expand the heart we expand our capacity for love and growth.”
While her son was ill, she began creating healing products, continued her practice of meditation, and became a full-time healer and coach. Today, Allura works with women with limiting beliefs to increase the life force energy, clarity, and power within. She believes every woman has something special within her.
Allura has been a meditation teacher since the 70s, studying with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his trained teachers across the globe. Now a Master Healer, she works with Quantum Goddess energies, is certified in several modalities, and has created more than 150 Divine Healing products to help us through this intense transitional time.
Allura is also a writer, editor, and speaker.
Connect with Allura:
Email: allura@letyourgoddessshinethrough.com
Website: www.divinehealingenergies.com
Program: Ageless Goddess Coaching System
“There will be junctions where it will be important for you to ‘just let it happen.’ We ourselves are many people at the same time.”
Deanna Berman is an interior architect working with the bones, geometry and structure of 3-dimensional living and working spaces. She believes it is important to connect historic images with contemporary ones and says, “The old and new inform each other. You need to know both worlds.” Most importantly, it is how people wish to live and work in the space. When the architecture already exists, she asks, “What obstacles am I working around, what can I simplify, how can I make the whole thing flow better?” One of the most exciting parts of her work is when people ask her to think differently.
This work feels like a constant journey to her which allows her to explore new projects and think differently. At 85 she intends to continue to work for as long as she can. She does not think about her own aging and yet, has modified how she thinks about work to fit who she is now.
This is not an easy time we’re living in right now. Nurture yourself, hold on to your spirit.
Connect with Deanna:
Email: deannaberman@yahoo.com
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Roxanne Lorch, age 85, from Cary, NC, is a full-time artist with a studio in Durham
NC who exhibits her work in juried shows and wins awards. Roxanne was among
the first women to work in commercial design and graphics (who was not a
secretary) and then in sales. In 2001, Roxanne became one of the original 17
members of The Transition Network (TTN) and currently is on the steering
committee of TTN-Coast-to-Coast (TTN-C2C), a nation-wide chapter that addresses
the interests of older women in transition. She thinks she “might possibly be the
oldest first-time bride in history!” Now widowed, Roxanne resides in an Over 55
retirement community where she engages fully with people and activities. She co-
founded Thriving in Place (TIP) so neighbors can help neighbors.
"Women over 70 are still going through transitions and we can still make
good decisions for ourselves."
Connect with Roxanne
Email: roxxlor@aol.com
Website: www.roxannelorch.com
Playwright, director and collaborators for 50 years, Terry and Carolyn fearlessly tackle lesbian and feminist themes. They are thrill-seekers. While Carolyn is married with children, the pair seize every opportunity they can to work together.
Terry moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1974 and founded Lilith, a women's theater collective, which she led for five years. Carolyn, the engine that pushes 'things to happen' joined her there. In 1981, Terry and Carolyn wrote a play about lesbians from a lesbian’s point of view: Dos Lesbos: A Play By, For and About Perverts. It inspired and was published in Places, Please, 1985, the first anthology of lesbian plays.
In January 2008, A Coupla Crackpot Crones premiered in New Mexico. “Terry wrote on LillithTheater.com: The Crones’ feminist sketch comedy and improvisation have graced the New York International Fringe Festival (2012), the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival (2013, Women on the Way Festival and the National Queer Arts Festival, the University of Redlands (CA), and various venues in New York, Oregon, and California. In 2016, the Crones toured Mexico, performing in English and Spanish in Mexico City, Oaxaca, and San Miguel de Allende.”
In 2014, they produced a play about Eleanor Roosevelt and her lover, Lorena Hickok, drawing on 2,336 letters Eleanor wrote to Hick. HICK: A Love Story, The Romance of Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt won awards at the New York and San Francisco Fringe Festivals. In 2019 Exit Press published One Dyke’s Theater: Selected Plays by Slightly World-Renowned Lesbian Playwright Terry Baum, edited by Carolyn Myers.
During the pandemic, Baum and Myers, as Lilith Theater, produced several ZOOM productions: HICK: A Love Story, Divide the Living Child, Immediate Family, and Eve in Therapy.
"We have the same values, we laugh a lot and unconditionally support each other."
Connect with Terry:
Email: terryjoanbaum@gmail.com
Website: www.LilithTheater.com
Website: www.Terrybaum.blogspot.com
Book: One Dyke’s Theater: Selected Plays, 1975-2014 by Terry Baum. Edited by Carolyn Myers Available atAmazon.com
Celina Edelstein lived in New York, was married and had a son. They divorced while their son was young. With a background in chemistry and a love for science, she sought a job in research. Angelo, a research doctor, offered her the opportunity to help him open a research lab. Together they wrote grants, studied molecules that carry cholesterol and cause atherosclerosis and thrombosis and published research papers. He became her professional mentor and they worked together for 44 years. Angelo’s wife died and, some years later, after they closed the lab, Angelo and Celina discovered they cared for each other and eventually lived together for seven years.
" People live through tragedies - they make a life and create careers." - Celina
Celina is a Holocaust survivor and had worked since 1963. This is a story of resilience, reinvention and a remarkable woman who found a path that filled her with passion, purpose and love.
Connect with Celina:
Email: celinaed@icloud.com
Joyce Klowden Porter, 73, has been an actor in 60 films, taught college for 30 years and is a non-fiction author. She recently won several awards for the film, Stairs, and continues to act as roles become available.
Joyce’s late husband, Paul, gave her occasion to learn many things in relation to his multiple illnesses. Her book, Mastering Senior Life: Thriving and Surviving, is a testament to her resilience and care-taking. In the book she offers tips on how to enjoy your senior years to the fullest and learn ways to protect your family. Joyce also shares important information relative to Medicare, insurance, mobility devices and so much more. Her creative imagination enables her to think outside ordinary convention and find new ways of coping.
Make the most of what you can do while you can do it. - Joyce Porter
Connect with Joyce:
Linked IN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyce-porter-901aa12/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086241203346
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Senior-Life-Thriving-Surviving/dp/0999511610
Website: http://www.joyceporter.com
Francesca James, age 71, from Ingelwood CA, is a full-time intuitive wellness coach and energy healer. After a life-threatening bout with cancer, Francesca gave up high-stress work as a successful Black woman in white corporate America to connect “more deeply with my inner world.” This journey inspired her book, Resurrecting the Muse: Woman’s Guide to Rising Above Societal Conditioning. These are Francesca's three non-negotiables. #1. "I am unapologetic in my Blackness," which includes teaching white people about unconscious bias and racism in her class on ‘Deconstructing Racism: Moving from Discomfort to Action.' #2: Listen to and trust your intuitive voice. #3: Honor and nourish your body as a temple.
Connect with Francesca:
email: francesca@francesca-james.com
website: francesca-james.com
Book: Resurrecting the Muse: Woman’s Guide to Rising Above Societal Conditioning
As a voice coach, singer, and songwriter Barbara McAfee’s mission is to ‘midwife’
women’s voices. “Tell me your story about your voice” is Barbara’s invitation to
help aging women break the sounds of silence, express new sounds for healing,
and experience singing for the joy of it. Her original music taps into jazz, gospel,
and folk roots. In 2007, Barbara founded the Morning Star Singers, a volunteer
choir that sings for people facing illness, end- of -life, depression, or grief. She is
the author of Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence.
Connect with Barbara
Email: barbara@barbaramcafee.com
Website: https://www.barbaramcafee.com
Edwege Gilbert, at 68, is passionate about women taking care of themselves and allowing themselves to feel sexy while eliminating stress from their lives. Women can feel victimized by their age. A transformation guide, she asks, “How are women to age gracefully if age is constantly demeaned?” It comes down to believing in themselves, in turning stress into success. Edwege asks you to create a vision of who you want to be. What keeps you young is your life purpose, your ability to be sparkly, excited and interested in keeping your life spark alive.
There is no expiration date on taking care of your health, your body.
You can love your body and be sexy as you age. -Edwige Gilbert
Coco Chanel said, “Check yourself in the mirror and take something off.” Dressing is about sophistication and elegance, harmony and balance, finding your personal style. Embellish what you already have. Your appearance should be in sync with who you are. Honor yourself. Allow your mind to create your reality.
Connect with Edwige:
Email: edwige@newlifedirections.com
Website: https://www.newlifedirections.com/
Women supporting women is Debbie Watts’ motto and her life is dedicated to that cause. As the oldest child, she cared for her mother who had Alzheimer’s. She realized she had to educate herself and then others so she wrote a children’s book, What’s Wrong with Grandma?
Debbie Watts lives healthy and large. She has been an entertainer, playwright and musician from early childhood. History fascinates her. She believes “you can’t make up a story that is as good as history” and brought history to life as a middle school teacher by recreating the stories of historic women. In her 2nd career she entertains her audiences with these stories. Debbie considers herself an ‘Edutainer’.
Debbie started entering pageants at 65. In her first one she came in third. In the third one she came in 1st! As Ms. Senior World 70s her days are filled with presentations, volunteer work and managing her own well-being.
Just In from Debbie - “I am going to participate in the Tennessee Senior Olympics and play basketball! I will be playing 3 on 3 with two other ladies. I am meeting my assigned teammates this week! I will also be competing in shooting proficiency!!! Isn't that a hoot!!”
“I tell stories of historic females to support my motto: Women Out of This World.” - Debbie Watts
Connect with Debbie:
Email: srtnus@att.net
Debbie Watts Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077019132371
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088871320048
Connie Kiosse is a complex woman. A deep thinker whose life has taken many twists and turns. A lover of women’s literature and the authors who write them. She is always questioning how to use the artifacts of her past and asks, “Art and words - how do they fit together?”
Born of immigrant parents, life was a closed book, until at 18, Connie broke free and the world began to open up. She wrote her 1st story in high school and titled it Trapped. Once she tasted the freedom of life, Connie fell in love with writing, travel, culture, books and the women’s movement. Always trying to understand who she was and where she belonged, Connie started many types of groups, her favorite being reading groups and discussion groups with women who, like her, liked to do a deep dive into understanding life.
We never get over people who touch us - it’s a connection we never lose. - Connie Kiosse
CONNECT WITH CONNIE:
Email: c.kiosse@gmail.com
Current Group: Women Aging With Wisdom & Grace discussion group which meets at Women & Children First Bookstore. Contact Connie if interested.
Anne fell in love with nature as a young girl spending summers
on her grandparents’ farm in north Georgia. Often alone with
“nothing to do,” she read books and made friends with the
insects, plants, snakes, and trees. After several decades as an
environmental justice advocate at the national level, Anne
‘retired’ in 2007 to serve as a full-time volunteer. She uses her
political savvy to promote clean energy and to protest against
fossil fuels and plastics. Anne’s passion for growing organic
gardens and planting trees is in honor of her granddaughter and
all children. Her bumper sticker reads, “One generation plants the
tree, the next generation sits under it.”
I feel a deep moral responsibility to speak on behalf of
species who have no voice, that most humans cannot hear. - Anne White
Connect with Anne:
Email: annewhitetreehugger@gmail.com
A true Renaissance woman, Kathryn Grody is an actor, playwright and activist. She wanted to act since childhood. While born in Los Angeles, she recognized that living there was a cosmic error and never felt at home until she moved to New York City.
Well-known in regional theater, on and off-Broadway and, most recently for her 1-woman show, The Unexpected 3rd, a Work in Progress, she is the recipient of numerous awards. Kathryn always tries to see the humor in life.
And, she doesn’t buy into stereotypes, recognizing that neither the past nor the future are real. She cautions not to miss the present. She is thoughtful about her own aging. Having had her children in her late 30’s, Kathryn never thought about aging until she bent down to pick her grandchild up from the floor.
"As theater artists we can help people look at what is hard to see, or affirm what has been unseen."
Connect with Kathryn:
Email: kgrody@me.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci-XojJr1oU/
Karen Egoff realized at a young age that she has extra gifts. She didn’t know what to do with the energy she felt from others until she became a young woman. Through practice, Karen has learned to manifest healing energy and help relieve aches, pains and chronic conditions in those she works with. She believes in natural, spiritual lifestyles, especially yoga and meditation.
Older people benefit from these practices. They tend to hold emotion within their bodies, especially in the joints. Aches and pains should not be ignored and can be healed. Karen works with crystals and earth elements that are crucial to our bodies’ well being. Other modalities include Reiki and Craniosacral therapy.
“Yoga helps you through trauma and is life-transforming. Breathing opens up your nervous systems and improves sleep.” - Karen Egoff
Karen helps others experience self-care through her online workshops, yoga classes and meditation circles.
Connect with Karen:
Website: https://mysoulbalance.com/
What’s App: https://call.whatsapp.com/voice/dlgNff5y6XO41as11oKwlo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?fetchDeterministicClustersOnly=false&heroEntityKey=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAAZH4NcBpymWEqDmbJy5WHqoFM9Ucg3TfS4&keywords=karen%20egoff&origin=RICH_QUERY_TYPEAHEAD_HISTORY&position=0&searchId=8f8f7911-cc2c-42cb-bcd7-c828aaa01980&sid=Z9g
Sara Paretsky is a lifelong reader of crime fiction. She developed her social conscience early on, realizing that women were so often represented in negative ways, and so often invisible. Years later when she began to write crime stories herself, she turned the tables on how women are depicted through her well-known series of books featuring V.I. Warshawski, a tough, intelligent private detective from Chicago.
Among her readership are many women who insist on their right to speech and to take up space in a room. V.I. resonates with women readers, allowing them to find their own voices and feel valued and respected. From Sara’s first book, Indemnity Only, to her most recent novel, Overboard, V.I. Warshawski has relentlessly fought for social justice.
The bottom line is that Sara hates to see anyone suffering.
Overboard is about for-profit nursing homes and the extremes some will go to for the money and power they can bring. Sara wants to entertain readers yet raise issues of white-collar crime which, inevitably, carries with it political overtones.
Prone to depression, what keeps Sara going isn’t some pollyannaish approach to life. She wakes up each morning, gets out of bed, puts one foot in front of the other and believes the day will follow. You might find her singing as she writes today. “Singing lessons, she says, are like meditation. You can’t think about anything else while singing”.
" The core issue for me is abortion rights and the right of women to make their own decisions." - Sara Paretsky
CONNECT WITH SARA:
https://saraparetsky.com/
Dr. Robin H. Miller is a general internist and integrative medicine expert who founded and directs Triune Integrative Medicine in Medford, Oregon. Dr. Miller came close to quitting medicine altogether until, several decades ago, she completed a fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona with Dr. Andrew Weil. She has written multiple medical books, including Healed! Health and Wellness for the 21st Century, with David Kahn. Dr. Miller has been an advocate for women’s health throughout her career, including supporting victims of domestic violence. Her books for women include: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Mid-life and Beyond (with Janet Horn) and, most recently, Invisible or Invincible: Your Choice. Dr. Miller is also a producer and multi-media expert bringing health advice to the larger public.
Connect with Dr. Miller:
Email: drmiller@triunemed.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DocRobinMiller
Books: (available on Amazon or through Triune Integrative Medicine)
Healed! Health & Wellness for the 21st Century: Wisdom, secrets, & fun straight from the leading edge (with D. Kahn), 2017.
Invisible or Invincible: Your choice. 2022.
The Smart Woman’s Guide to Mid-Life and Beyond: A no nonsense approach to staying healthy after 50 (with J. Horn). 2007.
Google: Robin H. Miller Health Smart Tips (Sharecare.com; RealAge.com; Lifescript.com)
Bold and vivacious herself, Diane’s 2nd book: Too Young to Be Old: How to Stay Vibrant, Visible, and Forever in Blue Jeans: 25 Secrets from TV's Jean Queenshows women how to face life with unfailing optimism and be risk-averse.
As she reached her 60’s, Diane found there were no jeans in the marketplace that fit her well. She created her own brand and took them on the Home Shopping Network. One hour later, she sold 5,000 pairs of jeans. The DG2 brand of jeans are a favorite of women everywhere.
5 years ago, Diane experienced breast cancer. The experience changed her and she began to ask, “What does my visual story say? She believes you set the dial on your own visibility meter and you decide if your dial setting changes as you get older.
“You are vital, contributing, and contemporary. Be the someone you want to spend time with.”
Connect with Diane:
Website: https://Thedianegilman.com
Diane’s Books:
- Too Young to Be Old: How to Stay Vibrant, Visible, and Forever in Blue Jeans: 25 Secrets from TV's Jean Queen
- Good Jeans: 10 Simple Truths about Feeling Great, Staying Sexy & Aging Agelessly
Helen Shiller, age 75, was a six-term alderperson in Chicago’s poor and oppressed communities
where she advocated for radical changes to police misconduct, poverty, and racism. Starting in
the early 1970s, Helen’s activism took a page from the Black Panther Party’s 10 Point Program.
Fifty years later she concluded her book---Daring to Struggle, Daring to Win: Five Decades of
Resistance in Chicago’s Uptown Community—with the Party’s 10 Point Guide to Action. Upon
leaving the City Council, Helen teamed up with her lawyer son to create the West Side Center
for Justice. She loves this stage of her life and finds great joy in metal welding.
Connect with Helen:
Email: hshiller@gmail.com
Book: Daring to Struggle, Daring to Win: Five Decades of Resistance in Chicago’s Uptown
Community (2022). See www.womenover70.com > Books By Women.
Joyce Feustel earned three degrees: BS in English Education, MS in Health Education and MA in Health Services Administration.
While pregnant with her first child, she was elected to the County Board of Supervisors. After her daughter was born in December 1980, she remained on the county board but resigned from being executive director of a mental health advocacy organization to focus on being a Mom.
"I love people Connecting through conversation is the best way to understand how to help." - Joyce Fuestel
The most consistent thing throughout her life is that Joyce Feustel loves to talk. Joyce spent 17-years in sales. She’s become deeply involved with Facebook and LinkedIn and on those sites feels able to use all of her talents. She interacts comfortably with Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. Since 2013, she has spent full-time with her business, Boomers’ Social Media Tutor.
Joyce rarely thought about her own aging until recently her knee started bothering her. Oh yes, she also has momentary memory lapses. Other than that she is part Millennial, part Boomer. She loves to work, contribute and be involved.
CONNECT WITH JOYCE:
Personal: joycefeustel@comcast.net
Business: joyce@boomerssocialmediatutor.com
Website: https://boomerssocialmediatutor.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joycefeustel-socialmediatrainer/
Kimbeth Judge has been writing her entire life. At age 4 she was already fascinated by adult behavior. Understanding human nature has preoccupied her ever since.
Putting words to paper enables her to make sense of what she thinks she sees. Her mother encouraged her to use her imagination, her father to stay level headed. As a result, her books include a certain playful pragmatism. Her first book, Mothers and Others is a compilation of short, amusing life stories. Her novel, the Flipside, a struggle between romance and reality.
When Kimbeth became a widow, she realized she had no idea how to be in this life on her own. Quite naturally, she began writing about her experience. While her 3 grieving children and their families were supportive of her, she recognized the need to learn her new widowed type of survival from other widows. She invited several to participate in what became a book project. Some wrote individual chapters that are now integral to Kimbeth’s latest book: Becoming A Widow, An Anthology of Journeys from 2 to 1. It will be launched on Amazon January 28.
Imagining what you're going to do next is stabilizing.
CONNECT WITH KIMBETH:
Website:
Email: kimbethjudge@me.com
Books:
Mothers and Others
The Flip Side
Becoming a Widow: An Anthology of Journeys from 2 to 1
Dynamic duo, Opal Lee, 96 and her granddaughter, Dione Sims, 54 are relentless in their fight for freedom. Opal’s activism started as a home school counselor in South Fort Worth, TX. Opal believed that “access to information and resources is what helps us do better” and she fought hard for all children to be educated and fed.
Opal joined the movement, started by the late Dr. Ronald Meyers in 1999, to influence the United States government to make Juneteenth a national holiday. She had worked since the 70's to make sure Fort Worth celebrated Juneteenth. In 2007, Opal started a local Juneteenth museum.
In 2014, Dione Sims, joined her grandmother in the pursuit of freedom through her nonprofit, Unity Unlimited. She manages the local and national Juneteenth campaigns and Opal’s urban farming project. Dione believes in the power of Juneteenth to bring people together to talk about the real issues facing our country.
On June 17, 2021, Opal Lee saw the fulfillment of one of her dreams. Flanked on all sides by congressional and community leaders, she witnessed President Joe Biden sign the Juneteenth National Independence Day *Act,* the bill that made celebrating freedom from slavery a law.
Opal has received three honorary doctorates. She was named 2021 Texan of the Year by the Dallas Morning News editorial board, the 2021 Unsung Hero of the Pandemic, Fort Worth 2022 Person of the Year and most recently was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She currently serves as the honorary chair and major fundraiser for the future National Juneteenth Museum.
“Working together is how we get things done. Our differences aren’t made to separate us.” Opal Lee
Connect with Opal and Dione:
Unity Unlimited: dione.sims@unityunlimited.org
Catherine Johns found her way to an early career in broadcasting. She thought she went to college to become a nurse. There was this guy in her dormitory……how many stories started out that way in the ‘60s? “You have an amazing voice. You should be on the radio”. So she auditioned for the campus radio station and was hired.
She started in smaller markets and ended up in Chicago, anchoring the news at WLS. Catherine learned from some of the best in the business: Larry Lujack and Fred Winston. By the time the station changed to a talk format, she was hosting her own show.
Catherine became very interested in speaking and soon transitioned to become a trainer in communication. She discovered she loved it, but had to overcome being worried about how she looked . She felt challenged by people looking back at her. Years later, Catherine’s expertise is in working with clients to help them gain more confidence when speaking.
The many skills she’s developed throughout her career make her a successful and knowledgeable speaker.
People believe you have to be an extrovert to shine. Introverts can shine, too, with a softer energy. You can be like the sun or be like the moon. - Catherine Johns
Email: catherine@catherinejohns.com
Author: Show Up & Shine: Simple Steps to Boost your Confidence
https://www.amazon.com/Show-Up-Shine-Confidence-Charisma/dp/0989618706/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SW1LOCSB71FU&keywords=show+up+and+shine&qid=1672848562&sprefix=show+up+and+shine%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1
Speaker: https://www.catherinejohns.com/book-me-to-speak/
Dr. Susan Weininger, age 78, is professor emerita of art history
at Roosevelt University, Chicago, where she was Chair of the
Department of History, Art History and Philosophy.
She concentrates on art from the first half of the 20 th century,
delving deeply into the lives of artists in order to better
understand their work. For example, Susan is an expert on the
life and art of Gertrude Abercrombie whose work she curated for
a museum and published a catalogue and later published a book.
Currently she is working on a book of a private collection and is
creating a retrospective for artist Don Baum. Susan notes that
“not everyone can keep doing what they love doing; I am blessed
to keep my mind alert on this track.” As a lifelong educator,
Susan connects with younger people as a docent with the Illinois
Holocaust Museum.
By studying the lives of specific artists I can better understand their art.-Susan Weininger
Connect with Susan Weininger:
sweining@roosevelt.edu
Gertrude Abercrombie, 2018, Gertrude Abercrombie, Susan Weininger — KARMA (karmakarma.org)
Eileen Joyce Donovan has been a writer throughout her life. It was not until she had been an adult for many years that she began to pursue writing seriously. Until then, she never felt her stories were “good enough”. It was her late husband who encouraged her to submit them for publication.
At heart, Eileen adores historical research, especially on an idea that captures her imagination. She notes, “You have to be fascinated by the subject to do a good job on it”. This approach allowed her to almost publish her 1st book. She had the contract but the publisher did not bring it to fruition. The affirmation, however, gave her the impetus to keep moving forward.
Eileen believes in joining, or starting your own writers’ groups. They elevate her writing when others read her drafts and offer feedback. And by reading others’ books and reviewing them she continues to hone her craft. She is now a successful author.
Previous books include Promises, winner of the 2019 Marie M Irvine Award for Literary Excellence. It will be reissued in September 2023. And, A Lady Newspaperman's Dilemma, about a young woman, Alex, who more than anything wants to be a journalist for a major metropolitan newspaper. A field dominated by men. Her newest book, The Campbell Sisters, is scheduled for a March 2023 release.
CONNECT WITH EILEEN:
Email: Eileen Joyce Donovan7650@gmail.com
Books
A Lady Newspaperman's Dilemma
https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Newspapermans-Dilemma-Eileen-Donovan/dp/195490715X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IAYD2UQR62L9&keywords=eileen+joyce+donovan&qid=1672202593&sprefix=Eileen+Joyce+D%2Caps%2C287&sr=8-1
The Campbell Sisters
https://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Sisters-Eileen-Joyce-Donovan-ebook/dp/B0BN2DV45Q/ref=sr_1_2?crid=IAYD2UQR62L9&keywords=eileen+joyce+donovan&qid=1672202593&sprefix=Eileen+Joyce+D%2Caps%2C287&sr=8-2
Claudia Cooley: Doing What She Loves Ignited Her Success
Claudia Cooley lives in Southern California with her husband of 61 years, one of the many ‘balcony people’ in her life who believed in her ability to make an impact.
Self-taught, forward thinking and willing to put herself in uncomfortable positions, Claudia has grabbed at opportunity her entire life. She believes we are here to make a difference in the world. As a certified wellness coach she knows it’s important to live life in balance. And age is not stopping her. Claudia says she still has a lot to contribute. Her 4 books, image consulting practice and ‘stay at home beaver mom attitude’ prove she’s not leaving this train ride anytime soon.
When opportunity comes your way, say YES, lean in and grab it.
CONNECT WITH CLAUDIA:
Email: toignitehealth@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com › claudia-cooley-85719323
Books:
Ignite for Success
Rev up for Success
Ignite for Success
Ignite Your Health
Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus and Professor of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and the Center of Circadian Biology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. Her expertise is in the field of sleep disorders and circadian rhythms. She has sound advice for aging adults who experience a wide variety of sleep patterns.
Dr. Ancoli-Israel is emphatic that health plays an important role in how well we sleep. You might also enjoy Sonia’s travels. Links below.
CONNECT WITH SONIA:
Email: sonia.israel@gmail.com
To follow Sonia’s travels and see her photos go to:
www.journeyswithsonia.com
Instagram: journeyswithsonia
Sara Zeff Geber, PhD, considers the years beyond 65 as the ‘bonus years.’ As a nationally recognized leader in planning for aging and retirement, in 2013 Sara began pursuing solo aging with a passion. The baby boomers--some 15 million--who do not have children and/or are single, Sara says, “are living without a safety net and a script for their future.” Sara offers guidance and hope in her 2018 book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers: A retirement and aging roadmap for single and childless adults.” She addresses key topics such as preparing for the future, enjoying life, investigating where to live, and planning for end-of-life choices. Sara advises that we face the realities of aging and explore all the options as we prepare to live our ‘bonus years’ to the fullest.
Connect with Sara:
Email: sara@lifeencore.com
Website: https://sarazeffgeber.com/
Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers is available on Amazon.
Nora Natof, age 87, now resides in Oak Park, IL, the village that is home to the studio of her grandfather, Frank Lloyd Wright, and many of the homes he designed. The summers Nora spent at Talieslin, her grandfather’s ‘almost’ sustainable community in Wisconsin, influenced her strong advocacy for the environment, the arts, education, and civil rights. Nora highlights her years lobbying against nuclear power plants and co-founding a Montessori school as causes most directly affecting her life. Work enabled Nora to cope with devastating losses through the deaths of family members and divorce after 30 years of marriage. “My nature,” say Nora, “is to keep moving forward. I always feel I can do it.” At age 77, Nora retired from geriatric nursing, a profession which has fed her passion for end-of-life options and planning. Two themes are threaded throughout Nora’s “good, full life”: living in community and nurturing deep spiritual beliefs.
I have a very strong belief that you must give back to the society you live in. -Nora Natof
Connect with Nora:
Nnatof64@verizon.net
As a marriage and family therapist in private practice for more than 4 decades, Sally Strosahl (LCPC) has heard countless stories from couples about distresses in their relationship as they move into retirement and get older. She felt called to write Loving Your Marriage in Retirement: Keep the Music Playing (2018). Sally offers an authentic and reassuring voice for couples who face a myriad of changes during this critical phase in their long-term relationship.
Connect with Sally
sally@sallystrosahl.com
Strosahl, S. (2018). Loving Your Marriage in Retirement: Keep the Music Playing. In the Round Publishing.
Dr. Janice Hooker-Fortman, relationship coach, is a former Chicago Public School educator, motivational speaker, and producer and host of “The Mother/Daughter Relationship Show. and Relationship Matters tv. She is an award-winning author, relationship communication coach, a 50+ model, and was crowned Ms. Senior Illinois America 2022. Dr. Jan believes that communication is the foundation for all relationships, both personal and professional. Her mission is to improve the quality of relationships between adult daughters and their mothers through the use of effective communication. She was selected as the female entrepreneur to watch by Woman Entrepreneur Magazine and is on the cover of the February 2022 issue of Courageous Woman Magazine. Her articles appear in Global Achievers Magazine and Woman Entrepreneur Magazine. She was also recognized by Age Options for her outstanding volunteer service to older adults.
“My relationship with my mother was difficult - I learned to listen in a way that was helpful.” - Dr. Janice Hooker-Fortman
Connect with Jan:
Email: Jan4now125@gmail.com and Relationshipmatterstv@gmail.com
Office: 1-887-667-7325
Text: 773-443-2058
Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/RelationshipMattersTVShow
Podcast: https://winwinwomen.tv/show/the-mother-daughter-relationship-show
Book: "The Secrets To How Not To Throw Mama From The Train" Hardback and Ebook available on Amazon.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RelationshipMattersTVShow
https://e360tv.com/
https://www.jd3tv.com/
Producer/Host, The Mother/Daughter Relationship Show
https://winwinwomen.tv/show/the-mother-daughter-relationship-show
Website: www.drjanicespeaks.com
Alice Matzkin is an internationally known artist whose works fearlessly depict women aging. Alice has 2 paintings in the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian and has appeared on Oprah. Her portrait of Chelsea hung in the White House during the Clinton administration, and she is recognized in Marquis Who's Who of American Art. She, and her husband, Richard, a sculptor and award winning author, share a precious love that provides a powerful foundation for their art. Together they authored THE ART OF AGING:Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self where they explore the experience of aging through their paintings, sculptures and writings.
" Every age has its own beauty inside and out. Our body is our vehicle of transportation, abode to our senses , and home to our mind and spirit. We are ageless beings and a true miracle of the universe. Young or old, we have the ability to create beauty and contribute to the world" - Alice Matzkin
Connect with Alice:
Email: thematzkins@gmail.com
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/authorsartistsandlovers
Book: THE ART OF AGING: Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self (available at Amazon.com)
Website and blog: thematzkins.com
In her third career, Sally Duplantier, gerontologist and healthspan educator, founded her mission-driven company, Zing, to help older adults live as long as possible without chronic disease and disability. Through Zing, Sally offers Wellness Wednesdays, free educational webinars featuring experts on relevant topics. She is guest faculty with the Be Well program at Stanford University. Sally has added a research component to her mission--to
increase diversity in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s patients.
Connect with Sally:
Email: sally@myzinglife.com
Website: https://myzinglife.com/
Annie Korzen’s career dreams finally came true in her 80’s. At
age 83, she is a TikTok sensation with young fans who love her
wit and wisdom about living life as an older woman. Annie brings
her talents as an actress, writer, storyteller, and teacher to
TikTok and other performance venues as she speaks about life’s
serious moments. She also takes on ageism for underestimating
and underappreciating what older women have to offer. For the
first time in her life, Annie is being told that she is beautiful, and she
wears her age as a badge of honor.
Some people are overnight successes, and some people,
like me, just have to keep doing it wrong until they get it right.
Now I’m in my third act. -Annie Korzen
Connect with Annie Korzen
Website: www.AnnieKorzen.com
Email: annykorzy@gmail.com
www.TheMoth.org
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/Annie-Korzen?lang=en
As a queer, biracial woman, Jacqueline Boyd, BA, BS, CGCM, has advocated for her community by offering services that address specific care needs. She is especially interested in how to provide people with continuing care in their homes. Her company, The-Care-Plan, guides anyone over age 18 to plan and coordinate care needs.
Jacqueline’s cool and service-oriented demeanor shows in everything she says. When she talks about quality of life it is evident that it comes from a place deep within her heart. She asks, “What is the role of comfort in care? In only 30 minutes, you will walk away with a wealth of information.
Connect with Jacqueline:
Email: jacqueline@the-care-plan.com
Website: https://the-care-plan.com
Office: 877-6WE-PLAN
Mary Isabel Azrael, age 78, from Baltimore MD, is a poet, editor, and teacher. She is the author of four books of poems, and in her 60s, wrote the libretto for an opera, Lost Childhood, which has been performed in Los Angeles, New York, and Tel Aviv Israel. Mary Isabel is publisher and co-editor of Passager Books and Passager, a national literary journal featuring the work of writers aged 50 and older. When Mary Isabel’s husband left after 40 years of marriage, a collection of poems written during the following years resulted in a book, The House No House (2017). Mary Isabel collaborates on artistic projects with her life partner of 10+ years, John P. Wise, an abstract artist and designer.
Ageism still exists in the arts. More than ever, we need the voices of older writers whose life experience offers much that's essential to our survival. - Mary Isabel Azrael
Connect with Mary Isabel:
Email mpazrael@aol.com
https://www.passagerbooks.com
https://www.dogbonearts.com
Bett Martinez has experienced more death-defying accidents than most in her lifetime.
An auto accident at 33, and again, later in life caused 2 serious head injuries, badly smashed broken legs and ongoing auto-immune issues. But Bett, who began to advocate for others early on, only dug in harder to find the answers that would help her walk again and manage the pain.
Bett’s advocacy has taken many paths. She believes our society would do best if children of different ethnicities could learn to co-exist. Thus began years of working to bring Jewish and Arab children together.
As a veteran health care insurance agent, specializing in Medicare and long-term care protection, her interest in preparing for death has grown as she ages. She would like it if it were a requirement for all people to create a thumb drive video that expresses their end of life wishes. She asks: “If you knew the date of your death, what actions would you take?”
Staying up to date and helping others keeps my brain straight – straight as can be given my age and complex health history. - Bett martinez
Research has led her to adopt Qig
ong, Tai Chi, acupuncture and herbs as a way to maintain her own hard won fitness. And now, she is turning her attention to advocating for relief for Alzheimer patients.
Bett finds answers through her unique combination of perseverance, research and purpose.
Connect with Bett:
Email: well-being@pacbell.net
Website: http://possiblesociety.org/programs.html
Bett’s website: bettmartinez.com
Soaking Retreat: Therma Qi-2024 at Palma Hot Springs, Ikaria Islands, south of Greece. Contact Bett directly for information
https://www.visitikaria.gr/en/useful/news/ikaria-has-the-secret-of-longevity#.Yzsdu3bMKUk Author: We’ll Face That When We Have To…P.S. It’s Later Than You Think! The Case for Long Term Care Protection http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UCGCXMK
As a young adult, Joby Kennedy became fascinated with how different people cope with trauma. This led her into a clinical psychology career during which she worked with adults, some families and school children. She refers to herself as a generalist, serving in many settings with a wide variety of clients.
8 years ago, Joby retired. She thought music might be her way forward until she inadvertently set her childhood accordion on fire. Joby believes (as did Jung) that “synchronicity is a meaningful experience”. Still she craved music and soon was invited to sing in a local chorus.
“I get busy, then there’s a lull. I wonder what will happen next? Something always presents itself to me. If not, I will go and find it.” - Josephine "Joby" Kennedy
It is painting, however, that has her heart singing. She is currently working on a presentation entitled “One Heart, Many Paths”. Combining music and her own art, she inspires engagement by asking people to share the paths of their hearts.
And, she loves to dance.
CONNECT:
Email: docjoby@aol.com
Fine Art America: Josephine Joby Kennedy@FineArtAmerica
Originally from the West Indies, Cynthia Barnett, Ph.D., from Norwalk CT,
retired at age 59 to pursue the question--Why Are There So Few Women in the
Sciences? Cynthia became CEO and founder of a non-profit program--Amazing
Girls Science-- whose goal is to ignite the spark in girls for STEAM (science,
technology, art, engineering and math). As a STEAM champion, Cynthia won the
Inaugural AARP Purpose Award and the Community Innovation and Leadership
Award for the Connecticut Technology Council. At age 79, Dr. Barnett says she
“leads a vibrant, purpose-driven life” with many new initiatives underway,
including intergenerational programs and robotics. She lives her life as a “thank
you.”
We need to catch girls at a young age to bring them into the sciences. - Cynthia Barnett PhD
Connect with Cynthia
website: www.amazinggirlsscience.com
Email: drcynthiabarnett@gmail.com
Susan Reed, PhD, age 70, has led a life of social-political action
since her teens. She campaigned for McGovern and later for
Obama; interned with the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union;
protested the Vietnam War; worked on social policy for equities in
aging and health; and continues to teach adult college students
about ways to be civically engaged. Susan is a person who feels
“responsible for problems” facing our city (Chicago) and country.
She finds other people to be activists with her--for example, the
Girlfriend Group, because “for me, political activism is social;
social action can be fun.” On the home front, Susan continues to
learn how best to support her two adult daughters and, with her
husband, plan for how to ‘age in place.’
" My goal is to help people be active citizens, especially
during really difficult times."
Connect with Susan:
sreed@depaul.edu
Born in Poland, Sara Levinson, 75, migrated to the United States in 1963 when she was 16. She traveled by ocean liner to Montreal and later moved to Chicago. She practices an open-ended thought process and has learned to go for any opportunity that comes her way.
As a young mother raising children, Sara picked up a Nikon camera that she had used earlier and began photographing images while her children were at school. She realized her skills needed upgrading and began attending workshops and taking courses on her own. Her specialty is portraits and as her children grew, she became more and more serious about her craft, learning how to process, develop and print her film. In the beginning, it was strictly black & white. She soon moved to color and digital photography and continues to edit and manage all aspects of the creative process.
Save the easiest places to travel for when you get older so you will never have to stop having amazing experiences. - Sara Levinson
Sara takes exotic trips to unknown remote locations. She uses her lens to witness diverse spiritual ceremonies and customs. She has also been touched by the plight of discarded widows. Especially moved by their circumstances, she plans to return so she can hug every woman she meets, a forbidden action in many areas.
A new project is called Beauty Past Its Prime and Sara is currently working out just how to bring it to fruition.
Diane Deaderick DeMartra, a professional who has worked in corporations, non-
profits, and higher education, devotes her passions and talents to “enlighten,
educate, and empower inner-city teen girls and young women, especially teen
and young, single mothers at risk of continuing the intergenerational cycle of
poverty and complex trauma that are rampant among women and children in the
Black community.” This is the mission of Just For You Girlfriend, the nonprofit
organization that Diane founded in 2017 and continues to lead. Having lived her
pre-teen and teen years in ‘the projects’ in Chicago, Diane understands the
environment where, without access to resources and support, many people “live
and die like they did in the projects--in abject poverty.” In 2022, Diane wrote a
book to pass on crucial life lessons and wonderful witticisms learned from her
own momma--Momma Wit: Words of wisdom, encouragement, inspiration, and
love. Diane lives each day with energy, enjoyment, and gratitude. "
Connect with Diane
Email: dddemartra@gmail.com
Website: https://www.justforyougirlfriend.org
Book: Momma Wit (available on website)
Amy Temperley’s passion centers on Active Aging--helping older
adults stay social, active, and engaged. As a life coach and
consultant, and entrepreneurial business owner, Amy focuses on
helping 60+ adults find their passion and continue to live, laugh and
learn. Amy is co-founder and CEO of Aging Is Cool and most
recently, co-founder of A Mighty Good Time. She and her colleagues
follow trends in areas such as technology (e.g., augmented reality)
and brain health as they create more opportunities for older adults to
engage fully in life.
Connect with Amy:
amy@amightygoodtime.com
www.AMightyGoodTime.com
http://www.agingiscool.com
Betty Grebenschikoff, age 92 ½ , continues to speak out about the horrors of the Holocaust and her experiences as a refugee without a passport: from Germany to China to Australia and, finally, to the United States where she gained citizenship. At age 9, Betty was separated from her beloved friend, Ana Maria Wahrenberg, only to be reunited after 82 years--like “finding the end of the rainbow.” On a weekly basis, Betty (in Florida) and Ana Maria (in Chile) talk about their childhood, similar paths taken, commitment to telling their stories, and the joys of family and friends. As a long-time refugee, Betty learned to adapt to everyday hardships with the support of “family around me. We were the lucky ones who got through it.” Betty advises: “don’t take anything for granted, never travel without a passport, and appreciate that home is not a place-- it is a feeling of belonging with family.”
There are very few of us left who can talk about the Holocaust; the lives of individuals,
not just the numbers, have to be remembered. - Betty Grebenschikoff
Connect with Betty:
Website: www.bettygrebenschikoff.com
Memoir: Once My Name Was Sara (1992), Original Seven Publishing Co.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfkDAk2IRPI. The New Reality: The Untold Story of How 2
Best Friends Separated by the Nazis Reunited After 82 Years.
https://www.holocaustedu.org/survivor-testimonies/in-my-own-words-with-betty-
grebenshikoff/ Interviewed by daughter, Jennifer, Special Kristallnacht Commemoration
Program
https://www.idcfl.org/betty-grebenschikoff-international (International Diplomatic Core of
Florida)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK6WrOrL3j4 [Shanghai Ghetto, Part I]
The Upgrade is a gateway for the best years of our lives
For years, women have been told by society to dread the second half of life, with no support available beyond expensive ointments and procedures promising to reverse the signs of aging. But thanks to Dr. Louann Brizendine’s latest book: The Upgrade: How the Female Brain Gets Stronger and Better in Midlife and Beyond, that’s all about to change. Dr. Brizendine, bestselling author of The Female Brain and The Male Brain, Lynne and Marc Benioff Endowed Chair in Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and founder of UCSF’s Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic. delivers actionable, science-backed steps for preserving brain health.
A Stanford Study affirms that people get happier with each decade of their lives up until their 90s. With compassionate and ongoing self-care we become more available to ourselves and others who need us. Diet, exercise, sleep and mindset all aid cognitive health. Dr. Brizendine shares intimate stories in a lively and upbeat way that emphasizes there is nothing selfish about paying attention to our bodies in order to be the best we can be.
The Upgrade is a gateway for the best years of our lives - Dr Louann Brizendine
The Upgrade is the time of life where things get better. As your hormones change, the fluctuations that make things feel stressful float away and a new clarity takes hold. The hormone swings that helped you through childbearing and rearing are no longer needed. Your body chemistry adjusts to bring you calm, directness, and focus. You have time to focus on yourself again.
Why is grief so complicated and why does grieving take such a long time,
possibly never ending? In The Grieving Brain (2022), renowned grief expert,
neuroscientist, and psychologist, Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD, offers new
perspectives on understanding love, loss, and learning. Complicated grief sets in
when we cannot move into the natural healing process. Our brains need to
learn how to process grief and grieving, to deal with the paradox of our loved
one who feels here, yet physically is not here. Dr. O’Connor offers hope for how
we can learn how to navigate loss with more ease and grace.
Connect with Mary-Frances O’Connor:
Website: www.maryfrancesoconnor.com/book
Book: The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love
and Loss (2022)
YouTube. There are several. Eg.,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLh1F41RsM8
5 Things You Should Know About Grief
Katie Couric Media
Learning from Grief and Loss (Video)
PurposeCast
Twitter: @doctormfo
FaceBook: @maryfranceso
Instagram: @doctormfoconnor
LinkedIn: Mary-Frances O’Connor
Donna Chacko, MD, practiced medicine for 40 years, first as a radiation oncologist
and later, after retraining in her 50’s, as a family medicine doctor. While serving
people faced with poverty and homelessness, she learned that health involves far
more than the absence of disease. Donna’s professional experiences and her own
emotional suffering during a difficult first marriage led her to create Serenity and
Health, offering programs and blogs that teach us all the things we can do to have
abundant health. She also wrote a spiritual memoir (2021), Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s
Healing Journey, which is both memoir and instruction on being stewards of our
own health. Donna is at a new transition point which involves decisions about
writing a second book and living with her soon-to-be-retired second husband.
I came to believe that people who have ‘a faith’ can use it to gain an
abundance of health. - Donna Chacko MD
Connect with Donna:
email: dc@serenityandhealth.com
Website: www.serenityandhealth.com
Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s Healing Journey (2021). Luminare. (Amazon; Barnes & Noble).
Before abortion was legalized by the US Supreme Court in 1973 (Roe v Wade), a
Chicago-based group of over 100 women--known as Jane--provided counseling
and illegal abortions for 11,000 women (1969-1973). Rev. & Dr. Patricia Novick,
age 75, was one of the original Janes. Patricia and founder Heather Booth are
among those featured in the illuminating film The Janes. In her conversation with
Women Over 70, Patricia dispels the public’s misconceptions about the Janes--
who they were and who they served. Patricia situates the single issue of abortion
rights in the larger context of social issues concerning justice, choice, privacy,
autonomy, and personal freedom. Now, 50 years later, the Janes have reunited,
and Patricia shares new information and ideas about ways to contribute to the
groundswell of activism. As older women, Patricia believes it is our job to be role
models for younger generations of activists.
Living in a democratic, pluralistic society means that humans have the
right to make their own decisions about their bodies and their lives. - Dr. Rev. Patricia Novick
Connect:
pnovick@aliveltd.org
www.womenover70.com P. Novick episode #025; Heather Booth episode #039
The Janes (the film). On HBO and streaming on HBOMax.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund (media.office@ppfa.org)
Chicago Abortion Fund (chicagoabortionfund.org)
Nancy Watson’s entrepreneurial spirit has led her on different paths, always toward nurturing other people. Her 8-year long career as a teacher in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Chicago in the 1970s was interrupted by a 2-year stint as the contented owner of an antiques store.
Cooking became Nancy’s outlet for dealing with the demands of teaching, leading eventually to a large-scale catering business that she owned for 25 years. At age 60, feeling like she was aging out of that industry, Nancy opened a B&B in Southwest Michigan where she enjoyed connecting more closely with her clients. Now Nancy can be found on Florida’s gulf coast where she lives happily with her third husband, David, engaging in cultural and social events, being physically active, and still offering her gift of food.
I love nurturing others, whether through teaching, antiquing, catering, lodging, or volunteering. - Nancy Watson
Connect with Nancy:
nsw29cook@gmail.com
Nancy grew up in Highland Park, IL #SitDownAmerica
Pauline Boss, PhD. - The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic and Change.
Karen Kalish’s career included school teacher, consumer advocate, business owner, and on-air TV reporter. She became a serial social entrepreneur and believes that to whom much is given, much is required. “Partners and collaborators are what make it work. No one nonprofit can do “it” alone and doing things alone is the weakest form of leadership”, she says. In this way the missions of the three nonprofits she created, all of which are still running today, had to do with academic achievement in low performing schools, race relations and discrimination. - Karen Kalish
I don’t let grass grow under my feet. I have a growth mindset. I’m not retired, I’m reWired and have a next chapter.
At a Renaissance Weekend, Karen sat on a panel that asked, “Can You be Happy As You Age?”, and shares her answers in this episode.
Philanthropy is where Karen’s interest lies today. She discusses what we need to think about when donating money to organizations. Her legacy? “Here lies Karen under the only stone she left unturned!”
Connect with Karen:
Email: karenkalish@gmail.com
Website: https://KarenKalish.com
"Today’s interview with Karen Kalish was – like so many others – fantastic. I remember her from her reporting days here in Chicago in mid-late ‘70s. What a dynamo. I start many days with a podcast and this one really knocked my socks off. Great choice." - Jill Stewart
Karen Kalish’s career included school teacher, consumer advocate and on-air reporter. She became a serious social entrepreneur and believes in picking allies when starting a project. “Partners and collaborators are what make it work. You can never do anything alone”, she says. In this way the 3 successful nonprofits she created, 2 of which are still running today, benefited education, race and reading.
At a Renaissance Weekend, hosted by Bill and Hillary Clinton, Karen sat on a panel that asked, “Can You be Happy As you Age?”, and shares her answers on this episode.
I don’t let grass grow under my feet. I have a growth mindset. I’m not retired, I’m rewired.-Karen Kalish
Philanthropy is where Karen’s interest lies today. She discusses what we need to think about when giving money to organizations. Her legacy? “Here lies Karen under the only stone she left unturned!”
Connect with Karen:
Email: karenkalish@gmail.com
Website: https://HomeWorks.org
At age 97, Joan Harmsen still thrives on helping others make life more meaningful and fun. As a young war bride, Joan traded the paradise-like environment of southern Australia for the hard realities of farm life in Minnesota. To alleviate disappointment and depression, Joan brought fun to her hard-working community--teaching tap dancing, championing girls’ athletic activities, and acting in community theatre. Joan’s husband died soon after they retired to Oregon. She adjusted to widowhood by earning a college degree at age 59 and teaching school for ten years. After being single for many years, Joan married at age 79 to a man 10 years older. Before he died at age 103, they had a marvelous time traveling to 4 continents. Joan continues her lifelong commitment to exercise regularly, eat healthy food, read and study. She pledges to “never give up,” and to “use whatever energy I have left for the purpose of doing good on this earth.”
You can adjust to any life challenge if you inject a little fun into it. - Joan Harmsen
Contact Joan:
joanhharmsen@gmail.com
Lois Wagh Aronstein has advocated for older people the majority of her career. First, when she initiated Project Reward through the Framingham Chamber of Commerce and then as the New England representative for AARP and in various capacities for 26 years.
"As a society we must understand the value of older people. We can design social structures in a way that plays down dependence and creates independence, but progress is slow..." - Lois Wagh Aronstein
What she learned from her work is that older people want to keep making contributions and feel valued. They have assets that are underutilized. Lois shares many stories that illustrate the change that occurs, physically and mentally, when their passions find opportunities to be expressed.
Ageism is a very real threat to our culture. We must create opportunities for older people to stay independent, rather than expecting dependence. We have to change that view of older persons wanting dependency, when what they really cherish is continuing to contribute.
Connect with Lois:
Email: LoisWagh@gmail.com
For Phyllis Walden, life experiences offer abundant opportunities for learning. Reading The Second Sex near completion of her doctoral program in Philosophy in the late 1960s reinforced Phyllis’ feminist perspectives. As a mentor and teacher in innovative college programs, Phyllis brought her daily practice of journal writing to the classroom. After retirement at age 57 from college life, Phyllis trained as a volunteer docent at The Field Museum in Chicago where she became an unanticipated expert on dinosaurs. For over 30 years, Phyllis is Tia (aunt) to her dear friend’s adopted daughters from Peru and China. She treasures her experience as a mentoring figure in their daily lives and as a member of this multi-cultural family. Phyllis’ love of travel took a new turn during the pandemic. She now enjoys learning virtually about Broadway musicals and world religions along with immersive travel to places like Provence, France.
Aging is another learning project; what do I need to know now? - Phyllis Walden PhD
Connect with Phyllis:
Email: phyllis3632@gmail.com
At age 65, Jane Llewellyn (PHD, RN) decided to retire from her rewarding and demanding positions as Vice President of Nursing and as Associate Dean of the Nursing College at Rush University Medical Center. Why retire when she was on top of her game? Having survived aggressive breast cancer at age 43, with only a 20% chance to live beyond five years, Jane wanted to “experience more and enjoy life while I am able.” Thus began her new life as a world traveler--a temporary local--to exotic places in all seven continents. Jane says her favorite place is the next trip although she especially loved Antarctica and Africa. Jane’s continued involvement in health includes serving on the Board of a local hospital and on the Oak Park Action Team for End-of-Life Options Coalition--Compassion & Choices. She travels with and anticipates providing more care for her sister who has Alzheimer’s disease. Jane is writing her own extraordinary life story.
Life is short, take the trip, buy the shoes.
Contact Jane Llewellyn
jllewellyn@me.com
Ever since she came to the United States from Kobe, Japan, at 10, Lily Liu has devoted herself to living up to the role models she found in her grandparents, aunt and mother. Her grandmother raised her while her mother, widowed at 32, worked to support her children. Every Sunday was Mother’s Day because it was the only day her mother was off from her work. She came to spend quality time with Lily and her brothers and planned adventurous activities. Lily Liu took full advantage of the world her mother shared with her.
Lily was a sought-after model as a teenager. Later, she gave her own three children the same opportunity when each was born during the years she owned her agency. Soon other mothers approached her to find modeling jobs for their children. Lily’s Talent Agency grew out of these early years. Lily shares how she became a model and how important it is to her to guide the talent she represents to excel, be professional, and pay it forward.
Live your life to your fullest, but remember to take care of yourself. Don’t let others influence you to give up what you love. - Lily Liu
As president and founder of a 501(C)3 non-profit, “Mentoring Artists Chicago” since 2010, Lily helps young performing artists in the Chicagoland area with monetary as well as financial awards. She is also the founder, owner, and manager of Lidi Real Estate L.L.C. since 2000 and invests in properties to rent, as well as sell, at the most opportune time.
CONNECT WITH LILY LIU:
Website: https://lilystalent.com
Email: lily@lilystalent.com
Martha Hansen knows what it’s like to age. What she didn’t know was that 7 Days at Sea would be the first play she wrote and self-produced. Or that it would hit, head-on, the sexuality of women at older ages, as well as bring her close up to illness, gayness, and the growing insignificance women experience as they age.
Martha says a lot of the credit for mounting the play goes to Kristina McCloskey who helped her with development. And, Margaret Knapp, who helped with structure and production and ultimately became the director. She couldn’t believe the support the theater community heaped on her and said she could never have come to this day without them. Not bad for a woman whose entire career was in science!
”I’m a big storyteller. I was such a wild child that I have a lot of stories.”
7 Days at Sea is enjoying a limited run in Chicago at the Edge Theater on Broadway.
Connect with Martha:
Email: mjhansen613@comcast.net
Website: https://www.lightandsoundproductions.org/
As a child of the 1960s drug culture, Stephanie Raffelock dropped out of high school. Her return to formal education in her mid-thirties opened the doorway into examining her own life and providing platforms for other women to tell the stories of their truths. In her recent book, Creatrix Rising--Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women--Stephanie changes the last stage of a woman’s life cycle from the dried-up Crone to the blossoming Creatrix. Aging, she believes, “is a remarkable and noble passage.” Through telling her own and others’ stories, Stephanie offers a reflective guide to embody and celebrate the Creatrix in each of us.
I am replacing the archetype of the Crone with the Creatrix--women with resounding voices who inspire us with their personal stories.- Stephanie Raffleock
Connect with Stephanie
- Stephanie.raffelock@gmail.com
- https://www.byline-Stephanie.com
Books by Stephanie
- Creatrix Rising--Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women (2021)
- A Delightful Little Book on Aging (2020)
Dr. Katharine Esty’s husband was seriously ill when she turned 80. It put her in a funk. Even hiking with her family, an ordinary event, sent her deeper into the doldrums. Katharine couldn’t make it to the top of a favorite hill during one hike and it (removed only) made her realize she couldn’t keep doing everything she did.
She decided it was time for research. As a psychotherapist, Katharine knew what to do. She searched for a diverse group of people across the country in their 80s to interview: men and women, most were flourishing, primarily in a positive economic space; most lived independently, some in retirement communities and a few in nursing homes. She interviewed some of their children, too, to understand how family dynamics changed as elders aged.
“I was paralyzed with fear about aging until I began to feel, 'I can do this.' My picture of aging was completely out of date." Dr. Katharine Esty
The conclusion was very clear. The picture she held of old age was completely out of date. Her image came from her grandparents’ lives and that provided a grim reality. Some 11 million people are in their 80s today and this group is growing faster than any other decade. Her research revealed that, in part, people are thriving due to modern medicine and can continue to enjoy active, pain-free lives as long as they are healthy. Surprisingly, they are much happier. They stay involved, continue to learn, and have a purpose. This happiness is psychological and stems from having dropped regrets and striving in the rat race, as well as feeling gratitude for just being alive.
Connect with Katharine:
Book: Eightysomethings: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness
Available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Eightysomethings-Transitions-Letting-Unexpected-Happiness/dp/151074312X
Sign up for her monthly newsletter: https://www.katharineesty.com/newsletter-subscriptions
Vicki Thomas, 76 is a life-long journalist, producer, writer and purpose-driven business woman.
She started her career as a media writer for a multi-state trade association, worked for ABC Chicago and, in 1988, started her own company. At 75, she realized it was time to do more and, with partner, Joyce Cohen, they created My Future Purpose, which fulfills her desire to help individuals harness the power of purpose. She believes “doing what fulfills you makes your days fly by”.
“Purpose gives us a sense of identity.” - Vicki Thomas
Vicki believes aging is an extraordinary process and wants to continue making a difference. She has no desire to retire and told us she intends to be carried out on a flip chart! And she knows about aging. Her mother recently turned 100. A very pleasant person, still, there is necessary care-giving that Vicki must provide.
Connect with Vicki:
Email: vicki@myfuturepurpose.com
Website: MyFuturePurpose.com
AudioSeries: I Quit, Now What?
In recognition of National Poetry Month, we bring you Joyce Sutphen.
Joyce Sutphen discusses her love of teaching and writing poetry, her attachment to rural life, and her decade-long experience living with Parkinson’s. Farm girl becomes college professor becomes Minnesota Poet Laureate. In her eight published collections of poetry, Joyce meets head on the challenges of living and dying, conveying beauty and peace, love and acceptance. Listen to Joyce’s reading of Crossroads about the second half of life, and How I’m Doing about her reckoning with Parkinson’s. Joyce has been heard to say, “I never want to know what the last line will be….”
“Poetry is my way of finding out what I think.” – Joyce Sutphen, Ph.D.Take-Aways:
- Follow the thing you love the most, using the means you have
- Body behaving badly—understand, accept, maintain it
- Poems tell us things in a language we didn’t know we spoke. They say things in ways we didn’t know we knew.
Contact information:
jsutphen@gustavus.edu
Joyce’s latest publication:
Sutphen, J. (2019). Carrying water to the field: New and selected poems. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press.
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Joan Sotkin, 81, is the creator of 3 books and 5 audios and a financial coach whose approach is based on brain science. She is also the host of the podcast The Prosperity Show.
“What you believe affects what happens in your life. Every decision has an emotional component.” - Joan Sotkin
In 1976, while living in Venice, CA, Joan gave away all her possessions and wandered for four years learning how to always follow her inner voice. While staying with her parents at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, during a deep meditation, she heard: “Go buy a pound of tumbled stones”. She soon built a successful business selling crystals and minerals nationwide. Unfortunately, she never learned how to manage cash flow, went bankrupt and dedicated herself to honing her business and financial skills. After suffering from a range of physical problems for many years, Joan studied and adopted a range of alternative techniques. She is now remarkably healthy and vibrant.
Today, Joan is a successful money and mindset mentor who guides people to uncover the habitual thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that affect their business and financial outcomes.
Connect with Joan:
Email: joan@sotkin.com
Website: https://ProsperityPlace.com
Podcast: The Prosperity Show
Book: Build Your Money Muscles: Nine Simple Exercises for Improving Your Relationship with Money
Francine Russo grew up in New York - a lower middle class Jewish girl. Her parents felt strongly that her MRS. Degree was more important than getting her PH.D. She did marry, twice. Both husbands died and she was left to find Love After 50: the title of her latest book, which is a comprehensive and intimate guide to finding, keeping, and enjoying love after fifty, the best kind of love there is. Today she lives with Michael, her current partner of 6 ½ years.
Francine has a PhD in English literature and is a successful journalist. In this episode, she offers many tips for aspiring magazine writers and is known for being ahead of the curve, finding trends to write about before others. At 75, Francine loves life and has many more articles in her to write. Watch for her next one in Scientific American, a story about a female archaeologist who learns about Viking women.
If you like someone and don’t hear back, there’s no harm in following up yourself - Perseverance gets you what you want, in work and in dating. -Francine Russo
Connect with Francine Russo:
Email: francine.russo.email@gmail.com
Website:https://francinerusso.com/
Current Book: Love After 50: How to Find It, Enjoy It and Keep It
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=francine+russo+love+after+50&i=stripbooks&crid=U6TWK1J8OL7H&sprefix=Francine+Russo%2Cstripbooks%2C70&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_14
For Agnes Loughlin, a former nurse and nurse practitioner, the path to internal wellness begins with awareness. She emphasizes being aware of how we direct our attention and energy to our thoughts and emotions and encourages us to use these powerful tools to create our inner desires. Agnes describes how her own feelings of loneliness and disconnection for many years were masked by busyness, until she had an awakening experience at age 64.
Always curious, Agnes is devoted to exploring multiple dimensions of spirituality and healing. She is certified in five modalities and as a life coach. As founder of Miracles in Wellness, Agnes speaks and conducts retreats and coaches individuals and groups to create and explore their own joyous realities.
We create our own joy as we become more aware of feeling love, connection, and aliveness in our relationships. -Agnes Loughlin
Contact Information
Agnes Loughlin, Joy Facilitator
Cell 773-791-9590
Email: agnes@miraclesinwellness.com
Website: https://miraclesinwellness.com
Free gift--Meditation to Embrace More Love https://mailchi.mp/f99c1fcdc0ef/meditation
Cindi Elstienfinds herself in a pretty satisfying stage of life. Having overcome both breast cancer and a recent debilitating bout of pneumonia, along with several other difficult issues, she weathered 3 weeks in the hospital and has come out stronger and feeling positive. Cindi believes your mental attitude is critical in the healing process.
"I feel very young. I’m lucky to have found a passion I love." - Cindi Elstien
With Covid waning, she is now ready to fully get back to the business of helping people. A long career working in human resources, and for various insurance brokers, led her to open her own company, People by CFE in 2020. Her company provides HR consulting. As a licensed property & casualty and life & health insurance agent, she is qualified to review and recommend group health benefit plans that enhance total rewards for employees within an organization. She has relationships with insurance brokers who collaborate with her to make recommendations for the client and place coverages with the insurance companies.
Cindi Elstien is known for sharing friends and offering resources to mentor others needing help. Upbeat and generous, she easily interweaves professional and personal relationships. She believes companies must build a foundation of respect, cultural diversity, and inclusion.
Connect with Cindi:
Email: cindi@peoplebyCFE.com
Website: https://www.peoplebyCFE.com
“Brain-Boosting Nutrients are key to real-time, real-world approaches to maintaining and improving health.”
Dr. Patricia Walicke is a 40 year veteran in neuroscience. She earned her MD from Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology program and her PhD from the Harvard Dept. of Neuroscience. Her primary area was Alzheimer's disease research under Dr. Robert Katzman.
In 1989 she started a clinical neurology practice where participation in clinical research sparked a new passion related to the development of medications. Subsequently, she joined the biotechnology industry working to develop medications in several different areas.
An important author of book chapters and papers, Dr. Walicke also holds 3 patents. Since 2017, she has lived in Sedona AZ, and maintains a small wellness coaching practice. Feeling that drug development had become complex and expensive she turned her studies to inexpensive interventions such as food, nutrition, and natural supplements.
Dr. Walicke is now on the scientific advisory board of Blue Lake, where she serves as an expert in beta-caryophyllene (BCP) and phosphatidylserine (PS) both found to support memory and brain function.
She also carefully monitors studies around the world to capture trends in dementia disease and Alzheimer's. Dr. Walicke is a strong proponent of the 6 Pillars of Memory approach advocated by Blue Lake and the use of their memory chocolates.
Connect with Dr. Patricia Walicke:
Website: https://bluelakeminds.com
Janie Petkus is an internationally renowned interior designer. She works in all aspects of design including architectural plans, lighting and landscape. Her love for this work oozes out of her.
Janie’s mother, and Doris Day were both role models and inspirations for her to pursue this career. She served as President of the Illinois Chapter of the International Society of Interior Designers (ISID) and, later, was Vice-president of finance for the International Society. She has participated in many designer showcases and housewalks over the years, all to benefit charities. Janie also had a show on HGTV for a number of years.
"Younger people keep your mind alive & alert." - Janie Petkus
But life has been tricky. Her beloved husband of 44 years, passed away suddenly of a rare disease at the age of 67. He was Janie’s closest friend for all those years and he deliberately retired young to become her partner in her business. The story of how she learned to be on her own, maintaining the business and her family, is one worth listening to. This is a woman who loves life, experimenting with new ways of being, and developing friendships with all ages.
Connect with Janie:
Email: janie@janiepetkus.com
Frances Fuller grew up in poverty. All of her books belonged to the state of Arkansas. Her mother had a 4th grade education. It is a wonder, then, that Frances became a writer and publisher and left a legacy in the form of an entire body of literature in Arabic, for Arabic children.
From an early age, Frances was a devotee of the American columnist, Ernie Pyle. Committing to a lifetime of missionary work in Lebanon and Jordan combined her two loves: the Christian faith and journalism.
Initially, she worked with groups of Americans as their press representative, and reported to America what was happening in Beirut. Soon, she purchased a small publishing house and produced children’s curricula. On one of her furloughs home, she determined to teach others how to write so that the curricula could be produced in Arabic by Arabs for the Muslim world. That was when decided she had to know what the process of writing was in order to teach Arabs how to write. She earned her Master’s degree in English and then returned.
Author of 2 books, we spoke extensively with Frances about her recent memoir.
Takeaways:
- Children thrive in uncertain circumstances when they believe in your passion for your work.
- Journalism is a tool with which to do many things.
- Life during wartime in Lebanon was chaotic, but manageable.
Connect with Frances Fuller:
Email: frances0516@att.net
Website: https://inborrowedhouseslebanon.com
Blog: https://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com/blog/
Books: In Borrowed Houses: A True Story of Love and Faith Amidst War in Lebanon
Helping Yourself Grow Old: Things I Said to Myself When I Was Almost NinetyConnect with Gail & Catherine:
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Vinyls are Couch Covers: Improv & Long-Term Care Insurance!
Quote: Life can be so hard when you believe Medicare insurance covers you and it does not.
Gail Steingold is a go-getter whose life contains a lot of improvisation. From clinical speech pathology to long term care insurance, learning and laughing have been her constant companions. It makes sense when your work is serious and deals so much with feelings.
When Gail transitioned to selling long-term care insurance she took up improv to satisfy her love of theater and performance. And, to reduce the frustration she feels because of the numerous misconceptions older people have about what Medicare covers. Gail will tell you the optimal age to get Long-Term Care insurance is when you are healthy and between 45-65. She is known for the depth of her knowledge of the everchanging LTC insurance marketplace. Her clients are the recipients of her experience, contacts and empathetic approach and commitment to designing a plan that meets their needs and challenges of the extended long term care event.
CONNECT WITH GAIL:
Company: Burling Insurance Group
Website: https://www.bigltc.com/
Email: steingold@bigltc.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-steingold-ms-ltcp-cltc-007b763/
For the last 32 years, Louise reinvented herself many times. After her husband died when she was 44, she realized she had never lived on her own. Two big questions arose: “Why am I here?”. “What am I supposed to do with my life?”. Through coursework, metaphysics and hypnotherapy, she slowly found her way. Always the extrovert, she learned to tone down her enthusiasm and take time to listen. Today she helps baby boomers who experience loss - of careers, of soulmates, and illness.
Louise has had many titles in her life: Queen of Networking, Candy Lady, Lady Farmer. The one she cherishes most is Lady Lou, the Baby Boomer Babe. If she could, she would tell every younger person, “Be more awake - be aware of the possibilities.”
The future is wide open. I’m excited there are still so many discoveries to make and so many new ways to help people. - Louise Dewey
Connect with Louise:
Email: TexasLadyLou1@gmail.com
Text: 281-406-1092
Susan Stall, Ph.D. CREATIVE HOUSING OPTIONS for the MISSING MIDDLE
In 1985, sociologist and activist Dr. Susan Stall designed and taught a college course entitled Gender and the Built Environment: Redesigning the American Dream. Since then, her scholarship and activism have expanded to innovations in housing that center on affordability, design, and the capacity for community building. She highlights the ‘missing middle’--those who are neither poor nor rich-- whose housing needs tend to be ignored. Susan describes ‘age-friendly living’ options such as co-housing, cooperative housing, shared housing, and accessory dwelling units.
stallsusan@gmail.org
www.oakparkcohousing.org
Elaine Soloway writes “because it’s therapeutic for me and can be helpful to others.” Although her stories are deeply personal, Elaine considers the themes to be universal. She tackles, for example, ageism, care giving, joint replacement, pet friends; housing options; Jewishness; solo living. She is proud of her adult children’s production of the TV series, Transparent--a fictional portrayal based on their family life--for shining a realistic and positive light on transgender. Currently, Elaine is writing opinion pieces along with hosting two book groups: unrecognized history of racism and Jewish Women Writers. Foregoing embarrassment, Elaine is learning to swim, speak Spanish, and play piano--aspirations from long ago. And she proudly owns her age--83.
" None of my secrets are so different from anyone else’s." - Elaine Soloway
Contact Information:
elainesoloway@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/elainesoloway
www.elainesoloway.com see Elaine’s writing--
- Books, available for purchase at Women & Children First Bookstore; and Amazon
- Op-eds
- Blogs
Jill Stewart honed her talents in public relations and writing for more than 20 years as founder and head of her own PR firm that was committed to “issues that matter.” She and her teams were there in the early stages of the AIDS epidemic and the end-of-life options movement. Most recently, Jill and her husband teamed up to produce a three-part series, Hidden History: Understanding the Origins of Racial Inequity.
In her second career as communications faculty at DePaul University, Jill has approached teaching professional writing as an essential skill for communications students to level the playing field in their career advancement. Turning 70 has gotten Jill’s attention – to being even more intentional about using her time, energy and resources in ways that suit her best.
"Throughout my communications career, I have been drawn to promoting social causes." - Jill O’Mahony Stewart
Contact Information:
Email: jill@stewcommltd.com
Twitter: @jillostewart
YouTube: Hidden History – Understanding the Origins of Racial Inequity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78PmjkSEpnw
Growing up with a schizophrenic mother, experiencing violence most of her young life, and surviving breast cancer all contribute to Lin’s mantra: Resilience | Decisiveness | Courage.
25 different careers, first corporate and then entrepreneurial, made Lin unstoppable. And, today, she continues to be a trailblazer.
“People fight change. I am always willing to pivot and change.” - Lin O'Neill
Lin pays tribute to her grandmother, the wisest woman she knew in her life. This woman saved her and helped her build the skills necessary to overcome her upbringing. Listening to Lin’s story of personal and professional accomplishment is a testimonial to women’s journeys.
CONNECT WITH LIN:
Email: Lin@ONeill.enterprises
URL: https://oneill.enterprises
Frances “Poppy” Northcutt gained national fame as the first and only woman in NASA’s mission control room working on the Apollo Program. Poppy and her team designed the Return-to-Earth trajectory that took the Apollo 8 crew around the Moon and back to Earth. She worked on missions 10-13 and helped retrieve the Apollo 13 astronauts after their mid-flight disaster. After cuts in the space program, Poppy continued her advocacy for women’s rights as a felony prosecutor in a domestic violence unit. Now in semi-retirement, Poppy’s advocacy is focused on reproductive justice, as the attorney for Jane’s Due Process, providing legal services to pregnant teen-age girls. She holds leadership positions with NOW, nationally and in the state of Texas.
I’ve always been involved with something that has to do with an equal state for women. - Frances "Poppy" Northcutt
Email: poppynor@gmail.com
Twitter: @poppy_northcutt
https://now.org/wp-content/poppy_northcutt.mp4 49 years after the passing of Roe-vs Wade.
Martha Holstein passed away on November 24, 2021. We are releasing her episode to honor Martha's lasting contributions to women aging.
Dr. Holstein, a vocal advocate for women aging, speaks both to individuals and the larger politic. She urges women to own their age—if you are old, acknowledge it. Live by your norms, not those for people far younger: Intergenerational conversations are important. Dr. Holstein raises awareness of how differentials concerning race, class, religion, and sexual identity affect the problems we encounter and the choices available for how we age and live. Individual solutions are insufficient; political-systemic answers are needed to remedy ills around aging, especially aging women. If we don’t accept and respect our age, how will we identify those problems associated with being old and work toward resolving them?
The personal is political–ageism and social disparities inhibit women from making meaningful choices of how to live well while aging. – Martha Holstein, Ph.D.Watch: Martha Holstein: Own Your Age
Contact Information:Mbholstein360@gmail.com
Holstein, M. (2015). Women in Late Life: Critical Perspectives on Gender and Age. Rowman & Littlefield.
Connect with Gail and Catherine:Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Talking with Bindy Bitterman is full of laughter and humor. She recently published her first children’s book, Skiddley, Diddley, Skat, a beautifully illustrated limerick and has returned to frequently writing limericks to the delight of all who know her. Even as a full time business woman, owning and running an antique store in Evanston IL, Bindy was successful because her customers knew they would feel better after shopping there.
As she gets ready to turn 91, Bindy is grateful for finding a retirement community that adores her sense of play. Never bored, never at a lack for friendship and fun, she thrives on living, playing and creating.
"I can’t figure out how I got to be 90. It seems my sense of humor and play have developed since I’ve retired and moved to a retirement community." - Bindy Bitterman
https://video.wttw.com/video/childrens-author-bindy-bitterman-writing-limericks-aufkbw/
Connect with Bindy:
Website: BindysVerses.com
Email: Bindy@eurekaevanston.com
Book: Skiddley Diddley Skat - Children’s Book
Available at (temporarily out of stock until early February, 2022) :
Unabridged Book Store, Lake View
Booked, Evanston
Book Stall, Winnetka
Book Cellar, Chicago
Town House Books, St. Charles
See Bindy’s interview on Chicago Tonight
Email: Bindy@eurekaevanston.com
Sandra Whitmore, age 73 from Brevard NC, couldn’t wait to grow up so she could travel--to 33 countries, 17 Caribbean islands, and on 45 cruises (and still counting). Twenty years ago, she was new to community theatre, working her way from stage manager to lead roles. After Sandra was widowed at age 68, she pursued online dating and married date #17, Steve, in October 2021. This commitment required private lessons in ballroom dancing. Bored during the pandemic, Sandra pursued two ventures which required extensive new learning. She has written over 70 travel blogs under the moniker, Silver Voyager. In February 2021, she launched a YouTube channel, Sandy Over 70. “Getting in front of the camera is like being on stage and I love it!” Her next adventure is moving with Steve to a continuing care retirement community in North Carolina, after returning from their dance cruise.
If I can imagine it, I can make it happen. - Sandra Whitmore
Contact Information
Email: sanwhitrn@yahoo.com
YouTube: YouTube.com/c/SandyOver70
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandyOver70
At every stage and turning point in her life, Marcia Whitney-Schenck asks herself, “What could I do? How might I think about this?” Each of her undertakings is underlined by a creative spirit that, she believes, is the essence of all humanity. Witty, direct and compelling, Marcia shares stories from her youth, a 9-month stay in Northern Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and life as she experiences it today.
Writer and multimedia artist, Marcia began her career as a journalist and worked in public relations. She founded a magazine, Christianity & The Arts and was its editor for 8 years. All of her work calls upon the spiritual, including her novel, Tryptych. Today her art centers on finding the humanity in ancient figures and reinterpreting them visually to be accessible in our modern lives.
Recently, Marcia has tiptoed into the subject of dementia through her art and has also created a philosophy of life she names H.E.A.L.
"The written word and visual arts help us maintain our enthusiasm despite the pain of humanity." - Marcia Whitney-Schenck
Connect with Marcia:
Email: marciawhitney-schenck@gmail.com
Website: marciawhitney-schenck.com
Her Book: Triptych - available on Amazon.
Ricki (mchealthy) McKenna is an entrepreneur, author and functional certified nutritionist who believes healthy eating is the key to a vibrant life. She started her business in Colorado by visiting farmers’ markets to buy ingredients for soup, building an inventory of 12 different ones and selling them to her nutrition clients and the public. Today, Ricki’s Kitchen-PAN-tuitive Cooking is a well-known show on YouTube (found at USA GLOBAL TV - THE UNITED KITCHENS) and she is a favorite on various TV programs.
"I bring the spirit of life and healthy living into everything I do. Life is good." - Ricki Mckenna
Continuously reinventing herself, Ricki chefs for seniors, bikes, and loves to play pickleball. She believes aging is an attitude and works at helping other seniors eat their way to a healthy, energetic, joyful life. Laughter and fun are her middle names.
Connect with Ricki:
Email: ricki@rickimckenna.com
Website: https://rickiskitchen.net
EBook: Ebook, “YES YOU CAN EAT WELL and EAT RIGHT and Find the Joy of Cooking." A quick Guide to Stretching your food dollar. Available at https://Patreon.com/rickimchealthy
Vanessa Kettler has danced all her life. She became an exercise coach 20 years ago and now focuses on older people so they, too, can experience a higher quality of life as they age. Feelings of fear, depression, anxiety and stress can be controlled through a continuing active lifestyle, including exercise, stretching and breathing.
A specific regime is to move for 5 minutes every ½ hour and exercise daily for 30 minutes. Vanessa assures us that optimum muscle strength and bone health will be your reward.
We do not have to accept the traditional, less active path older people think is inevitable. I still dance at 78 because I follow my own approach. After a severe fall causing a broken shoulder and wrist, I regained full motion in only 4 months.
Connect with Vanessa:
Website: https://building-better-balance.com
DVDs available for purchase
Karen Bennett, from Baltimore MD, entered adulthood in the 1960s among
Beatniks and ‘starving’ artists. After leaving art studies and a first marriage, as a mother of three, Karen became a nurse practitioner working in correctional
institutions, including Riker’s Island, NYC jail. Her first fiction writing drew on
her experience with women’s prisons, where “the extraordinary soon becomes the ordinary.” Since 2006, Karen’s life adventures and misadventures have nourished her fiction writing about an array of other topics--travel, choir, horses, ballet. Karen’s quest is to publish as many of her books as possible, while she is still on the “moving sidewalk of life.”
Contact Information:
Email: karen.s.bennett@gmail.com
Website: https://www.karensbennett.com
Publications:
Beautiful Horseflesh (2021). Apprentice House Press.
The Farewell Tour (2019). Available on Amazon.
Sue Smith’s life has educated her as much as she educates others in her position as teacher, trainer and consultant, first for middle school children, and then 30 years for Keep America Beautiful. Sue recently retired from KAB. The love in her voice as she recounts the exciting career she had with them is reason enough to listen.
For a woman who had a 50-year love affair with her husband, you wouldn’t detect that he recently died from the stories she shares. This is a person who, as she says, was lucky enough to find her passion and purpose living alongside a partner and children who supported her every step of the way. Sue’s positive attitude reigns supreme, allowing her to face new challenges and make an impact on everyone she serves.
"What are the odds that a Michigan farm girl would visit Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand and teach litter prevention, improving recycling and beautification, overseas and throughout the United States?" - Sue Smith
Connect with Sue:
Email: sue@preventlitter.org
Phone: 312-933-9709
Keep America Beautiful: https://kab.org/
Ilene’s life is colorful and eventful. Overcoming her own fear and anger has allowed her to experience adventure in unique and satisfying ways. Author, social worker and host of Full Power Living for 12 years, she now lives primarily in an RV and continues to coach 1 day a week. In an earlier life she spent 5 years on a houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle.
At 30, Ilene asked herself, “Is it possible to put anger under one’s own direction?” After two decades, she declared herself a self-proclaimed recovered angry person. Then she asked “Is it also possible to curtail fear in my life?” Indeed, it was. The focus of her career moved to working with people to understand and take control of their debilitating emotions. Isolating emotions in this way became a new field which emerged because emotions had not been investigated separately from diagnoses of mental illness.
Connect with Ilene:
Email: ilene@emotionalpro.com
Website: https://emotionalpro.com
Book: Emotions in Motion: Mastering Life’s Built-in Navigation System
Book: The Wellness Universe Guide to Complete Self-Care: 25 Tools for Stress Relief
Create diverse communities and better the lives of all people. This one sentence perfectly describes Margo Morris, 78. The communities themselves were diverse: corporate America, education, Lincoln Park Zoo, Garfield Park Conservatory and other non-profits, and in each one she worked to engage a broader swath of American life.
Margo retired 13 years ago and returned to an earlier love: art, settling on figurative art in water media. Recently she became widowed and now plans to move to an independent senior community to start a new chapter in her life.
Margo believed aging was just getting wrinkles. As she ages it's become clear that aging is so much more. She has a strong sense of humor and as you listen you will hear it in everything she says.
Once I accepted that everyone has to die, I felt relieved. No one gets the privilege of not dying. - Margo Morris
Connect with Margo:
Email: margomorrisco@gmail.com
Dr. Jane Traies, from Brighton, England, has lived through defining moments of LGBTQ+ history. In her late-60s, Jane earned a Ph.D. in Gender Studies from the University of Sussex. For the past ten years, Jane has devoted her writing career to documenting oral and life history about the lives of older Lesbian women. Jane describes herself as “an old historian [who] is putting my generation back on the map” through speaking and writing. She is an advocate for the Lesbian Immigrant Support Group, a grassroots organization that offers support to lesbian and bi women seeking asylum from the violent homophobia of their home countries. Jane’s latest book, Free To Be Me, features experiences of immigrant women in the UK.
Contact Information
Email: jane.traies@gmail.com
Books by Jane Traies
Free To Be Me (2021)
Now You See Me: Lesbian Life Stories (2018)
The Lives of Older Lesbians: Sexuality, Identity, and the Life Course (2016)
How do you describe a woman, in a few short paragraphs, whose passions are so numerous, her curiosity endless, and her life filled with joy in all she pursues? This is Dr. Linda Seger. Never satisfied to only do, Linda seeks the best teachers in each of her endeavors. She has learned not to put age in the equation or live her life with regrets. She says: When you feel the need to do something, do it right away. Flow with it. Find joy in it.
Linda looks at social justice from the female point of view. She studied at the seminary to see if creativity and spirituality are connected and took apart words in the bible to answer the question: “What do these words mean for us as artists?”
You become memorable because you applaud everybody and find joy in the mere doing of all you decide to pursue. - Dr. Linda Seger
Connect With Linda:
Email: lseger@aol.com
Website: https://lindaseger.com
Her Books on Screenwriting - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=linda+seger+making+a+good+script+great&crid=1YLCBQ7C1A5M1&sprefix=Linda+Seger%2Caps%2C167&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_4_11
Most Recent Book: God’s Part in our Art: Making Friends With the Creative Spirit
https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Part-Our-Art-Creative/dp/1737798204/ref=sr_1_18?crid=1YLCBQ7C1A5M1&keywords=linda+seger+making+a+good+script+great&qid=1637346417&sprefix=Linda+Seger%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-18
Childhood friends, Iris Goldfein and Monica Israel, are both highly accomplished professionals in male saturated fields, who approached retirement with apprehension and excitement. They co-founded DefyingGravity.life in 2018 with the mission to “cultivate new norms and create new pathways through engaging conversation and expert advice” regarding the transition to life after a career. Iris and Monica discuss their own retirement challenges and encourage women to defy the weights of both societal and personal judgments. They want women to be the writers of their own stories and to have purpose however the individual defines it. DefyingGravity.life offers its members webinars, a Resource Library, Newsletters and an online forum for ongoing conversations.
"Our vision for DefyingGravity.life is to solve a feminist crisis." - Monica and Iris
Contact information:
www.DefyingGravity.life
irisgoldfein@defyinggravity.life
monicaisrael@defyinggravity.life
Many know Karen Grassle as ‘Ma’ on the hit TV series, Little House on the Prairie. She is also an actress of stage and film and now a published author with her memoir (Nov 2021) Bright Lights, Prairie Dust. Meet the real Karen Grassle who talks openly about her struggles with alcoholism, depression, and lack of self-worth during her journeys as a dedicated artist. Karen is also known for her advocacy on behalf of equality for women. She was an early advocate for the ERA, co-wrote and starred in the TV film, Battered, and influenced Congress to fund shelters for women victims of domestic violence. Karen lives peacefully in the hills of San Francisco Bay where she takes pleasure in writing and connecting with family and friends.
Book/memoir: Grassle, K. (2021, Nov). Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss and Love from Little House’s Ma
Website: www.karengrassle.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.grassle
Instagram: @karen_grassle
Publicist: megan@meganbeatie.com
Within us all are stories to tell that are relevant and essential. Dara Marks, international script consultant, lecturer, author and workshop presenter has always been fascinated by story.
Her newest book and seminar, Inside Story, takes you into the depths of the writing process and teaches you how to build a great screenplay from the inside out. She guides us to see ourselves in the archetypal patterns of mythological characters, leading to a deeper understanding of how we grow as we move through our own stories.
“If you want to create character in your stories, look at how your own character was created. How you faced the challenges in your life has created the true quality of your character.” - Dara Marks
Connect with Dara:
Email: Dara@DaraMarks.com
Website: https://DaraMarks.com
Book: Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc
New Seminar: Inside Story:
Pamela Tate, age 75, did not foresee becoming a full-time volunteer leader
of climate reality actions at grass roots and national levels. As a member of the Climate Reality
Project-Chicago Metro Chapter, Pam co-chairs the Task Force on Electrifying Public Transit. In
two years, they engineered a commitment from the Pace suburban bus system to change from
diesel-powered buses to an all-electric bus fleet by 2040. At the federal level, Pam is on the
Regenerative Agriculture Team which targets working with legislators and agricultural
committees in the House and Senate to include RA incentives in the 2023 Farm Bill. She chairs
the Federal Advocacy Team to retain climate provisions in the Build Back Better Act. Pam is an
elected member of the Board of Directors of American Forests, a national non-profit that
promotes trees as one of the best technologies for pulling down carbon from the atmosphere.
Pam’s advocacy includes many more teams and pilot projects in her quest for a healthier
planet.
Pam presents to college classes, companies, and community groups on the climate crisis and
effective strategies for change. Contact Pam at: pam@pamelatate1.com
"My climate action efforts range from electrification of public transit to
regenerative agriculture to forestation in urban areas." - Pamela Tate
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Ina Pinkney contracted polio 11 years before there was a vaccine, at the early age of 18 months. Marginalized, ostracized and ignored as a child she felt she received a 2nd chance at life when the surgery she had at 6 proved successful. Expecting to die, instead she flourished, and has lived an extraordinary life as culinary artist, baker, breakfast restaurateur, cookbook publisher and world renowned speaker about global influences on breakfast.
Experiencing mind-numbing exhaustion and muscle weakness 40 years after the onset of the disease led Ina to find answers. She attended a conference to learn more and was surprised to find a huge community that was experiencing what is now known as Post-Polio Syndrome. As only Ina does, she dove in and became an activist. She is an international spokesperson for Rotary International PolioPlus Foundation and speaks about the late effects of polio and the need for continued vaccinations.
“It takes less energy to be courageous than it does to be afraid.”
This Episode was Sponsored by The Insurance People
It is Medicare Open Enrollment. Open Enrollment is October 15th - December 7th. Do you need help enrolling? Do you want to shop out your Medicare Supplement, Part D Medication or Medicare Advantage Plan? The Insurance People located here in Illinois specializes in helping folks shop and select the best Medicare option for their needs. You can find them at insuranceppl.com or 773-697-8082.
Connect with Ina:
Email: thebreakfastqueen@gmail.com
Book: INA’S KITCHEN: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=INA%E2%80%99S+KITCHEN%3A+Memories+and+Recipes+from+the+Breakfast+Queen&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
Documentary: Breakfast at Ina’s (on Amazon)
Pauline Coffman’s early involvement in youth ministry evolved into justice ministry during her 20+ years as an advocate for peace and justice in the Middle East. Her first visit to Lebanon was as a student in 1959; her next visit to countries in the Middle East was in 1999 as a peace advocate. During the intervening years, Pauline learned to “see both sides of the story” through talking with immigrant rights activist Cesar Chavez in 1962; serving churches, with her husband, in neighborhoods in two states that were undergoing major racial changes in the 1960-70s; feminizing language in hymns and scriptures while Dean of Students at a theological seminary; and creating hospitable environments for adult learners in higher education institutions. Then, as now, Pauline is unafraid to “buck the prevailing world view.” At age 82, she is rejuvenated by working with committed colleagues to build networks between Israel and Palestine.
During my decades of advocating for peace and justice in the Middle East, I have learned to hear both sides of the story.
Octogenarian Pat Anderson, 89, retired from her lifelong career as a textile studio craftsman - spinning, knitting, sewing and weaving. Leaving her daughter in charge of the studio, she embarked on an unusual retirement project: creating and providing hand-knit prosthetics for mastectomy breast cancer survivors.
As a lifelong textile studio craftsman, Pat was well versed in the legal, professional, and ethical challenges this project presented. Once everything was in place she filed a copyright. We could see the excitement in her when she proclaimed, “To date, 1500 pairs have been lovingly gifted, from one survivor to another.” 60% of all recipients offer to join the project as co-sponsors with donations. Each pair of Busters that goes out is paid for. At the end of the year there is a surplus which Pat generously donates to the Breast Cancer Support Program at Sharp Memorial Hospital in California.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Women Over 70 has committed to donating 20% of all contributions we receive to the Busters Project during the month of October. Contributions are the only form of funding for this important project.
“We are blessed to know that we are really creating something that has a positive impact on someone else’s life.”
Connect with Pat:
Email: spinshuttlestudio@gmail.com
Karla Klinger, age 87, has been a poet much of her life. However, until now, most of her work has been shared privately. As an early podcast guest, Karla read This Particular Dot in Time. This penetrating poem is the last entry in her first published poetry collection, Life Unfolding (2021). Karla unravels her ‘emotional truths’ throughout girlhood to old age. Interspersed between sections of poems are photos of Karla’s pottery, which she continues to create and teach to others. In her episode, Karla shares highlights from her research on the experiences of vital women in their 70s. She reflects on her own experience of aging into her 80s. Karla expresses appreciation for often being able to act through choice than obligation; for example, moving with her husband from a home and community of 54 years to a hospitable independent living facility in Portland, OR.
I am a museum of myriad images, a spectrum of emotions, cares, and commitments.
Connect with Karla:
klingerk@hometownsolutions.net
Life Unfolding: Poems by Karla Klinger. Zion Publishing, 2021.
Available only on-line in paperback from Amazon and in hard cover from Barnes and Noble. Or in quantity, at discount, contact the author at: poemsbykarla@gmail.com
Marva has worked in nursing, real estate, business brokerage and more. Married in 1969 at 22, she raised 3 children, has 9 grandchildren, all of whom live nearby, and believes satisfaction comes from within. For the last 18 years, Marva has satisfied her desire to be closer to her Methodist faith. As Episcopal Secretary for the Bishop in the Northern Conference, she manages 385 churches, the Bishop’s calendar and a myriad of other administrative duties. Planning to work 2-3 more years, she suspects she won’t completely retire and plans to return to real estate.
As a younger person she did not enjoy much independence and encourages women to be more independent and learn to make decisions on their own.
I rarely sit still. I have to be in some type of helping the situation. - Marva Andrews
Connect with Marva:
Email: marva.andrews@gmail.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Itunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, and IHeartRadio
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Ellen’s mother died at 101. Like her mother, Ellen’s current life path is filled with enthusiasm and enrichment. She is fueled by the strong community that is the Docent Volunteers of the Chicago Architecture Center.
Even before becoming a docent (certified in 25 different tours), Ellen pursued one path after another that led to her interests in historic preservation and the rich heritage that is Chicagoland architecture. For many years she worked for the Metropolitan Planning Council, wrote 4 books and volunteered for the Glencoe Historical Society, thrilled to be part of the group that saved a Frank Lloyd Wright home that is now turning into a museum in Glencoe.
-“As my mother said, You are not even old until you are at least 85.” - Ellen Shubart
Connect with Ellen:
Email: eshubart@aol.com
Books: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ellen+shubart&i=stripbooks&crid=2DQB30RJ7GBC1&sprefix=Ellen+Shubar%2Caps%2C174&ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_12_ts-doa-p
- Glencoe Illinois: Images of America
- Taylor Street: Chicago’s Little Italy
- What’s With Chicago?: The Quirks, Personality and Charm of the Windy City
- Chicago: An Illustrated Timeline
Donna Lawrence was happily living life until the unspeakable death of her son, at age 20, from a brain seizure. Through the Main Street Entrepreneurs, Matters Cafe and Laughter Yoga, Donna discovered ‘it’s an amazing thing when you realize you can go on’. The color pink helped boost her spirits and, today, she surrounds herself with pink through painting, clothing, decor, and helping others find their pink passion.
Painting is therapeutic - it puts you in a zone and improves your focus. Through her company, ItPinkPainting, she guides others to create custom-designed items that are painted pink.
“I don’t think much about aging; I think of it as maturity. Stay connected with positive people and you can find the good in anything.” - Donna Lawrence
Connect with Donna:
Email: itpinkpainting@gmail.com
Worldwide traveler and former teacher at Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Art, Ingrid is an established and well-known artist, specializing in watermedia. From florals to petroglyphs, pictographs and hand-made paper making influenced by her travels, Ingrid is inspired by how light and shadow create unusual perspectives.
“My experiences are what help me see and paint what I do today.” - Ingrid Albrecht
Still learning today, she says “Covid taught me to be an artist!” From her studio she offers ‘Open Studio’ workshops, keeps reimagining art and loves sharing the wealth of information she has amassed with the world.
Connect with Ingrid:
Website: https://ingridsartoriginals.com
Email: ingrid@ingridsartoriginals.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Itunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher,and IHeartRadio
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Dynamic duo – mother, Marg Graham, 91, and daughter Karen Graham, 61, discuss diabetes and nutrition, public health and the importance of proactive aging. They settled in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada after living in various countries, including Nairobi, Kenya.
The two Grahams believe in health advocacy. Karen, a 3-time author and Registered Dietitian is best known for her published work: Diabetes Meals for Good Health Cookbook, coauthored with endocrinologist Dr. Mansur Shomali. Marg worked as a registered nurse with an emphasis on geriatrics.
“Take small steps at every age to maintain your metabolism.” - Karen Graham
Connect with Karen:
Email: karen@diabetesbooks.ca
Website: https://www.diabetesbooks.ca
Marg can be reached through Karen.
Marilou Eldred, Ph.D., was called to serve others as a young girl. She devoted ten years as a nun with a teaching order and, upon leaving the convent, embarked on her journey as an educator. Marilou has held top level leadership positions in higher education for women, including President of Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. After retirement, she was called to philanthropy, serving as President of Catholic Community Foundation in St. Paul, MN. Now in her second retirement, Marilou volunteers with the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis, where she is a strategic planning consultant with parishes in Minnesota. Volunteering is a way of life for Marilou which includes a host of civic, charitable and church work, usually in leadership roles. She and her husband, a former priest, have been married for 47 years and have a daughter in her early 40s. Marilou is writing a memoir about her remarkable life’s passages.
"I strive to empower others to be and do their best." - Marilou Eldred, Ph.D.
Contact Information:
Mariloueldred@gmail.com
Many people fear change. Not Leni! She has traveled the world, moved from city to country and back again, many times. Leni began her career as a teacher and discovered that teaching is about influencing changing behavior. So is sales. Joining Xerox for its training and development, she worked there for 3 years. Then, on to insurance, real estate, selling her beaded jewelry, and recently, joining ASP purification Systems.
Leni is fearless and looks forward to being 80 and 95. Her best relationship was at 72, so what can be next?
“Health is a priority for me. Change is what keeps me going.” - Leni Garfunkel
Shirley Holm, age 70, has learned to adjust and thrive to life’s unexpected turns using three anchors: family and friends; education; and active engagement in what matters. After experiencing devasting deaths of her mother, best friend, and husband, Shirley supported her young family teaching in the St. Paul public schools. “Teaching, next to parenting, is the best thing I’ve done in my life.” Although a “Lifelong Minnesotan,” Shirley’s sabbatical in California turned into permanent residency in San Francisco. Shirley’s approach to life-as-adventure includes the quest to “experience” all U.S. national parks. For any life quest: “Why not? What are the true barriers to doing something that you want?”
There are no guarantees; we’d better have our priorities and support systems in place. - Shirley Holm
Contact information:
shirleymayholm@gmail.com
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Mary Kemmer was born in Sheboygan Wisconsin, lived in Chicago for almost 20 years and currently lives in Arlington Va.
Her professional background spanned 30+ years in Human Resource with a focus on Leadership Development and Executive Coaching.
A woman of purpose and learning, Mary serves on two Advisory Boards at Georgetown University Medical Center, The Drs. Speak Out program and Partners in Research. She is also enrolled in her fifth semester at Georgetown’s Mini-Medical School!
Four years ago Mary created the Art of Aging discussion group for individuals 70 years+. Mary enjoys entertaining, traveling, and participating in multiple book clubs.
These activities keep her brain alive, stimulated, curious and active.
"Health, exercise and diet contribute to proactive aging. I never feel or think ‘elderly’." - Mary Kemmer
CONNECT WITH MARY:
Email:
ArtofAging70@gmail.com
Contact: Mary at ArtofAging70@gmail.com
to receive a copy of her Art of Aging Guide.
For over 50 years, Peg Cruikshank has challenged mainstream thinking about women-- in particular, about lesbians and women growing old. Now retired from Women’s Studies at the University of Maine, Peg serves as an Associate at The Maine Center on Aging. She is the author of award-winning, groundbreaking books: Learning To Be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging (2003/2013) and The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement (1992). Peg discusses misconceptions and stereotypes about women aging; she proposes we think creatively and constructively about ‘learning how to age.’ Peg also reflects on how experiencing a stroke 15 months ago is shaping her own realities of health and aging.
Contact Information:
pegcruikshank94@gmail.com
Books by Peg Cruikshank
Cruikshank, M. (2013). Learning To Be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging, 3rd ed. Rowman & Littlefield.
Cruikshank, M. (Ed.) (2016). Fierce with Reality: Literature on Aging, Rev. Ed. Hamilton Books.
Cruikshank, M. (1992). The Gay and Lesbian Movement. Routledge.
Jean Ann Durades, age 89, from Minneapolis, MN., says that in early adulthood, she didn’t imagine what her life would be like. In retrospect, teaching is the thread throughout her career as a schoolteacher, social worker, and for 27 years, as a trainer and field consultant with the YMCA. In 1970, Jean Ann was the first African American woman to become a field consultant with the YMCA; in 2019, she was inducted into the YMCA Hall of Fame. Jean Ann has long been involved in cultural, civic and change-making activities. She is a facilitator and community member with Restorative Justice Community Action and a mentor to young people. As a tour guide with the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Jean Ann has helped to expand representation of African American artists and other artists of color. She has collected art for over 60 years and enjoyed a passion for art, dance, music and theatre. Also, for the past 60 years, Jean Ann has pursued downhill skiing, a passion that has taken her to every continent except Antarctica.
I respect that everyone looks at the world through their own lens. - Jean Ann Durades
Contact: duradesja@gmail.com
This week, we’re celebrating the125th episode of Women Over 70– Aging Reimagined. In this episode of Get Real, Gail and Catherine share what they have learned as they reshape the conversation around women aging. Find out what’s next for the podcast and the ever growing community. Thank you for listening!
“At Women Over 70–Aging Reimagined we make it our mission for all women over 70 to be seen and heard” - Catherine & Gail
Invite Gail and Catherine to speak at your event or for your organization on creative and courageous ways to reimagine aging.
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Lauren Coodley’s 35-year career involved fighting the educational establishment to legitimize Women’s Studies and to teach using feminist pedagogy. She was profoundly successful with female and male students alike. Yet, Lauren was forced to retire from her tenured position at age 60 due to misogyny and ageism, as well as her activist career. Lauren’s work as an historian includes a textbook on California history and a trilogy on the history of Napa Valley. She has spent decades striving to promote Upton Sinclair as a male feminist and strong ally of women’s rights--most recently in her 2013 biography. Lauren’s published poems, The Same River Twice, came out in 2018. Recently, she has written poems about her treatment for ovarian cancer, currently in remission. Lauren reads for us On Losing My Female Organs. “I am outraged about the epidemic of cancer in women,” Lauren says; “and grateful to be alive.”
The world is a dangerous place for women and girls.- Lauren Coodley
Contact Information
Email: lcoodley@hotmail.com
Website: laurencoodley.com [see publications: non-fiction history, biography, and poetry] including:
Upton Sinclair: California Socialist, Celebrity Intellectual (2013). University of Nebraska Press.
Lost Napa Valley (2021). Arcadia Publishing.
Nancy Hunter loves adventure. As the first Affirmative Action Officer for Harris Bank (now Bank of Montreal), she helped forge a path for women and minorities to rise in the ranks. After a move to First Chicago (now Chase Bank) and 30 years in banking, she opened her own consultancy a year before her husband tragically died by suicide at the age of 59.
4 years later Nancy sold her business and moved to Paris for 6 months. She has traveled to 7 continents, sharing many of her trips with friends and family. Having no children of her own, her god-children, nieces and nephews are an important part of her life. “In this stage, I want to have fun, bring joy to others.” She continues to be relevant, just in a different way. And, be careful, she might just send you a surprise present!
“This later stage of life is a gift. It’s attitude that matters.” - Nancy Hunter
Connect with Nancy:
Email: antarcticcalling@yahoo.com
Marcia Ross, 78, held a deep-seated love of history and Jewish studies. As her children grew she started taking courses at Spertus Institute which led to a master’s degree in Jewish communal service. Working for the Jewish Federation and Spertus Institute, Marcia felt extremely fortunate to be part of the team that built the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The skills she acquired in her professional career serve her well in retirement.
She has recaptured her love of history by volunteering as a docent for the Chicago Architecture Center. Today she actively leads 7 different tours as she maintains a positive spin on her life that is yet to come.
"An important part of living is meeting new people and exploring new relationships." - Marcia Ross
Connect with Marcia:
Email: mjoyross@yahoo.com
Marcia’s Causes:
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Chicago Architecture Center
Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning & Leadership
Jewish Federation of Chicago
As the Midwest regional campaign and outreach manager for Compassion & Choices, a national
non-profit organization, Amy Sherman advocates for planning for and expanding end-of-life
care options and empowering people to take charge of their own journeys. She leads a
statewide coalition in Illinois, in partnership with Final Options Illinois and the ACLU of Illinois,
and oversees activities in several other Midwestern states. Amy earned a law degree from
Northwestern University School of Law. Over her career, she has led national and state policy
initiatives and provided technical assistance to government, business and institutions. Earlier in
her career, Amy managed emergency services at University of Illinois Hospital and the
emergency services house staff program at Cook County Hospital. These experiences led her to
develop a passion for patient-centered and compassionate approaches to health care.
Contact
asherman@compassionandchoices.org
Resources
www.Compassionandchoices.org
https://compassionandchoices.org/end-of-life-planning/
https://compassionandchoices.org/resources/
Patricia Manahan Anderson, age 83, has been children and family-centered her entire adult
life. She gave birth to 6 children in 8 years, including her first-born who died from spina bifida
at a young age. With an “uncanny appreciation for healthy children,” Pat developed a holistic
parenting style that was congruent with the “natural living of farm life.” During 18+ years of
child-rearing, Pat earned an advanced degree in nursing through part-time studies and
countless hours of self-instruction, including annual conferences of the American Holistic
Medical Association. She worked as a psychiatric nurse practitioner for 30 years, until retiring
at age 78. Widowed in 2018, Pat is “sustained and entertained” by her 5 adult children, 17
grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, all of whom gather together on numerous
occasions. Pat says she is “filled with gratitude” and has “perfected the art of living in the
now.”
"I am holistic by nature and I do active listening." - Patricia Manahan Anderson
Contact: patrmanderson@gmail.com
Margot Wallace is a marketer, academic, author and life-long learner. Starting out, Margot was a writer and creative director for J. Walter Thompson (now JWT), global advertising agency. At age 62, Margot earned a master’s degree from DePaul University and became an assistant professor of marketing at Columbia College Chicago, where she received tenure. Margot pioneered the study of museum branding: she authored four books and presented throughout the United States and abroad. Since retiring at age 75 Margot volunteers with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Northwestern University where she develops and teaches semester-long courses. Margot’s insatiable curiosity is reflected in her wide- ranging topics--from Frankenstein to Eleanor Roosevelt, from baseball stories to 6,000 year old cities to speeches that changed the world. After becoming a young widow 30 years ago, Margot learned to enjoy living solo-- traveling, dining, and living alone. Her secret to aging well is to “know where you get your energy from and pursue that.”
"We are not outliers, or outsiders, but simply ambitious women who happen to be getting older." - Margot Wallace
Contact:
Email. margotawallace@comcast.net
Margot’s Books:
- Museum Branding: How to Create and Maintain Image, Loyalty and Support (2016/2006)
- Writing for Museums (2014) [2nd edition in progress]
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
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- Instagram: WomenOver70
- Website:https://womenover70.com
- Email: info@womenover70.com
- Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
- Listen on: Apple Podcast, Itunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher,and IHeartRadio
- Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow and together make a difference..
Nancy Manahan, Ph.D., age 75, lives an inspired life with her wife, author Becky Bohan, on the Florida coast in an intentional community of 500 women, aptly called Carefree. Life partners for 27 years, Nancy and Becky have published six books between them and co-created a 2020 award-winning documentary film about the Carefree Concert Band. Highlights of Nancy’s journey to Carefree include: joining and leaving the convent; earning a doctorate and teaching community college English, women’s literature, and film studies; traveling in five continents and living on four; and, publishing books to national and international acclaim. Nancy writes about complex taboo issues-- lesbian nuns, lesbian Girl Scouts, and, with Becky, a story of their sister-in-law’s unconventional journey with cancer and her after-death communications. Nancy and Becky co-founded the Minnesota Threshold Network, which advocates for family-directed after-death care and green burial options. Through their philanthropy and energy, they support the environment, arts, education, lesbian feminist organizations, and individual women, including activist writers and filmmakers. In their free time, Nancy and Becky love to walk, read, watch movies, swim, snorkel, play pickleball, and dance.
“My wife and I transformed our retirement to our inspirement.” - Nancy Manahan, Ph.D.
Contact Information:
Email: nanbec@nanbec.com
Website: www.nanbec.com
2020 Carefree Lily Film Festival Award for Best Documentary: The Carefree Concert Band [no link]
Books:
Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence, with Rosemary Keefe Curb, original edition 1985, revised edition 2013
On My Honor: Lesbians Reflect on Their Scouting Experience, original edition 1997, revised edition 2021
Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully: A Journey with Cancer and Beyond, with Becky Bohan, 2007
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow and together make a difference...
Meg Forney, age 73, advocates for all things park related in Minneapolis, Mn., “the city inside of a park.” As the oldest elected official in the city, Meg serves as a Commissioner-at-Large with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board where she is committed to advancing racial and economic equity through various initiatives, for example: increasing access to park land in underserved communities; reclaiming the Mississippi Riverbanks and replanting trees—our best tool for sequestering carbon for climate resiliency. As an avid user of the parks, Meg rows, walks and bikes, most often in communion with other women. Meg has been witness through her vast local, domestic and world travels (all seven continents) to contrasting and similar environments, cultures and people that have given her in-depth perspectives into her own “backyard.” Meg is grateful to have been accompanied by her husband.
"I had strong role models for leading in a civic way." - Megan Forney
Contact Information:
meg@megforney.org
www.megforneyforparks.org
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Website:https://womenover70.com
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Description: Teresa Powell, age 72, has always been driven to do something significant with her life. During her pursuit of many interests and causes, Terri developed as a polymath, acquiring experience in the arts, business, education and health care, along with credentials: MPH, MBA, MST and a BA in Music. Terri has a passion for grass roots organizing, e.g., advocating for women’s rights and campaigning for political candidates. While a “stay-at-home Mom” for 11 years with four children, Terri engaged in many movements, including the ERA, breastfeeding and home birth. When she returned to graduate school, she pursued studies in end of life options. Prior to retirement in 2017, Terri served in an elected position as Village Clerk of Oak Park, IL, a position she held for 8 years. Now she stays active with volunteer work which includes encouraging younger people to get involved in local government. Having experienced two “health scares” several years ago, Terri focuses on the many ways she can still enjoy life.
My legacy is to leave things a little better than when I started. -Teresa Powell
Contact: teresapowellcrl@gmail.com
Master storyteller, Margaret Burk, believes in the power of story, not only to entertain, but to touch the heart, spark the imagination and embolden the spirit. Margaret performs at storytelling venues, senior residences, women's gatherings, and festivals; co-produces and co-hosts storytelling events; and, teaches storytelling. She is former President and presently Treasurer of Storytelling Inc., a national association of storytellers. With degrees in theatre and communications and an earlier career in arts administration, Margaret returned to her love of the spoken word 15 years ago. As a teacher of storytelling, her niche is mostly women, particularly older women. In our later years, life is calling us to record our experiences, to tell our stories, and to pass our history down to the next generations.
Contact Information: margaretburk@hotmail.com
Website: https://www.margaretburk.com/
As a young girl in Germany, Dr. Maresi Nerad aspired to be a train conductor so she could venture out into the world. She created more expansive means. At age 73 and retired from full-time work at the University of Washington, Maresi notes three major strands that embody her life’s work: travel to experience and discover the wonders of the world; education to open doors to knowledge and influence; and connection with women to cultivate their leadership talent. As a researcher, teacher/mentor, administrator and author, Maresi has advocated for socially just doctoral education on an international scale, with a particular focus on women. She continues to coordinate international conferences, host webinars, advise international doctoral students and consult with leaders in higher education. ‘Retirement’ affords Maresi more time for self-reflection, art classes, baking, exercise, connecting with her sister in Germany, friends around the world, and quality time with her husband.
“Widening access for women to leadership positions worldwide remains a goal for which I will never feel too old.” – Maresi Nerad Ph.D.
Contact Information: Email: mnerad@uw.edu
Nerad, M. (1999). The Academic Kitchen: A Social History of Gender Stratification at the University of California, Berkeley. State University of New York Press.
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“I have integrated death into my life in a seamless way through ministry and legacy.” - Rev. Gloria Randolph
Rev. Gloria Randolph’s legacy, in addition to the nearly 1000 children she taught as a primary teacher, is the ministry entrusted to her by God, Giving God the Glory Ministries.
Gloria’s enthusiasm, boundless energy, and zest for life belie the profound grief she experienced from the loss of 2 children and a grandchild.
After 34 years as a primary school teacher and administrator, Gloria decided to become a grief counselor, born out of a need to help grieving parents, after the death of her son. She went to seminary to further her education as a pastoral care minister. Gloria understands that “tears are liquid prayer. Everyone grieves but everyone does not mourn. Grieving is what you do on the inside. Mourning is the outward expression of it - walk it out, write it out, yell it out, kick, scream and work it out.”
The mission of Giving God The Glory Ministries is to encourage God’s people by providing them with the spiritual and financial resources to face the challenges of daily living. One of the ways this is accomplished is through the My 2 Sons and Legacy scholarship components of GGG Ministries. This encourages individuals facing the challenges of daily living by supporting efforts to continue their education.
Connect with Rev. Gloria:
Website: https://gggministries.com
Email: glohallelujah7@aol.com
Anthropologist Bethe Hagens, now 74, imagines her life as the realization of the mantra of the late 1960s: “We are stardust. We are golden. . .and we have to get back to the garden.” She believes human being is the dual cosmic identity of earth energy, uniting the “clay” body and emotions of Mother Earth with the celestial magic and science of the extraterrestrial. Bethe has used Platonic geometry to create solar cookers, greenhouses, and the Planetary Grid, a world globe proposing unity in Earth’s physical and spiritual evolution. A recent brush with leukemia, which she explains in the interview, radically opened her academic mind to the possibility that earth energy and Spirit were actually real and available. She and her partner Waynn (her 24/7 tech support and heavy lifter) are 13 years into creating a quarter-acre terraced perennials garden to feed multi-species visitors. Not surprisingly she says, “I want to stay alive to see what’s going to happen next.”
"I have insatiable curiosity to go to unfamiliar places, find out what excites me, and go from there." Bethe Hagens
Contact:
bethehagens@gmail.com
Bethe--add sites, articles etc that you would like our audience to know about.
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“I continue to work because I love it, I can still be useful and helpful, enjoy what we are doing, and make a contribution.”
Since helping found the first non-profit interdisciplinary home health agency in the Midwest in 1972, Dr. Schwartzberg has been a leader in building consensus around new programs in geriatrics, home care, community health, health literacy, and medical education. She currently works as Scholar-in-Residence at the ACGME, where she listens to the voice of the residents in training through analyzing national survey responses.
Connect with Joanne:
Joanne can be reached through researchgate.net where many of her published papers and articles may also be downloaded for free.
Mindy Greiling, age 73, served in Minnesota’s House of Representatives for 20 years (1993-2013), where she campaigned to bring more women into political office. Mindy’s talents in lawmaking and storytelling are evident in her recent book, Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for Her Son. When her 21 year-old son was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder in 1999, Mindy went public, without secrecy or shame. Speaking out for the rights of people with mental illness and their families, Mindy initiated innovative policy and funding for mental health in Minnesota and served on many national and state boards and councils, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Currently Mindy serves as President of the Board of NAMI Ramsey County. Married for 50 years, and retired for eight, Mindy continues to advocate for reforms in mental health, policing, and affordable housing. “I love being retired; I can activate for anything I want.”
There is no way we are going to have a better mental health system if we don’t tell our stories.
Contact Information:
mindygreiling@gmail.com
Greiling, M. (2020). Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for Her Son. University of Minnesota Press.
Podcast: Three Moms in the Trenches https://www.audible.com/pd/Schizophrenia-Three-Moms-in-the-Trenches-Podcast/B08JJPR868
News Article https://www.minnpost.com/mental-health-addiction/2020/10/in-a-new-book-former-state-rep-mindy-greiling-talks-about-her-sons-schizophrenia-and-her-mental-health-advocacy/
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Penny is a multinational PR executive with well-known clients such as Korean Air. She gained her prominence as a crisis management expert, is resilient, forward-looking and irreverent. ‘Curiosity”, she says, “is why I have remained relevant throughout my long and storied career.”
“The ability to accept loss has a direct correlation on how well you age.” - Penny Pfaelzer
Penny takes life in stride, maintaining an upbeat attitude. She is able to laugh at herself even while experiencing deep loss, being a caregiver and change. Now, her sole purpose in life is to be happy and to make others happy.
Connect with Penny:
Email: Penny@Pfaelzerdean.com
Website: https://Pfaelzerdean.com
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow and together make a difference..
Linda’s story is reminiscent of a roller coaster. Years of upward success and then unwanted retirement, successfully navigating its challenges, finally to rise again as a podcaster. First, she rose to prominence as leader of her father’s scrap metal company. Then she reinvents her life by weaving together her two passions: women and business into a successful new venture. And, after retiring due to poor health, she roars back with Lightning Minds, her podcast in which she interviews magnificent minds to share their secrets of success.
Aging is a constant reminder of what Linda can no longer do, and yet, the lessons of how she navigates this non-negotiable fact inform all of us how to better consider our options.Connect with Linda:
Email: LindaOptimalLevel@gmail.com
Podcast: Lightning Strikes
Podcast Page:https://lightningstrikes.buzzsprout.com
Books:
- How to be Powerful - Insider Secrets to Brilliant Leadership ,Sales and Speaking
- Sanity and Success for the Working Woman - A Quick Guide to Thrive and Survive in the Corporate World
- Optimal Level - A Woman's Guide to Meeting Life's Challenges
Known to all as Raven, The Talk Show Maven, this gutsy woman reinvented herself from a $10/hr part-time worker to recipient of the 2016 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. From feeling like Casper the Ghost throughout her early years, Raven was spurred on by her mother’s illness to “step up, show up and grow up”. At age 55, she began building, what is today, a media and broadcasting empire.
"The quickest way to become an expert is to interview experts." - Raven Blair Glover
Raven knew the fastest way to learn was to interview big-name guests and this led to her own show on CNN. Fearless, she mastered the ‘art of the ‘ask’. Take the journey with Raven from her kitchen table to full-blown studio.
Connect with Raven:
Email: talkshowmaven@gmail.com
Website: https://raveninternationalmediaempire.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkshowmaven/
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
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“Proudly call me old.” -Wilma Jenkins
Experienced MBO facilitator, community health educator, volunteer and self-proclaimed matriarch of her family, Wilma Jenkins is a go-getter. After retiring from the original telephone company, AT&T with a huge buyout at 54, she started her own company, Ms. Friday’s Services, and did odd jobs for individuals and her church. She helped to grow the membership of her church when she taught its leaders how to Manage by Objectives and celebrate their common successes.
Wilma believes in positive communication and encourages older people to use positive language when describing themselves. As a volunteer educator at her local senior services organization, she speaks at area senior facilities to discuss age-related topics and how seniors feel about getting older.
105 Get Real: Women’s History Month is Not Enough
Social Activism plays a big role in the lives of many guests and listeners of the Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined podcast. In this episode of Get Real, Gail and Catherine celebrate the history-making endeavors of our previous guests, discuss why it is not enough to commemorate women’s history only once a year, and reflect on how social activism has played a role in their own lives.
At Women Over 70–Aging Reimagined makes it our mission for all women over 70 to be seen and heard.
Invite Gail and Catherine to speak at your event or for your organization on creative and courageous ways to reimagine aging.
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Itunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher,and IHeartRadio
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As a mother, physician, businesswoman and daughter, who navigated her mother’s 10 year journey with Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Cheryl encourages all adults to take responsibility to age intentionally. Her motto is "Live Out Loud and Age Excellently."
In her career as an academic geriatrician, primary care doctor, and public policy expert, Dr. Cheryl has always bridged theory and practice. She is also a prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction. She tells it like it is and urges us to seek excellence, not perfection. She also says: “Writing has always been a place for me to heal.”
“It is never too late to believe. All those things that stopped you when you were younger, don’t matter anymore.” - Dr. Cheryl Woodson
Connect with Dr. Cheryl:
Email: cew@drcherylwoodson.com
Website: https://drcherylwoodson.com
Books:
- To Survive Caregiving: A Daughter's Experience, A Doctor's Advice on Finding Hope, Help and Health
- Dear Lauren, Love Mom: 31 Days of Affirmations for My Daughter, for Myself, and for YOU
- What the Mirror Sees (romance fiction written under the pseudonym Tería Robens)
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Elaine Mays, age 84, loves her newly created home in the Maroon Village of Accompong, Jamaica. How did an educator who participated in school desegregation in Missouri and taught college in California find her way to paradise? In her early 80s, within one year, a spate of tragedies--deaths of loved ones and her own major surgeries--“shook my tree to the roots.” Upon visiting a friend in Accompong, Elaine felt immediately that she had come home. So, in October 2020, she built a home where she appreciates the warmth of Jamaican culture and environment. Elaine looks forward, post-pandemic, to supporting young women in the community.
It’s never too late or never too early to make change; you can always regroup and discover.
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Living in New York City, Betty Rauch became a highly skilled marketer who was sought after by high profile clients. When she retired, nonprofits became her passion, and soon she was marketing for causes she dearly believes in.
This dynamic, talented woman is a powerhouse who likes being in charge. From promoting after-care for incarcerated men to fostering positive outcomes for pregnant women in low-income areas, to providing resources and learning opportunities for women over 50, Betty refuses to freak out about her age. We all can learn from her wisdom, scar tissue and compassion.
“Having a sense of purpose is what can make our post-retirement lives so much more meaningful, enjoyable and personally enriching." - Betty Rauch
Connect with Betty:
Email: rauchbp@gmail.com
Volunteer Organizations:
The Fortune Society: https.//fortunesociety.org
Friends of the Nurse-Family Partnership: https://friendsofnycnfp.org
TTN: https://thetransitionnetwork.org/
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Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Imagine what it might have been like to be a serious female science student in the early 1960s
only to be barred from a doctoral program after receiving a masters. Bebe (Beatrice) Magee,
age 81, provides a glimpse into her early history. In 2007, Bebe retired as a Senior Scientist in
the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota. For more than 45 years, she
and her husband, Pete, collaborated on scientific research that led eventually to ground-
breaking work having implications for debilitated patients with potentially deadly infections. In
retirement, Bebe expanded her engagement in rowing (which she started at age 54) to include
teaching and officiating at rowing regattas. She has been able to spend more time in choral
activities, singing with the Calliope Women’s Chorus--the 2nd oldest feminist chorus in the U.S.--
and with the Voices of Experience (singers over age 55). Married for 56 years, Bebe and Pete
live in a big old house in St. Paul, MN, with no plans to downsize.
"Although I am not much in favor of getting older, I am very happy with this stage in
my life." - Beatrice Magee
Contact information
Magee002@umn.edu
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Women Over 70 is celebrating its 100th episode by featuring Jean Ketcham, affectionately known as Aging But Dangerous. Jean has a laserlike focus on living life with fun, spirit, and style. She is a former small business owner, talk show host, proud parent, avid skydiver, and cancer survivor, up for any challenge thrown her way. At 81, Jean is convinced that aging can be exciting. From skydiving to retreats and fashion shows, she continues to create opportunities for women to empower each other.
"Nobody can put us in a box because of our age.” - Jean Ketcham
Connect with Jean:
Website: https://agingbutdangerous.com
Facebook Group:/https://www.facebook.com/agingbutdangerous
Email: jk@agingbutdangerous.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Itunes, Podopolo
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
With her background in dance and social work, Sheila K. Collins, Ph.D., brings embodied practices to many forms of self-care, particularly for healing. Sheila’s key tenet is that the body is our center of wisdom and at the root of self-care. Our body holds our stories, tells us what we need, and expresses what’s in our hearts. As a teacher-trainer and award-winning author, Sheila offers ways to find the gifts within the pain of loss. Her forthcoming book is The Art of Grieving.
Contact Information:
sheilacollins@gmail.com
https://sheilakcollins.com/about
Sheila K. Collins Warrior Mother: A Memoir of Fierce Love, Unbearable Loss, and Rituals that Heal (2013)
Sheila K. Collins & Christine Gautreaux. Stillpoint: A Self-Care Playbook for Caregivers to Find Ease, and Time to Breathe, and Reclaim Joy (2018)
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
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In semi-retirement, at age 79, Hedy Ratner imparts her prodigious wisdom on
women’s issues to high level policy makers. For over 50 years, as an advocate for intersecting
civil rights and the second-wave women’s movement, Hedy has confronted inequalities of
gender, race and class, e.g.,: working with Jesse Jackson, directing the YWCA-Chicago; founding
Women in Film-Chicago; and, co-founding the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC).
Under new leadership and with Hedy as President Emerita, WBDC continues to thrive in its 4th
decade, promoting entrepreneurship for low income women and women of color. Hedy credits
her sustainability for social justice to the unwavering support of her life partner (recently
deceased) and conscientious attention to maintaining balance--physical, mental, and spiritual.
"With so much more to be done, nothing in my heart and mind says I should stop now." - Hedy Ratner
Contact Information:
hratner@wbdc.org
More about Hedy at https://www.thechicagonetwork.org/members/hedy-m-ratner/
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Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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At age 76, Sunny Fischer (Evanston, IL) has advocated for women to be free from
violence, exercise reproductive choice, afford their homes and possess financial stability.
Sunny’s radicalization for women’s issues began in the 1970s while working directly with
victims of rape, “the most dramatic form of sexism.” Over the past 40 years, Sunny has co-
founded foundations focused solely on women’s issues, including the Sophia Fund which is now
part of the Chicago Foundation for Women. Sunny’s work to promote affordable housing
includes her current role as chair of the board of the National Public Housing Museum.
Whatever the cause, Sunny’s approach is to listen, investigate, understand, strategize, and
organize.
There is a lot more work to do, and I still have the dreams to try. - Sunny Fischer
Contact Information:
Sunnyfischer10@gmail.com
More about Sunny: https://www.thechicagonetwork.org/members/sunny-fischer/
https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/about-us/board-and-staff-
2/board-directors/sunny-fischer/
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Two years ago, Diana Swezy, age 70, made a dramatic life change. She left her home in the Midwest and her work as a professional educator to live in a laid-back beach village in Jamaica. Diana’s professional life centered on students who are challenged, serving as an elementary school principal and as Director of Federal Programs. Having dealt with a long-term chronic illness and major back surgery, Diana searched for a place in which to heal, physically and emotionally. She chose Jamaica where the “thread of spirituality envelopes the realm of healing on many levels.” Here Diana practices self-care--creating art, eating well, swimming-- and delights in life with her younger Jamaican husband.
Contact Information:
dswezy@gmail.com
"I am learning to live well, with fun and less."
Audrey Peeples, age 81, from Chicago’s southwest side, is a history maker--the first Black
woman to hold leadership positions in different kinds of organizations. Whether as CEO,
board member, or community volunteer, Audrey is committed to raising awareness about
racism and sexism and advocating for diversity and inclusion. “When different people are at
the table, different decisions get made.” She calls out micro-systemic expectations with
diplomacy and humor. Audrey intends to keep raising the hard questions and doing the hard
work.
"There are a lot of people like me, you just don’t know them." - Audrey Peeples
Contact:
Audrey.peeples@gmail.com
More about Audrey’s background see The History Makers.
https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/audrey-peeples-39
Deborah Wood Holton, Ph.D., MFA, and certified transition coach discusses opportunities and
realities that are essential to women’s self-preservation as we age. Gender and race
inequities are realities in American society. Older women are more likely to be care-givers,
live alone, and be limited financially. This is especially true for Black women, who also face a
“kin-gap,” as they are often orphaned from family connections. Dr. Holton offers inspiration
for older women to find our ‘inner guidance system’--to be caring, creative and
compassionate about our own needs and wants. We are the heroines for ourselves and younger generations.
Contact Information:
deborah@deborahwholton.com
https://www.deborahwholton.com/
Deborah’s The Comfort Club is highlighted in the AARP 2019 annual report (2020)
https://workforyourself.aarpfoundation.org/public-report/
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Nancy Fuhrman: Goals Drive Your Actions in Retirement
Nancy has always worked hard to keep everyone in her large blended family connected. As she and her husband, Steve, looked far into the future, she brought the family together to discuss their estate plan and guidelines, ensuring they would all be comfortable with it and on the same page.
A lifelong volunteer and learner, Nancy continues to be of service in her community and take classes. Her goals are to remain healthy, connect with friends and family and continue to expand her horizons. These deliberate actions are what makes Nancy who she is and why she remains vital and vibrant.
"I plan every day around entertaining and enjoyable activities, continue to learn, to be of service and focus on good things."
Connect with Nancy:
nancysteve@pause.com
Resource: Read to Learn Adult Literacy/Volunteer Program in the northern suburbs of Chicago
(Nancy has worked with 12-14 students who wish to improve their language skills.)
https://www.ce.d214.org/readtolearn
In life there is always another way home. - Ronne Hartfield
At age 84, twenty-some years beyond retirement, Ronne Hartfield continues to make a difference as her commitments and curiosities flourish. Ronne honed her executive management talents at Chicago’s Urban Gateways and in two leadership positions at The Art Institute. Post-retirement, she has embarked on a journey of study and consultancy that involves exhibition and interpretation of sacred art and world religions for a wider public. She also completed a labor of love--a moving family history, Another Way Home: The Tangled Roots of Race in One Chicago Home. Married for 67 years, Ronne has four adult children and eight grandchildren.
Contact Information:
Ronne.hartfield@gmail.com
Hartfield, R. (2004). Another way home: The tangled roots of race in one Chicago family (in its 5th printing). The University of Chicago Press.
For more about Ronne’s earlier work history, see: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-05-12-9102120185-story.html
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Academy award-winning screenwriter, Pamela Wallace, knew she was going to be a writer when she was a young girl. First, magazine articles and romance novels; then, screenplays and TV movies. Pam fought hard to own her talent and showcase it in Hollywood where women are often second to men and do become invisible as they age.
“The point of getting older - having gained wisdom - is to pass it on and make the path easier for the women who follow me.” - Pamela Wallace
Now, in the ‘age of generativity’, Pam continues to support and teach screenwriting and hopes to create a nonprofit to raise up diverse women whose economic status adds another layer of discrimination in this difficult industry.
Connect with Pam:
Email: pwall49@aol.com
View Witness and Borrowed Hearts:
https://www.amazon.com/Witness-Harrison-Ford/dp/B009NY4WLW/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=The+Witness&qid=1609904364&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Borrowed-Hearts-Roma-Downey/dp/B003C5FMOY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZCO2S6J1RQC1&dchild=1&keywords=borrowed+hearts+dvd&qid=1609904416&sprefix=barrowed+hearts%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
As 2020 comes to a close, Catherine and Gail “get real” while looking back on a year of growth for both the podcast and their personal lives.
This year has been a reminder of the importance of staying connected: zoom gatherings, podcast club, and other creative ways of being together have been a real lifesaver.
The Women Over 70 Podcast Club is an opportunity to explore issues that are pertinent to you. Just as well-run book clubs and film groups provide provocative discussions that aid in learning and growth, our podcast club does the same, and we have fun too!
Podcast Categories Include:
- Spirituality and Healing
- Reinvention
- Health and Wellness
- Play
- Social Service
- Social Activism
- Expressive Arts
- Enhancing Career
Be the first to hear what is new at Women Over 70. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. https://womenover70.com/#subscribe
The world is just catching up with Joy Loverde, a champion of eldercare and family caregiving
for over 30 years. In the second of two widely acclaimed books, Who Will Take Care of Me
When I’m Old? (2017), Joy speaks frankly and considerately about planning for the realities of
aging and living longer. Women should start planning in their 40s so as older adults they will
have enough money and housing that feels like home. She also encourages women to have
authentic conversations with each other about experiences of growing older. Joy consults
widely with companies about respectful messaging of their products and services to the mature
market. She embraces technology as a tool for resourceful living, including robots becoming
part of our lives. Joy’s consistent message: If you want to know about being old, observe and
ask the people who are old.
Old people are living answers to our lives. - Joy Loverde
Email jloverde@elderindustry.com
Website elderindustry.com
Pinterest pinterest.com/joyloverde
Twitter twitter.com/joyloverde
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/joyloverde
Books:
Who Will Take Care Of Me When I’m Old? (2017)
The Complete Eldercare Planner (1993/2009)
Julie Percell: Life in Hawaii when You Are Not Hawaiin
“Asking for help is a sign of weakness I have to get over.” - Julie Percell
After graduation, Julie visited friends in Hawaii and has lived there ever since. She has enjoyed a rich entrepreneurial career in sales, training and teaching. Working closely with local associations and government to provide resources to startups and existing businesses, she has a reputation for being the one who finds solutions.
Several years ago her husband lost his fight with leukemia. Julie’s life dramatically changed as she became his health care advocate and then had to learn how to ask for help when she found herself on her own. Now, as she realizes she can no longer work 80-hour weeks, she is ready to map out a plan for what she will do in the next decade.
Connect with Julie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-percell-90313513/
Email: jtpercell7@gmail.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Life in Ecuador lends itself to mindfulness, meditation and music. However, no matter where we live, the quality of our lives and our health is intimately connected to our diet and lifestyle. That is what determines how balanced our gut microbiome is, which determines how robust our immune system, and ultimately, how well we retain healthy brain functioning.
When her mom was diagnosed with dementia, Kate set her sights on understanding this cruel disease and how to prevent it. Her discoveries led to lifestyle changes that improved her own memory and health. Now, Kate guides others to do the same as a vegan nutritionist, health coach and sound therapist.
"It’s never too early to look after your brain, but it can become too late." - Kate Kunkel
Connect with Kate:
Website / Blog: https://KateKunkel.com
Book: Don’t Let the Memories Fade, A Holistic Approach to Preventing Dementia and Creating a Healthier, More Vibrant Future.
Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Let-Memories-Fade-Preventing-ebook/dp/B08GBR1Z37
Kathy Haueisen first moved to Houston with her family in 1982. After a brief return to her home state of Ohio, she again settled in Texas in 1996. Already a journalist and published writer, she earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1985, intending to teach creative writing. Instead, she took a 35 year detour as an ordained pastor before retiring to write more in 2014. For the past few years Kathy embarked on an unusual project - writing her first historical fiction novel. The topic turned out to be of significant interest - the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower.
Writing is like a drug; once you receive a check you are addicted. - Kathryn Haueisen
Prior to writing the Mayflower Chronicles - the Tale of Two Cultures, written from the perspectives of both the English and native Americans, Kathryn published 5 books and is currently working on another. She also consults with congregations on capital campaign projects and writes articles for assorted publications. Her blogs focus on good people doing great things for our global village.
Connect with Kathy:
Website: https://howwisethen.com/
She blogs weekly at www.howwisethen.com
Book: The Mayflower Chronicles - the Tale of Two Cultures
Available on Amazon
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Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
In this special edition of Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined, we celebrate reaching our milestone of interviewing 70 women over 70.
Guests Susanne Dumbleton (Ep #082) and Judith DeVeries (Ep #002), who were our 1st and 70th guests (despite the episode numbers) return to Women Over 70–Aging Reimagined for a provocative discussion about women, aging, and the issues that matter most to our community.
Our sincere thanks to the Podcast Discussion Club and Advocates for Women Aging guests who dropped in throughout the episode to celebrate with us.
Judith DeVries (Ep #002)
Listen: https://womenover70.com/002-judith-devries-director-of-learning/
Susanne Dumbleton (Episode #082)
Listen: https://womenover70.com/082-susanne-dumbleton-the-power-of-women-as-forces-for-human-rights/
Podcast Discussion Club members have in-depth conversations around episodes with a common theme, and explore issues relevant to themselves and others. Just as well-run book clubs and film groups provide provocative discussions that aid in learning and growing, our podcast club does the same!
Join the Podcast Discussion Club: https://womenover70.com/podcast-club/
Advocates for Women Aging is our monthly video series which provides a bonus episode for Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined podcast. Gail and Catherine interview experts of all ages on a variety of subjects pertinent to women aging across the adult life span.
Watch: https://womenover70.com/advocates-for-women-aging/
Feisty and outspoken! That is how we describe Linda Randall - semi-retired psychotherapist, board member of Village Chicago, active and resilient. Linda does not mince words when it comes to loss and grieving. Loss comes in many forms: physical, psychological, emotional, cognitive and sexual.
The old adage, Linda concedes, that tells us ‘The best is yet to come’, doesn’t feel true anymore. Yet, she continues, we are all resilient or we wouldn’t be here. Linda encourages us to think about all the things we’ve done in our lives and write them down. That way we remember what made us strong women.
“The best way to cope with loss is to tell the truth!” - Linda Randall
CONNECT WITH LINDA:
Email: rhtnow@rcn.com
The Village Chicago (villagechicago.org)
Listen to Peggy Joseph’s poem:
Read Sheryl Sandberg’s book: Option B
Read Joan Didion’s book: The Year of Magical Thinking
CONNECT WITH LINDA:
Email: rhtnow@rcn.com
The Village Chicago (villagechicago.org)
Listen to Peggy Joseph’s poem:
Read Sheryl Sandberg’s book: Option B
Read Joan Didion’s book: The Year of Magical Thinking
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Itunes, Podopolo
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
At age 91, Dr. Marie Kisiel continues to pursue her passions as a mentor to
people of all ages and as a writer about seasons in human life, centering on food, learning
and work. The daughter of immigrant parents who had little formal education, Marie ignored
convention by going straight through from high school to a Ph.D. in English with a minor in
Guidance and Counseling. She then married, lived abroad with her husband, settled in the
western suburbs of Illinois, had two “marvelous” daughters, and mentored-taught adults in
college for nearly 30 years. Creativity is the theme that Marie integrates into her mentoring,
teaching and writing. She now lives apart from her husband of 57 years and is grateful for the
excellent care he receives in an assisted living facility. Marie strives to “enjoy every single
day” and advises all of us to “not take life and people for granted.”
" My passion is to bring out every person’s potential and creativity." - Dr. Marie Kisiel
Contact Information: mkisiel1@comcast.net
Author of five books (see https://www.amazon.com/Books-Marie-
Kisiel/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AMarie+Kisiel)
coming in 2021 Season of Grace: Creativity in Later Adulthood
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Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Susanne Dumbleton, Ph.D., does the research and then creates courses--e.g., Little Women, Joan of Arc, women leaders of social movements--to enlighten adults about the fight for women’s and human rights in the United States and around the world. She also is a prolific writer of OpEds, articles and essays concerning social justice reforms. A career in higher education enabled Susanne to pursue innovative paths in teaching and academic leadership, particularly serving adult and nontraditional students. Married for 50 years to a man who shared fully in their domestic life and supported her professionally, Susanne was “able to have it all, just not all at once.” Patience, passion, flexibility, reinvention and caring relationships are keys to Susanne’s resilience and vitality. Learning to live solo after her husband’s passing in 2016, Susanne is committed to living a life of gratitude and enriching lives of other people.
"I wanted a life not just a career, and that has required me to make choices."
Contact Information:
sdumblet@depaul.edu
https://www.susannedumbleton.com/ (see Susanne’s OpEds, Articles, Essays)
In early adulthood, small town girl Zib Hinz changed her mind about living life by the script. She set out to direct her own path, guided by curiosity and opportunity. In the late 1960s and early 70s, Zib traveled across Europe, the Middle East, and hiked above the Arctic Circle. She played vigorously: long distance running, hiking, biking, skiing, and sailing a double ended ketch with her husband. When Zib gave birth to her only child at age 42, she needed to move her professional career into a steady mode. She found much fulfillment in urban planning and policy work focused on aiding children, families, and communities.
I strive to live a life of endurance with grace. - Elizabeth (Zib) Hinz
At age 65, Zib took up rowing and learned to play the cello--“music is physical” she says. Now at age 75, Zib continues to be physically active, plays in a cello quartet, has a new life partner, and continues to “keep moving and progressing through life with as much grace as possible.”
Contact: zbethhinz@gmail.com
Since 1983, Dolly Kennedy has worked to keep the Dolly Steamboat filled with people. A natural born publicist, she first worked with her husband, creator of the steamboat. They had a dream to put Canyon Lake AZ on the tourist map. They were so successful that the company was sold in 1987 and Dolly has worked for the new owners ever since.
“Do something every day to make someone else feel good.” - Dolly Kennedy
Still active in her community today, Dolly walks each year in the annual fundraiser for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), drives, takes care of herself and surrounds herself with positive people.
Connect with Dolly:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dolly.kennedy1
Take a tour on Dolly’s Steamboat: https://dollyssteamboat.com
Or call 420-827-9144
“The red fuzzy PJ’s stood for everything I lost.” - Sara Hart
A PhD and professor of communication, successful head of training in the HR division of Pfizer, author, speaker, and coach, Sara Hart is a model of how women are making a difference even as they age. Some people never get around to downsizing. Sara has done it twice. \
First at 50, when she left her high profile job and moved across the country with no idea what was next. And then, a second time, 3 years ago. How do you know when enough is enough (stuff)? Working now with women, 55 and over, Sara creates ‘Thinking Environments’ which lead them to discover, and reclaim, who they really are, and how they can continue to make a difference.
Connect with Sara:
Website: https://hartcom.com/
Email: sarahart@hartcom.com
Book: The Upside of Downsizing Prime Spark: Women Over 55, It's Our Time!
And numerous others.
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YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7o7DMFfZFylLqqG2T-uC9A
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
“From age 3 I began to picture the sun-kissed land of Afghanistan and knew I had to go there.” - Cat Parenti
This honor by Clinton is only one of numerous accolades that chronicle Cat’s journey from Brooklyn, NY to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Acclaimed author, social activist, entrepreneur, Cat Parenti’s life is an extraordinary tale of 20 years living the life she envisioned at age 3.
Filled with love, loss and her endearing relationship with her severely disabled, yet telepathic daughter with a remarkable life of her own, Cat’s story is one you will want to listen to over and over again.
“Building bridges of culture, understanding and respect… I thank you for giving voice to the wonderful history and culture of the region.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton
CONNECT WITH CAT:
Email: cat.parenti@gmail.com
Website: https://CatParenti.com
Book: Afghanistan: A Memoir From Brooklyn to Kabul
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YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7o7DMFfZFylLqqG2T-uC9A
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Lyn Williams has moved 25 times throughout her life. She says it was always fun and gave her a sense of adventure. Her mother made it an adventure, too, and each place they lived turned into home. Home, Lyn believes, is the stage for our lives, and it is up to us to create beautiful spaces and fill them with joy. As a Feung Shui practitioner, Lyn creates environments that nourish and empower us. And, she always starts with the bedroom.
"Step into your bedroom: you are a goddess actress, star of your own play and only the props you need are there." - Lyn Williams
Listen to her prescription for living life as you age in a most powerful and joyous way. Lyn exudes joy.
Connect with Lynn
Email: loveyourspacetoday@gmail.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/lyn.will777
Class: Freedom from Clutter Forever
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Growing up during the depression, Naomi’s earliest memories are of living during wartime and experiencing multiple moves. At 9, she moved from New Jersey, where she loved the outdoors and had freedom to roam, to New York. Always one to make the best of every situation, Naomi became a nurse after high school and found her way to a career in public health. Compassionate, caring and resourceful, she managed long days working both in schools and doing home visits. Later, with her husband and children she continued making a difference.
“You only get 1 chance. This body of ours is such a valuable asset. Get up and move.” - Naomi Paulson
The love of gardening and outdoor activities never left her. She was athletic and found it important to move. The terrarium her father brought her as a child, embarked her on a life long love for parks conservancy.
Connect with Naomi:
nandnpaulson@gmail.com
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Maintaining social distance, Catherine and Gail “get real” as they reflect on the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The duo discuss the impact Ruth had on America, and reflect on how it personally feels to lose a women's rights icon. Justice Ginsberg was a hero to many and her passing became the impromptu topic of Women Over 70's September Zoom Gathering.
You're invited to join Catherine and Gail and a lively group of women from across the country at our next Zoom Gathering on October 20th at 11:30 a.m. CT. To RSVP email info@womenover70.com. #wo70zoomgathering
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Rita Wilkins is a nationally recognized interior design and lifestyle design expert. Her TEDx Talk, Downsize Your Life, Why Less is More, tells it all. The inspiration for her downsizing journey began in Senegal where for the first time in her life, she experienced people who had nothing, but were happy. She realized she wanted a simpler life with less...95% less!
“Living with less, let’s you do more.” - Rita Wilkins
Rita believes the LESS you have, the MORE time, money, and energy you have to pursue what matters most to you. She shares with us how to think about our meaningful memorabilia and momentos, how to manage leaving them behind and how to move forward as we redesign our lives.
Connect with Rita:
Email: ritawilkins@ritawilkins.com
Website: https://ritawilkins.com
Book: Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money and Freedom Available on Amazon.
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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“Caregivers give the greatest gift of all, with their love, guidance and direction.” – Julie Cook Downing
As the President and founder of Caregivers Comfort Creations, LLC, Julie's mission is to empower and support millions of family Caregivers and Veterans' Caregivers through her experiences and highly rated Caregiver Support Groups. She consults, trains caregivers, produces workshops and provides inspirational planning support. She is also the creator and publisher of Caregivers and Veterans’ Caregivers Calendars.
According to Julie, 1 in 3 caregivers are depressed. Their mortality rate is 63-70% higher than is normal. Caregivers often experience social isolation which carries with it some medical risk. Long distance caregiving is a heavy load. Julie lifts caregivers up while motivating and inspiring them. She is the author of Caregivers Comfort 366 Day Inspirational Journal and Record Book.
Connect with Julie Cook Downing:
Email: caregivercomfort@aol.com
Website: www.caregiverscomfort.com/products
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Susan Stall highlights transformative experiences that shaped her path as a
Community Sociologist and advocate for women’s equity and empowerment and grass-roots
community development. While on the faculty at Northeastern Illinois University, Susan taught
multi-disciplinary courses such as Gender and the Built Environment, and directed student
service learning and internships in local communities. In ‘retirement,’ Susan serves as President
of Arbor West Neighbors, engaging older people in community issues such as creative housing
options. Most recently, Susan promotes talking across generations about racial injustice. She
also hosts a Salon on Women & Aging, recognizing that “aging is a big passage.”
"I am most interested in the invisible actions in communities that are transformative." - Susan Stall, Ph.D.
Contact Information:
stallsusan@gmail.com
Feldman, R., & Stall, S. (2004). The Dignity of Resistance: Women Residents' Activism in Chicago Public Housing
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Susana was born in Romania, worked in Canada and now resides in the United States. She has a Ph.D. in Computer Design Engineering and over 30 years of experience defining and using advanced technologies. During this time, she experienced two traumatic brain injuries on the same day, resulting in brain trauma and bone misalignment. The path to recovery was arduous and frustrating.
“We are born with an innate ability of self-repair.” - Susana Stoica Ph.D.
Since her own trauma, Susana now focuses her healing practice on helping people with neural impairments. Author of 9 books, including five increasingly complex cookbooks on using healthy cooking to recover from brain trauma, she works with people worldwide helping them heal by correcting their energy fields.
Connect with Susana:
Website: HealingBrainInjury.com
Email: HealingBrainInjury@gmail.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=susana+stoica&i=stripbooks&crid=376QMS5X78WT1&sprefix=Susana+Stoic%2Caps%2C158&ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_1_12
At 85, Karin has been widowed twice, always has a man in her life, and lives out her dreams with passionate reality. She is gutsy and game! Her 2nd husband had passed away from complications due to Parkinson’s disease. After retiring from a career in marriage and family counseling at 78, specifically as a bereavement counselor, she decided to move on her own to France and live out a promise they made while on their honeymoon in Aix-en-Provence. Planning to stay 1 year, she found that was not enough and stretched it to two. From that experience came her first book, “Blue Satin Nightgown - My French Makeover at 78.”
“I know how mental age is. Attitude is everything.” - Karin Crilly
Karin lays out for us all the steps it took for her to move to France and what she did while she was there to make the 2 years into a wonderful adventure. At 80, she knew it was time to return home.
Connect with Karin:
Email: kcrillymft@sbcglobal.net
Book: Blue Satin Nightgown: My French Makeover at 78
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Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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"The beauty of aging is you have more time to help people." - Harriett Cholden
As a young adult, Harriett visited Chicago from her home in Waterloo, Iowa and never looked
back. She got a job teaching 5 th grade at an independent school based on the progressive
philosophy of John Dewey, and stayed for 40 years. Upon retirement 16 years ago, Harriett has
continued the teachings of Dewey in her extensive volunteer work with new citizens eager to
vote, people who are blind, youth who are college-bound, and adults who are non-reading.
Harriett offers an expansive perspective on what friendship can encompass and tips on ways to
make new friends as we age. Listen in for why Harriett took up tap dancing at age 79.
Contact Harriett:
Contact Information: harriettch@me.com
"If I hear some screeching of the wheels, I'll just put a little oil on them and carry on." - Bobbi Wilsyn
Jazz/Blues performer, educator, actress and Professor Emerita at Columbia College Chicago, Bobbi Wilsyn, 72, has lived a life of purpose. Now in her 3rd act, she is redesigning her career and looking forward to new adventures and opportunities to serve, in ways that motivate and move minds with new ideas of awareness through her music and workshops.
Bobbi is wise in ways of the heart and asks others to step out and take risks. She says, “We are all ‘leaners, learners and leaders at different times.” A favorite quote from her mother is “Nothing gets old but clothes and cars. If you wait around long enough, they’ll come back in style.” This 3rd act has become an encore and Bobbi is just getting started.
Connect with Bobbi Wilsyn:
Email: bwilsyn@att.net
You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bobbi+Wilsyn
Dr. Holstein, a vocal advocate for women aging, speaks both to individuals and the larger politic. She urges women to own their age—if you are old, acknowledge it. Live by your norms, not those for people far younger: Intergenerational conversations are important. Dr. Holstein raises awareness of how differentials concerning race, class, religion, and sexual identity affect the problems we encounter and the choices available for how we age and live. Individual solutions are insufficient; political-systemic answers are needed to remedy ills around aging, especially aging women. If we don’t accept and respect our age, how will we identify those problems associated with being old and work toward resolving them?
The personal is political--ageism and social disparities inhibit women from making meaningful choices of how to live well while aging. - Martha Holstein, Ph.D.
Contact Information:
Mbholstein360@gmail.com
Holstein, M. (2015). Women in Late Life: Critical Perspectives on Gender and Age. Rowman & Littlefield.
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An Uncommon Life
From childhood, Sallie longed to communicate with creatures different from her - human and otherwise. Her difficult upbringing and early adulthood influenced the paths she chose in her life. A white woman growing up in the south, guided by a black nurse/companion/teacher, she used these formative experiences to become an eloquent writer, educator, editor, advocate – and finally, falconer.
“I learned patience from caring for injured hawks, and how to turn off my internal chatter so I could listen and truly hear them.” - Sallie Reynolds
Sallie has taught herself two skills vital to these aims: to shut off the internal chatter that interferes with real listening, and, with painful patience, to recognize and reject the attitudes she absorbed growing up. She began writing at age 3, dictating the story of Adam and Eve, sans rib, to her aunt. Today, she is the author of 3 books, plus a long multi-volume novel about the Jim Crow South, newly completed.
Connect with Sallie:
Email: salliereynolds@gmail.com
Website: https://.takethemoment.org
Read her books: Rapture & Virginia Primitive, both available on Amazon
Also, Ordinary Expectations, 3 Volumes, manuscript
https://www.amazon.com/Sallie-Reynolds/e/B00I171RGA?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000
Link to article on falconry: https://www.ginnyrorby.org/blog
Living in 9 places in 11 years taught Diana how to adapt as a young woman. She had to figure things out. First an art therapist and then a school adjustment counselor, Diana realized she would need multiple degrees to further her career and provide her with the necessary skills to ultimately become a marriage and family therapist.
Quote: “Assess & adapt in each stage - adapting is key to thriving.”
“The family is a system, with lots of puzzle pieces to try to figure out in order to help people better their relationships and lives,” she says. She began a long-term private practice and while at The Family Center in Massachusetts became head of the couples program. After her first marriage ended, later in life she married Howard Kassler and found a deep love and companionship that lasted until he passed away in 2019. This is her story.
Connect with Diana:
Email: dianaappell@gmail.com
Psychology Today article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/diana-kassler-appell-boston-ma/91204
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Nancy Reid started her career as a greeter at a television executives conference in Miami, FL. The executive who hired her was so impressed by her innate ability to sell that he asked if he could professionally mentor her. That launched her into 30 years as a sales professional for a variety of organizations including video production houses, a diversity and inclusion consulting firm, children’s book publishing, healthcare businesses and so much more. Healthcare led her to become President of Women in Bio in 2018, a national association for women in the life sciences and biotech fields where she created a flourishing mentorship program for the organization.
“My business succeeds as a direct result of all the relationships I nurture.” - Nancy Reid
6 years ago, Nancy’s fiance died by suicide which tested every ounce of strength she had. Joining a survivors’ group and relying on her girl (and men) friends got her through. What role do women’s friendships play in her life? It’s genuine love that flourishes because women listen and are not judgmental.
Connect with Nancy:
Email: nancyloureid@gmail.com
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Website:https://womenover70.com
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Lydia shares stunning revelations about the importance of friendship for humans and other species, drawing on her recent book, -Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond. Science tells us that friendship is as important to our health as diet and exercise. Quality friendships positively affect our cardiovascular and immune systems, our cognitive and mental health, and even the rate at which our cells age. Quality friendships are long-lasting, positive and cooperative. Over the age of 65, friendships are our most important relationships and can fill the void of losing a life partner. Friends can be made at any stage in life; however, we will be most satisfied if we make time for friendships throughout our lives. Consider this: friendship is part of our evolutionary story--‘survival of the friendliest!’
"Friendship is relevant to every person on the globe at every time in their lives." - Lydia Denworth
Contact Information:
Email: lydia@lydiadenworth.com
Website: https://lydiadenworth.com
Denworth, L. (2020). Friendship: The evolution, biology, and extraordinary power of life’s fundamental bond. W.W. Norton & Co.
These days, Emily Axelrod, age 77, uses the camera to record significant aspects of life, from photos of birds in natural habitat to survivors of the holocaust. She looks in new ways, whether guiding transformational change in large organizations, coaching women on revealing their talents, exploring nature travel, living with teen-age grandsons, providing support for immigrant families, or chronicling stories of holocaust survivors. A supporter of women’s rights, Emily advises women on ways to speak up and be appreciated. Emily thinks about aging in terms of “keeping up the body-machine” and dancing for as long as she can.
"Transformational efforts in the workplace offer women ways to be seen and appreciated." - Emily Axelrod
Contact Information:
emily@axelrodgroup.com
www.theaxelrodgroup.com
Co-author with Dick Axelrod (2014) Let’s Stop Meeting Like This: Tools to Save Time and Get More Done.
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Pregnant at 15, Sandy gave up her baby for adoption. 20 years later, she and her son were reunited, in no small part due to her advocacy efforts and work with Concerned United BirthParents and American Adoption Congress.
"My joy comes in working with people, talking to people, being a resource for people." - Sandy Rogers
Resilient and capable, Sandy has always found her way, pivoting her career many times until, today, she works full time for a state agency and supports the holistic community she engaged in, through her Ask Sandy Rogers website. Everything she has accomplished is because she went after it. And, as she says, she “is in tremendous gratitude for her good health”.
Connect with Sandy Rogers
Website: https://www.AskSandyRogers.com
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Maintaining social distance, Catherine and Gail “ get real” as they reflect on their lives in light of the global pandemic. They discuss what disruption looks and feel like, the meaning of time left, the need to connect with family and friends, and the rewards of collaborating with individuals and groups.
Gail reads a passage from:
Ending Ageism, or How Not to Shoot Old People (Global Perspectives on Aging)
By Margret Morganroth Gullette
Listen to Episodes by Season
https://womenover70.com/season-two/
https://womenover70.com/season-one/
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Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Susan, age 71, reflects on the life steps that brought her from farm life in Minnesota, to advanced degrees and licensures in Virginia, to a faculty position in Oregon—a new Ph.D. at age 50. While on sabbatical from her work in marriage and family counseling, Susan traveled around the world for 2 ½ months. Susan’s second trip to Africa inspired her to write a children’s book that offers comfort and hope for children who have lost parents and other loved ones. Susan is adapting to life in retirement with her husband, 20 years her senior.
"Step by step, one foot in front of the other, new lives open before you." - Susan Halverson Westerberg
Take-Aways
-
See what’s in front of you, take the next step, and keep going.
-
Being in relationship with an older partner just takes conversation, compromise, and a bit of counseling.
- Offer what you know—in my case, counseling children and families—in as many ways as you can.
Contact Information
Email: sehalv@msn.com
Margaret’s Family Tree: A Story of Hope and Belonging (2016). Book version available on Amazon (Susan Halverson). Coloring book version, written in English & Swahili, available (free)—http://works.bepress.com/susan-halverson/1/
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Marion, age 103, is a long-time resident of Plymouth Place Senior Living in LaGrange Park, IL. For her 100th birthday, Marion threw a cocktail party for 100 people and 3 animals from the Brookfield Zoo. She also gave up her car that year. Marion reflects on her “wonderful life:” a large, loving family; 35 years of marriage; travel to China, Egypt, and Kenya; and 29 years living at Plymouth Place. Marion likes to be social—she joined a Sewing Club (she did not sew) and a Riding Club (she did not ride). A lover of animals and the outdoors, Marion continues to visit the Brookfield Zoo and Chicago Arboretum. Marion applauds the independence of women today who manage career and home.
"If you want to do something, even by yourself, do it and enjoy it." - Marion Giles
Take-aways:
- Try to make friends, wherever you go.
- Consider having an animal named after you: mine is a Wallaby.
- Find a wonderful place, like I did, to live the last years of your life.
Connect with Marion:
Katy Coffey, Director of Life Enrichment
kcoffey@plymouthplace.org 708-482-6647
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Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please review our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Lydia Manning’s formative years include fond memories of relationships with elder members of her family. Her experiences put her on a path to create a unique set of skills to work both in academia and entrepreneurship to help people think about aging.
“I wasn’t prepared for so many resilience narratives during my research on older adults.” - Lydia Manning Ph. D
Our society segments people by their ages, yet intergenerational interactions lead to higher levels of satisfaction for all generations. In the workplace, older workers bring institutional history and have higher levels of crystallized intelligence based on complex cognitive realities in the brain.
Lydia is trained as an End of Life Doula and provides non-medical emotional, legacy work. She is also a certified dementia consultant through the Dementia Friendly Association.
Connect with Lydia:
Website: http://www.lydiamanning.com/
Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, IL: https://www.cuchicago.edu/academics/
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Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Please review our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Mary Reckhemmer-Meyer grew up in North Dakota on a farm. Today she lives in Surprise, AZ. Experiences like being divorced after 26 years of marriage and dealing with a serious cancer illness led her on a journey to find herself.
“Life sometimes isn’t easy. You just have to walk through the process.” - Mary Reckhemmer-Meyer
In the process she became first, an insurance agent and later, a real estate agent. Eventually, she married a man 8 years her junior. This is her story: I Meant it for Good: A Memoir of Dreaming, Visualizing and Becoming My Authentic Self, published in March, 2020.
Connect with Mary Rechkemmer-Meyer:
Website: http://maryrechkemmermeyer.com
Purchase her Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733995889
Visit her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DreamandVisualize.
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please review our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
At age 76, Dianne Michels continues to reinvent herself, having explored several careers before finding her passion in Human Resources as an HR Futurist. She believes retirement is an outdated concept that implies work is a burden you survive rather than her definition -- a gift of participation, contribution, and self-expression. That kind of work doesn’t have an expiration date.
Dianne is launching a new business, Possibility Partners, to create workplaces where possibilities are infinite and Human Resources can play a much more impactful business advisor role in organizations.
“Results matter, and people are at the heart of it.” - Dianne Michels
Takeaways:
- Transparency is a key factor in communications that build relationships of mutual trust and respect
- HR leaders can champion new frameworks for everyone interacting as possibility partners collaborating together to unleash purpose, power, and potential
- Successful culture shifts that focus on such a possibility require alignment and support from the CEO or it can’t happen
Connect with Dianne:
Email: dianne@possibilitypartners.org
Website: http://possibilitypartners.org
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Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please review our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Chris Hauri lives with the spirit of creativity and fun. As an entrepreneur and intrapreneur, Chris leads individuals and groups—e.g., The Human Company (currently), The Grand Group, Girl Scouts, Crayola -- to tap into their creative and intuitive thinking. She cautions that rational, linear thinking alone cannot solve complex problems facing humanity, such as climate change and pandemics. Chris’ legacy is to help women over 60 age with dignity and fun, and to support the education of girls on a global scale. And, she does stand-up comedy!
"If you can do something, do it in a fun way." - Chris Hauri
Take Away
- Innate in all of us is creative and intuitive thinking—tap into it.
- Strive to have fun in your life-- lots of it.
- Connections matter—relationships keep us lively.
Contact Chris Hauri
Email: chris@white-iguana.comWeb: www.squircleacademy.com Book: SQUIRCLE: A new way to think in a new world. Available on Amazon, June 22, 2020
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Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
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Equal Part Irreverent Rascal & Kick-Butt Coach
“I’m going to keep moving on until I can’t move on anymore.” - Pat Honiotes
A voice for the voiceless, Pat’s life-long career has focused on finding tools she can use to support the voiceless until they gain a voice of their own - children in special education, people with disabilities, the behaviorally disordered and more. From teacher to counselor to Medical Hypnoanalyst, Pat dedicated herself to her work.
Today, Pat’s clients come through the door of business. She is the creator of Straight Talk Videos, the 80-hour Work Week Cure and author of The Practical Guide to Figuring Yourself Out - How to go from Stuck to Star of Your Life.
Take aways:
- It’s never too late to take risks for your dreams
- The message inside you needs visibility in the world
- Age specific communities are not for everyone
Connect with Pat Honiotes:
Email: pat@pathoniotes.com
Website: https://www.pathoniotes.com/
Program: The 80-hour Work Week Cure
Book: The Practical Guide to Figuring Yourself Out - How to go from Stuck to Star of Your Life.
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined/
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Podcast: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenover70/
Sky Bergman set out to pay tribute to her very active 99 year-old grandmother. She soon realized that “everyone has a story to tell if we just take time to listen.” Sky’s listening project evolved into a documentary feature length film starring 40 people between ages 75-100 (two-thirds of whom are women). These are stories about resilience in the face of hardship and loss. These are stories about love, learning and giving back. Sky shares life lessons from these inspiring individuals. She highlights how story can bring the generations together.
I am combatting ageism one story, one connection at a time. - Sky Bergman
Contact Sky Bergman
www.lives-well-lived.com
lives.well.lived@gmail.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Podcast: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenover70/
YouTube: WomenOver70
Active writer, and published author, Mary Gray graduated from Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University in 1955. A long career in public relations, then as a corporate travel agent, led Mary to ghostwriting and worldwide travel. She always traveled to the places she wrote about so she could experience them for herself and bring them to life for her readers.
Poetic Justice, her recent novel, was a semi-finalist as a novel-in-progress in the 2017 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition before it was contracted to Adelaide Books. Also available on Amazon. Mary is active in local writers and book groups, works with the Goodman Theatre GeNarrations - creating the spoken word, and is a committee member of the Village of Chicago.
"Walking the beach is the answer to managing rough periods in your life." - Mary Gray
TAKEAWAYS:
- Keep following your dreams - rainbows do exist
- Practice your art until you become skilled in it, then use your art because it is yours
- Do not let others prevent you from being the best you can be
Connect with Mary Gray.:
Email: marychicagogray@gmail.com.
Book: Poetic Justice
Poetic Justice is available from the publisher adelaidebooks.org, amazon.com and bookshop.org (an organization of independent bookstores that shares profits from sales with all participating booksellers).
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Podcast: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenover70/
Frances Fuller grew up in poverty. All of her books belonged to the state of Arkansas. Her mother had a 4th grade education. It is a wonder, then, that Frances became a writer and publisher and left a legacy in the form of an entire body of literature in Arabic, for Arabic children.
From an early age, Frances was a devotee of the American columnist, Ernie Pyle. Committing to a lifetime of missionary work in Lebanon and Jordan combined her two loves: the Christian faith and journalism.
Initially, she worked with groups of Americans as their press representative, and reported to America what was happening in Beirut. Soon, she became the director of a small publishing house and produced children’s curricula. On one of her furloughs home, she determined to teach others how to write so that the curricula could be produced in Arabic by Arabs for the Muslim world. That was when decided she had to know what the process of writing was in order to teach Arabs how to write. She earned her Master’s degree in English and then returned.
Author of 2 books, we spoke extensively with Frances about her recent memoir.
“When we get it done, we’ll know how to do it.” - Frances Fuller
Takeaways:
- Children thrive in uncertain circumstances when they believe in your passion for your work.
- Journalism is a tool with which to do many things.
- Life during wartime in Lebanon was chaotic, but manageable.
Connect with Frances Fuller:
Email: frances0516@att.net
Books: In Borrowed Houses: A True Story of Love and Faith Amidst War in Lebanon
Helping Yourself Grow Old: Things I Said to Myself When I Was Almost Ninety
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please review our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Master mediator, attorney, author and professor, Mari Frank is a bundle of energy and information. Her primary focus is conflict management and she helps women (and men) get what they want. Mari believes in emotional intelligence and how having it increases our self-awareness and ability to deal with other peoples’ emotions.
She also understands the importance of touch and that committed relationships are so much more than purely sexual. Intimacy can be achieved best when both parties talk about how they feel in the first person.
Mari is warm, funny and intelligent. She is working to end the bias towards people over 50 and believes in intergenerational mentoring.
"Solutioneering is more financially and emotionally advantageous than a court battle." - Mari Frank
Takeaways:
- New or long-term relationships (personal or professional) need continuous positive communication to thrive.
- Your later years are when you come to know yourself best.
- Expect respect and you will earn it.
Connect with Mari Frank, Esq.:
http://marifrank.com
http://conflicthealing.com
mari@marifrank.com
Books: Fighting for Love: Turn Conflict Into Intimacy - A Couple’s Guide
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
For the past five decades, Rebecca Sive, age 70, has built coalitions—across lines of age, ethnicity, race, gender, and political persuasion-- to address a range of social issues. Her primary focus is advancing women’s rights in all fronts, especially their leadership in local and national politics. Rebecca’s rich experiences as a public official, civic leader, political analyst, historian, college teacher, and speaker are fodder for her books on getting women into public office and her podcast #VoteHerIn. She appeals to younger women to appreciate and draw on the hard-earned wisdom of older women who have broken down so many institutional and systemic barriers.
Take-Aways:
- You can build coalitions by finding common denominators that transcend differences.
- Every day is the time to do something you think is worth doing, for others and for self.
- Lead a life that is rich in your contributions to the common good
- We get older and wiser and have so much to contribute.
Contact Information:
- rebecca@rebeccasive.com
- www.rebeccasive.com
- Podcast: #VoteHerIn
- For speaker: annette@speakerforall.com
Books:
- Vote Her In: Your Guide to Electing Our First Woman President (2018)
- Every Day Is Election Day: A Woman’s Guide to Winning Any Office, from the PTA to the White House (2013)
Dinah Lin began life in Shanghai, China. She, along with her mother and two siblings, escaped on the last boat out of Shanghai in 1949, just before the Communists closed the borders. Her father was already in the United States on a research grant. Dinah grew up in Ohio, then after college she spent 15 years in five countries in Asia as a young wife and mother. At 38, she went back to school to get her MBA from Columbia Business School as she made her transition from stay-at-home mom to international business executive. At 58, Dinah followed a dream and moved to Beijing to study Chinese and reconnect with her roots. At 73, she finally realized a long held dream and wrote her bestselling memoir, “Daring to Dream Once Again - It’s Never Too Late!”.
"Listen to your heart, the heart has a wisdom, and it will not lead you astray." Dinah Lin
Take-Aways:
- If your head and heart don’t agree, follow your heart, it will not lead you astray
- Remember to look for the opportunity in your crises, they are blessings in disguise
- A true dream never dies...it waits patiently for you to take action
- Eating less, exercising regularly and maintaining an attitude of gratitude will help you to look and feel vibrant and energetic
Book: A Memoir: Daring to Dream Once Again - It’s Never Too Late!
Email: dinah@thedinahlin.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theDinahLin
Linkedin: https://Linkedin.com/in/Dinah-Lin
You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDinah888
Description: Sue Ross, age 74, took 8 years to transition from her full-time faculty position in Social Work to “being done” in 2018. Even though Sue taught gerontology and retirement transition, she needed plenty of time to “find my way” through the process. A ‘spinster’ by choice, Sue’s curious mind, thirst for travel, self-reliance, and commitment to community has led her to work in several fields, visit many parts of the world, connect with spiritual communities, and be planful about what may lie ahead. Living solo, and for nearly 30 years with ‘silent disabilities,’ Sue is strategic about the kind of ‘home’ she wants to create for the next phases of her life.
"Just because you ‘know’ something doesn’t mean you can skip living through it." - Susan Ross
Take-Aways:
- Every retiree needs to find her own way.
- Intentionally seek ways to socialize that generate energy
- Living single teaches to take good care of yourself; no one else will do it for you.
- Be honest with yourself about future realities, and plan wisely for them.
Contact Information:
rosssu@sbcglobal.net
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen to Episodes by Season https://womenover70.com/season-two/
https://womenover70.com/season-one/
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
Amid a global pandemic, from separate locations, Catherine and Gail reflect on themes that emerge from the inspiring and provocative stories of our guests. In this retrospective episode, we highlight women who have experienced spiritual awakenings and now focus on healing; others, who have dedicated their lives to righting injustices, who find joy and happiness in the ‘now’ of life, and who are working to create pathways for the next generation.
4 themes that emerged throughout episodes 31-44:
Spiritual Awakenings
Episodes # 37, 38, 35, 31, 44
Social Activism
Episodes #32, 36, 39
Finding Passion in our Present Phase
42, 34, 41, 33
Creating Pathways for Younger Women
40, 39, 74
Listen to Episodes by Season
https://womenover70.com/season-two/
https://womenover70.com/season-one/
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.
Jennifer is an inspiring advocate of aging. A horrific accident that fatally killed all members of a friend’s family, plus her own bout of unremitting pain from a shingles attack, completely shook her faith. The path she embarked on resulted in authoring her 1st book in 2006: “Becoming Conscious - 1 Woman’s Story of Spiritual Awakening”. Jennifer takes her work, health, fitness and positive attitude very seriously. At 81 she has totally reinvented herself and has collaborated with 5 authors which led to her publishing her own book, and that led to ghostwriting 2 other books (so far) from scratch.
Remarried to a man 10 years younger, she lives what she says. As you listen to her speak, you unravel the path she took from where she was to where she is now. Her goal at age 90 is to be able to climb 2 flights of stairs carrying 2 bags of groceries.
“What we focus on expands & what we are grateful for multiplies” - Jennifer Grainger
Takeaways:
- Growing up with an inactive left brain only means you have so much to look forward to as you learn to develop it.
- Copywriting and ghostwriting are similar in name only.
- Be conscious of the words we say. Words have so much power.
Connect with Jennifer Grainger:
Website: https://JenniferGrainger.com
Email: jennifer@jennifergrainger.com
Email: jennifer@jennifertheeditor.com
Book: Becoming Conscious - 1 Woman’s Story of Spiritual Awakening
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
As soon as the conversation starts with Jackie Walker, you are drawn in. Here is a woman who has spent her entire career in mainstream fashion, first on the retail floor, then in HR. And then she had an AHA. She reinvented herself and became known as the Dr. of Closetology. Author, speaker, consultant. She has written many books, including one for tweens named Expressionista. Jackie works with women, is passionate about women, and took clothing to a higher purpose so you can discover your internal personna and bring your closet into harmony with your life.
Quote: “A woman’s vision of herself has less to do with how she looks and everything to do with what she thinks.”
Takeaways:
- Your closet must be in harmony with who you really are if you are to be satisfied when you look in the mirror
- There is no such thing as age, weight, size - we are all beautiful and unique
- Never think about aging - just maintain excitement for what comes next
Connect with Jackie Walker:
Website:: https://JackieWalker.com
Book: I Don’t Have a Thing to Wear - the Psychology of Your Closet
Book: Expressionista - How to Express Your True Self, through (and despite) Fashion
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JackieWalkerDunscomb/
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
Come springtime, you will find 70 year old Linda Schaefer at the Minnesota Twins ballpark, where she works as an usher about 55 days of the season. Linda’s love of the Twins spans over 60 years, starting in grade school when she listened (yes, listened, no TV) to games with her parents on their farm. She never outgrew this passion. The ballpark is Linda’s ‘happy place,’ which provided respite during 42 years as a full-time nurse, mostly working Intensive Care and ER during the night shift. Linda describes the culture shock of small-town girl exposed to the brutalities of battered women, neglected children, rape and gun shot victims. What began as a form of therapy—creating customized greeting cards—Linda now does for pure pleasure; and is happy to take orders for sale.
"Being alone is an opportunity to spread your wings and fly."- Linda Schaefer
Take-Aways
- Stay active; do what you want; be where you want
- You need to have something outside of yourself—family, friends, hobbies
- Avoid a victim mindset; rather, be the master of your own destiny
- “I used to think about aging but since I’ve gotten there, I don’t think about it much.”
Contact:
Lindaschaefer99@comcast.net
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram:WomenOver70
Cory Ryan is a former nun of the Congregation of Maryknoll Sisters in Maryknoll, New York. She saw it as a way to pursue a life of exploration and service. She participated during a period of time when the church began to recognize that sisters were individuals. However, she decided this was not how she would spend her life.
Cory was a social activist whose explorations took her to 13 countries in 2 years, returning to New York to live and work. After trying corporate life, she entered the world of non-profit in areas of addiction, HIV Aids and domestic violence.
A good part of her career centered on abused women and their children and continued until her retirement in 2014. As Cory says, she walked away with a smile on her face. Life after retirement has been active to say the least. You will gain inspiration from all the ways Cory has reimagined aging.
"Higher education and training can provide more versatility and advancement in nonprofits." - Cordelia Ryan
Takeaways:
- Travel that exposes us to other cultures provides a better sense of our own place in the world
- Volunteering that requires learning new skills keeps the aging mind more agile
- I am grateful to have lived to see women reach for and begin to gain equality
Connect with Cordelia Ryan:
Email: ryancordelia@gmail.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram:WomenOver70
Would you want your claim to fame be that you attacked a mysterious shooter, at your monthly Board Meeting in 2010, by smacking him in the head with your small (Brahmin) purse? At this Bay District school board meeting, with 300+ people attending, Ginger Littleton chose bravery over safety and did not exit when she had the opportunity to escape. Doors continue to open for her as people recognize that she is the ‘woman with the purse’.
Today, Ginger is brave in so many other ways. As the Director of the STEM Institute at Florida State University in Panama City, Florida, she consistently creates programs that attract students into physics and other STEM subjects. Her most recent accomplishment? The 2019 Nuclear Science Camp in Florida.
"All kids can fly, some just need a longer runway”. - Ginger Littleton
Takeaways:
- When you always question the needs that exist, you can find ways to solve them
- Remember who you are and what you represent
- Believe there can be a more equitable playground for all kinds of kids
Connect with Ginger Littleton:
Email: glittleton@pc.fsu.edu
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1345166715655554/?notif_id=1583384664776770¬if_t=groups_invite_confirmed_feedback&ref=notif
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
At age 74, Heather Booth thrives as a visionary leader who makes big change happen. Ever since her teen years, Heather has championed social movements and built organizations—civil rights, women’s rights, labor rights, and others. She describes her entry into organizing in the 1960s and her founding, in the 1970s, of the Midwest Academy, a national training institute, that unites community organizing with “movement’ background and spirit.” A long-time resident of Washington D.C., Heather advises organizations and leaders on adapting strategies for changing times. The death of Heather’s husband two years ago—her movement partner—rocked her world. Yet she describes herself as a ‘long distance runner’ who keeps visions alive.
"We must build and exercise the public power for social good." - Heather Booth
Take-Aways:
- Sometimes one must stand up to illegitimate authority.
- Do what gives you joy in life.
- Build community around family, friends, others—and cultivate relationships.
- Plan strategically, not just to protest, but to build power.
- If we organize, we can change the world. We need to organize.
Contact Information:
hboothgo@aol.com
www.heatherbooththefilm Changing the World
www.MidwestAcademy.com
Connect with Catherine & Gail:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Facebook Group: Women Over 70 Aging Reimagined Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1345166715655554/
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Born and raised in Kobe, Japan, Yukiko moved to the United States in the 9th grade when her father accepted a job in New York. After 4 years, her family returned to Japan. She was determined to complete her education in the States.
Graduating from City College of New York with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, Yukiko worked in corporate environments for several years, then went on to complete a Master of Arts degree in Early Childhood, Curriculum and Teaching. Twice, Yukiko sublimated her own interests to her husbands’. Twice she divorced, finally recognizing her true strength was to be a healer. She returned to Japan for two years to study with a well-known Zen master.
As her story unfolds we are struck by her unrelenting perseverance to follow a path that serves others and honors the body’s wisdom. Today she teaches Yoga, coaches men and women and applies her 7-Step Blueprint of “Soul Mind Body Revitalization” to transform our personal and business lives so we can enjoy and share an abundant lifestyle.
“What people do matters - honor what the universe offers to us.” - Yukiko Iino
Takeaways:
- You can elevate human potential and personal development through spiritual mind/body training
- Learn the stewardship of the land through sustainable farming
- Subjugating yourself for another person results in loss of your identity
Connect with Yukiko Iino:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yukikolino
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
Jania Aebi, age 86, lives and works in Switzerland as a healer. Challenges have always shaped her. Born in Poland before World War II, she was sent to England at 11 years old to continue her studies. She had no language, no family and a belief system that differed from the majority of her classmates. Early on, Jania learned to construct a map of the world by which she could navigate in the most comfortable way possible. “Everyone’s map,” she says, “is based on your own truth, your individual perspective of your life”.
At 9, Jania asked God for the ability to unconditionally forgive, never realizing that at age 75, having discovered her life’s purpose, forgiveness would take on a whole changed meaning.
This extraordinary woman has lived in Poland, England, West Africa, Switzerland and France. Her husband was killed in a flying accident in West Africa and her only son was murdered when she was 63. How has she survived? Through spiritual work that eventually led to her true purpose of being a healer.
Jania works remotely over Skype. She addresses the emotions that get stuck in our bodies and cause pain or disease. Releasing the emotions results in healing. If not released, they simply keep manifesting as other illnesses. She also heals pets.
“Heal your life, be the best version of you, and begin to live your dreams.” - Jania Aebi
Connect with Jania Aebi:
www.JaniaAebi.com
Book: Your Infinite Power - The Hidden Path to Manifesting Real Freedom & Abundance. Available at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Jania+Aebi&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
In this episode, Gail and Catherine talk with Jacky about her long career advocating for equitable transportation and environmental justice. She has worked with the nonprofit Center for Neighborhood Technology since 1992, currently in a part-time role as Vice President for Government Affairs. We hear how transportation affects all aspects of our lives, particularly access to opportunities for medium and low-income families. Jacky has long been a champion for women and minorities to enter male-dominated, STEM fields. On a personal note, her retirement plans changed dramatically when her husband died. Jacky describes how she stays active and engaged with her passion projects, relationships, and travel.
"Transportation is fundamental to sustainable urban living." - Jacky Grimshaw
Take-Aways
- Everything in our lives is governed by political decisions—participate as a social being
- Without access to transportation, people are shut out from essential opportunities
- Women need more information and training to work in male-dominated fields
- When life plans are disrupted, pivot and find other ways to stay active and engaged
Connect with Jacky Grimshaw
jacky@cnt.org
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
Pam’s life has unfolded in unpredictable fashion. Her experience, and practical work, as a counseling psychologist, led her to understand she was a healer. As she began to rely more and more on her intuition, she could access, through her clients, information from their pasts that enabled them to co-create a healing experience. Guided meditation let them tap deeper into unconscious resources and find their own way of healing.
Before her dad passed, it was Spirit that told both of them they were destined to have an afterlife connection. Later (after he died) he confirmed this.
And, have they ever! At 63, Pam closed her practice and, sitting by a tree in her avocado grove in San Diego County, she began to allow their joint story to unfold. Soon her mother and grandparents spoke to her as well. She came to understand that it would be through her that generations of alcoholism and abuse could be transformed forever, allowing the healing they all so desperately hoped for to take place. Their book, “The Promise of Soul Love - Unexpected Gifts from Here and Beyond” will be released shortly and details their story.
“Every setback is a challenge that informs how to move forward.” - Dr. Pam Culley-McCullough
TAKEAWAYS:
- Heed your intuition and do not be afraid to trust in it
- The unknown can be unnerving - fight through it to understand why you need to know it
- Transformation is difficult and all-powerful
Connect with Pam:
https://www.pamculley-mccullough.com
pam@pamcmc.com
Resource: Christine Kloser, https://christinekloser.com/
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Peggy’s love of life caused her career to move across many paths. She never expected to travel, live in unexpected places or have the life experiences she did. A graduate in biological science/zoology, it was only as field editor for Better Homes & Gardens that she even got close to animals, and these were of the garden variety. At an early age she expected to have a boring life but never wanted to regret it so decided to push herself, inspired by Georgia O’Keefe’s declaration that “I am always terrified, but I do it anyway.” Peggy’s story is inspiring and urges us to keep on living the life we are meant to live. Since retiring in 2008, she maintains her enthusiasm for life and describes how she has found her way. “After fifty years of long commutes, high stress work, constant business travel and endless committee meetings, it is a treat to sit quietly in my garden, join clubs I had not had time to explore and read a good book on a winters day with a cup of tea and very good chocolate to keep me company.”
“Retirement is just as much a discovery as previous phases of my life.”
Takeaways:
- Be patient – in retirement keep trying to find what stimulates you
- Make a plan that includes how, and where, you want to live as you get older
- Do not accept invisibility – determine to remain upbeat, present and seen
Connect with Catherine & Gail
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: Womenover70
Resources:
Abbey’s Closet – https://www.abbyscloset.org/ (gives away prom dresses)
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute - https://www.olli-umich.org/ (Olli programs exist through many universities across the country.)
Senior Studies Institute - https://www.ssipdx.org/
Growing up in a patriarchal Irish Catholic home, Rita followed her 2 older siblings into the convent, believing a life of service was only available inside a religious community. 12 years later she had come to understand that she could be a witness and advocate for others outside of the convent. What followed was an extraordinary life dedicated to working with children, families and, later, detained immigrants.
Every time in her life, when Rita felt a gap in knowledge she would find a way to fill it. Through courses, workshops and certifications in practice, she grew confident and capable to be of service.
As Rita approached retirement, unwilling to be seen as a ‘creaky old therapist’, with lots of life ahead of her, she understood she could continue her life of purpose, commitment and social justice outside of the psychological field. Her preparation of her clients for termination, many of whom she had worked with for 15 years, became a model for other retiring therapists.
“Don’t jump into volunteer work when you retire; instead, take time to reflect on your purpose and lead with your heart." - Rita Corley Baker
Takeaways:
- Losing your life companion doesn’t mean losing the life you loved together.
- Giving to others is a gift to yourself.
- Be broad in your purpose, stay connected with others, and be brave - ask for assistance and you will receive it.
- Athletics, travel on your own, and curiosity enrich your life no matter your age.
Connect with Rita Corley Baker:
corley.baker@gmail.com
Resource: The Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants: https://www.icdichicago.org/
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: Womenover70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Gerda discuss her lifelong commitment to creating art that bears witness to human experiences of conflict, disruption, loss, prejudice, and violence. Gerda chronicles her early life history as a Jew in Germany, including being on the last Kinder Transport to leave Germany, living in London and coming to live in Chicago. Recognized internationally for her Installation Art, Gerda exposes ‘man’s inhumanities to man’ with the hope of helping unite people and cultures across their differences. Gerda describes herself as a feminist and optimist who wants to do something about inhumanity all over the world.
" My art is a contribution to helping people be aware of social injustices around the world, historically and right now." - Gerda Meyer Bernstein
Take-Aways:
- I create strong emotional pieces to change people’s ways of thinking about life
- The female coop art gallery I helped start 47 years ago is still in existence—ARC Artists Residents of Chicago
- In the face of harsh realities of life, optimism persists
- I never thought I could enjoy life in a wheel chair, but, indeed, I do.
Contact Information:
gerdabernstein@gmail.com
ARC Gallery https://arcgallery.org/
More about Gerda’s Installation Art: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc2H7iGTDYk
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Donna Marie discuss:
- What happened when Donna Marie hit a wall and how she emerged whole.
- How blindly joining a Women’s Circle completely changed her life.
- How difficult life can get and how exhilarating it is to get it back.
Donna Marie spent 28 years in a convent and when she decided to leave she had no plan for what would happen next. Her hard-fought ability to rediscover her essence enabled her to emerge as a beautiful butterfly. She now helps other women to reconnect when life throws a curve in their path, weaving together techniques involving movement, drawing and writing that she learned in an expressive arts training program in the midst of her journey toward wholeness and re-engagement. The workshops she offers women tap into their bodies’ wisdom and lead to amazing breakthroughs and insights for the participants.
“You don’t have to do anything. Just be.” - Donna Marie Scheifler
Take-Aways:
- The stages of a woman’s life continue to change - lessons learned from each
- Never fear aging - your crone wisdom guides you along the way
- Look at your life as a woman, appreciating each season you live
Connect with Donna Marie Scheifler:
Email: Donna@YourTimetoBlossom.com
Website: https://www.yourtimetoblossom.com
Download your FREE eBook: 3 Major Myths about Women 50+. Side-step these Myths and Get on with Your Life.
FB Business Page: https://www.facebook.com/donnamariescheifler
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenintransitioninmidlifeandbeyond
Donna’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com (search Donna Scheifler)
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Periodically, Catherine and Gail will reflect on themes that emerge from the inspiring and provocative stories of our guests. In this first retrospective episode, we highlight four themes that emerged during 2019: living by choice; reinventing oneself; exercising resilience; and, pioneering for social change. We illustrate these themes with brief glimpses into the lives of some of our guests. Here is a list of must-listen episodes on these themes.
Living by Choice: Our power is in the choices we make, even when we can’t control what happens to us.
Episodes #: 26, 23, 21, 4
Reinventing Oneself / Exercising Resilience: When we make major changes in who we are and what we do, it requires grit and keeping your eye on future possibilities.
Episodes #: 17, 16, 13, 10, 6,
Pioneering for Social Change: Seeing clearly the realities of social injustices and working for positive change, without giving in or up.
Episodes #: 25, 12, 9, 7
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Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Twitter: @womenover70
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Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher,
Please rate our show and subscribe. This is how we grow.
In this episode, Catherine and Gail discuss why Sherry Anshara is a quiet rebel who managed to circumvent the system. We ask her what it means to be a Medical Intuitive. Numerous CDs, courses, her books and her work with clients chronicle this path. Sherry doesn’t believe in aging or that you have to age!!! She says, “Consciousness starts the minute the sperm hits the egg.” That is key to her breakthrough book, Take Back Your Power - You Becoming You.
"From the beginning, I was always asking questions.” - Sherry Anshara
Takeaways
- Use both sides of your brain. Your left brain helps you organize your life. When you are willing, both sides of your brain come together.
- All fear is lack of information. When you have the information you need to make informed choices, the fear disappears.
-
Our life consists of these 4 repetitive tasks:
- Creating
- Implementing
- Manifesting
- Actualizing
- Laughter is the best medicine
Connect with Sherry Anshara:
Sherry@SherryAnshara.com
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/conversationswithsherryanshara/
FB Business Page: https://www.facebook.com/AnsharaHQ/
Anshara Website: https://www.sherryanshara.com/
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherryanshara
In this episode, Catherine, Gail and Naomi discuss Naomi’s long-term advocacy to improve the quality of life for older people, especially low-income women and minorities. Naomi has moved from being a grant-seeker to advising on grant making, in her current position as consultant to The Retirement Research Foundation. Among the priorities of this “little gem in aging” are support for care-givers and economic security in later life. Naomi provides sobering statistics about women’s economic preparedness as we age. She offers an optimistic outlook that includes numerous and often untapped resources for aging women. Married for 48 years and now working part-time, Naomi is pleased with the balance in her life.
"There are always more resources for aging women to bolster their financial security." - Naomi Stanhaus
Take-Aways:
- Gain financial literacy early in life
- Admit that you need help and look for it—lots of assistance is available for older women
- Mentor younger women
Contact Information: stanhaus@rrf.org
As a young girl in Houston, Martha’s brother played golf but she was never invited to play. Today, Martha Sue is the reigning LPGA Teaching Professional of 2019, elected unanimously by the prestigious International Association of Top Professionals. She is also an author, life coach, speaker and business professional who recently launched an e-learning course on Thinkific, satisfying her quest to teach executives and professionals who love the GAME but are frustrated at it!
As founder and president of B.I.O.N.I.C. (Believe It Or Not I Can) Golf Pro, Inc., she developed her B.I.O.N.I.C. Golf Pro teaching system to answer the dream of lower scores, greater confidence and a feeling of satisfaction on the golf course.
Quote: “Action with intentional impact gets positive results.”
Take-Aways:
- Perseverance and determination can get you where you want to go
- Serving people with a full heart opens doors
- Never give up on yourself
Connect with Martha Sue Yeary:
Thinkific Course: https://empoweredgolfers.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Joyce discuss Joyce’s love of teaching and writing poetry, her attachment to rural life, and her decade-long experience living with Parkinson’s. Farm girl becomes college professor becomes Minnesota Poet Laureate. In her eight published collections of poetry, Joyce meets head on the challenges of living and dying, conveying beauty and peace, love and acceptance. Listen to Joyce’s reading of Crossroads about the second half of life, and How I’m Doing about her reckoning with Parkinson’s. Joyce has been heard to say, “I never want to know what the last line will be….”
"Poetry is my way of finding out what I think."
Take Aways
- Follow the thing you love the most, using the means you have
- Body behaving badly—understand, accept, maintain it
- Poems tell us things in a language we didn’t know we spoke. They say things in ways we didn’t know we knew.
Contact information:
jsutphen@gustavus.edu
Joyce’s latest publication:
Sutphen, J. (2019). Carrying water to the field: New and selected poems. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press.
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Patricia discuss how Patty’s work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr—starting in her teens-- was instrumental in shaping her life as a social activist and feminist. Dr. King called her a “woman warrior.” Through Patty’s vivid descriptions, we learn about the first women’s studies courses at a local Chicago university, the birth of the Women’s Liberation Union, and how the women’s movement in Chicago crossed class and race lines. As a clinical psychologist, Patty turned to theology—the language of faith and justice—for better answers to healing injustices. Her vision now also includes the arts as vehicles for connecting with a spirit larger than oneself.
"I have no doubt that anything is possible with a dream, friends and resources." - Rev Patricia Novick, Ph.D., D. Min.
Take-Aways:
- Always the vision is to be part of the community—to share it out, to pass it on.
- When something causes you pain, learn about it, seek to understand it.
- Ask yourself—“where have your feet been today?”
- Aging brings more internal understanding, as in “the performance is for others, the dancing is for me.”
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Carol discuss:
Carol’s path, which started when she left the convent in Philadelphia to go on a search for Celtic roots. With a lot of self-discovery along the way, she found Jungian psychotherapy. In her work with patients, Carol began to help them express their feelings through songs she writes and sings to them. The power of group underlines Carol’s most effective work.
"The feminine container often creates a feeling of being invisible - stay connected to your power and wisdom." - Carol Joyce Ph.D.
Take-Aways:
- Through our feminine energy we are built to connect with others
- See yourself from your inner you and resist external forces that can lead to losing yourself
- It’s so interesting to be a woman and experience the changing patterns of our lives
Connect with Carol Joyce:
Email: carolannjoyce@gmail.com
Website: www.caroljoyce.net
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Miriam discuss important lessons learned from profound life experiences. We travel with Miriam from Romania to Israel to Chicago, and through deaths of parents, departure from home of birth, and unanticipated motherhood. These experiences which “punctuated and outlined my life” have enriched Miriam’s passion for teaching, writing, and family and friends.
"My life, made out of fragments, becomes whole with help from family, friends, and writing." - Miriam Ben-Yosef, Ph.D.
Take-Aways—Lessons Learned:
- Anything is possible, and the most important thing in life is to not hurt other people
- Independence and self-reliance are of utmost importance
- Aging provides opportunity to be grateful for what we have, to take advantage of every moment, of all our choices,—rather than dwell on what has been lost
ContactMiriam Ben-Yosef: mben@depaul.edu
http://www.100wordstory.org/my-future-depends-on-it/
compassionandchoices.org
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Carol discuss, Carol’s journey from middle school counselor to corporate advisor. Her discovery that nothing in the school curriculum prepares you to understand yourself. How parents unintentionally mess up their children’s lives by imposing their own personality style on them. Carol shares the DISC Personality Profile with us, which measures needs motivated observable behavior, how her work with corporations enables them to build stronger cultures of understanding and communication, saving many companies from losing top executives.
Quote: “Plan activities so they light you up every day. Plan ahead, for income and independence.” - Carol Dysart
Take-Aways:
- Aging is just a number - it has nothing to do with how you are or want to be
- When you embrace technology, the whole world opens up to you
- People need to see themselves as the gift they are
Connect with Carol Dysart:
Email: carol@caroldysart.com
Website: www.caroldysart.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Pam discuss Pam’s unexpected pleasure in moving from a 75 hours-a-week leadership role (for 32 years) to forming new passions. Transferring her leadership expertise as head of a nonprofit organization, Pam is now a Climate Action Leader as well as an advocate for endangered species. During this period of being healthy, after two bouts of ovarian cancer, Pam is ready for her “second mountain.”
Take-Aways
- Just because someone wants you does not mean you have to say ‘yes.’
- Being a volunteer leader requires particular ways to influence others to move to action.
- A combination of Eastern & Western medicine can greatly enhance healing.
- Concern about climate change encompasses concern for the welfare of the planet, including animals and trees.
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Recille explore the various hues and benefits of story-sharing. With candor, humor, and revelation, Recille recounts her journey from speech pathologist for students of all ages with all kinds of handicaps to creating a culture of storytelling in her area of South Burlington, Vermont. The experience of a profound personal trauma moved Recille into the emotional dimension of storytelling. Several decades later, she teaches storytelling classes, and hosts Open Mikes as well as Annual Nights out for experienced story-tellers.
"Stories are like a gift of love to oneself and others." - Recille Hamrell
Take-Aways
- You can be the heroine of your own story.
- Telling your story can create bonding, support, empathy, new insights and evaporate traumatic memories.
- Storytelling helps you learn how you have become who you are so you can plan the rest of your life.
Contact Recille Hamrell:
email: rhamrell@together.netMore about Recille Hamrell: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/master-storyteller-recille-hamrell-has-inspired-generations/Content?oid=9959504
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and MJ discuss what it means to be in community—with one’s spouse, children and others in community of faith. Married for 53 years, MJ recounts the deepening of her marriage relationship through Marriage Encounters and how ‘church’ happens in lots of ways other than institutional religion. In particular, MJ describes how women Catholics are claiming visibility and voice. As an educator, “teaching is like breathing.” As a philosophy, “leisure is an attitude into the mind and a condition of the soul.”
"What we lose in the physical, we gain in the wisdom of the spirit." - MJ Dix Ed.D
Take-Aways:
- Spirituality is a trip inside to learn how to become who you are
- You are always enough
- Keep your head up, keep going—just do it!
- Do what it is you want to do, in the time you have left
Contact MJ Dix: mjdix@depaul.edu
Resources Recommended by MJ:
- The Grace in Dying by Kathleen Dowling Singh. (2000) The first half is about transpersonal psychology, taking on the journey from birth when we are strongly ourselves, through early life when the world does its best to convince us otherwise, to a re-embracing ("The Path of Return") of who we are created to be but have not yet fully become. The second half is about the dying process and "The gift of suffering" and "The Experience of Grace".2. Adult Faith : Growing in Wisdom and Understanding by Diarmuid O'Murchu. (2010) This book takes us from "Conventional Inherited Wisdom" by understanding our experiences of "Embedded Codependency, to "Adult Empowerment. This is not a book about religion. Rather it is about our relationship with our beliefs.3. Dear Joan Chittister: Conversations with Women in the Church. (2019) This presents the experiences of eleven well-educated, talented adult women of faith working in ministry in the Catholic Church...or trying to. Joan responds to each offering considerable wisdom, encouragement, and grace as only she can.Joan has many other books, all of which I recommend. Particularly "The Time is Now" which offers wisdom about our current political situation and "The Gift of Years: Growing Old Gracefully". When the body declines the mind and spirit have grown strong.4. The many offerings of Anthony DeMello in both book and You-tube forms. Just search DeMello.
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Instagram: Womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Twitter: @womenover70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Cheryl discuss how Cheryl lives her philosophy of life. Asking ‘why not?’ has brought Cheryl through major career shifts—grade school teacher, bank executive, and for the past 28 years, as a consultant in communications. Her current focus is helping executives communicate effectively in this age of information overload. Viewing life as an unpredictable adventure, Cheryl opens herself to new people and new experiences while inviting loved ones to join in.
“I love my philosophy of life: Ask not ‘why’ about life, but ‘why not?’”
Take-Aways:• Be open to new ideas and possibilities—many good things come through the back door• When you see your grandchild’s smile, you know the world is all right• Surround yourself with interesting friends and people; it keeps you going• Be a global person• Live your bucket list!
Contact Cheryl Cornell: Email: traincccp@aol.comResource:The Village, Chicagohttps://www.thevillagechicago.org
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Instagram: Womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Karen discuss Karen’s journey from her early “wild years” into a dedicated career in social work focused on community organizing. Numerous signals pointed Karen toward this career trajectory, from being a resident of a maternity home at age 19 to attending a college (her 4th one) with a strong social justice mission. Coming of age in 1960 was a time before birth control and the pill were legal and, as Karen notes, “before having sex was ‘legal’ for women.” With candor and humor, Karen reveals provocative perspectives on her experiences of making art, care-taking of an older husband, and aging.
"My art is a projection of things I believe in—climate, reproductive rights, aging women." -Karen Rechtschaffen MSW
Take-Aways
- Doing work you believe in is a gift.
- You don’t need to feel old just because you are over 70.
- Creative expression can be a great escape from boredom.
- Life live like it’s an adventure—wonder, what comes next?
Contact Karen Rechtschaffen:
Email: karenrecht@cloud.com
Website: https://www.karenrechtschaffen.com
Woman Made Gallery: https://womanmade.org
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Instagram: Womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
In this episode, Catherine, Gail and Carol discuss key aspects of staying active and living well. During her illustrative career in journalism, Carol covered beats from paper mills to the Equal Rights Amendment/National Organization of Women. Her work with the Ounce of Prevention Fund led to earning a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education so she could do the work and not just write about it. Carol is a long-time advocate for the rights and well-being of mothers and children, including licensed home child care workers. Carol is Executive Director of The Trillium Foundation (which her husband founded) which connects school children with Chicago’s gems—e.g., Botanic Gardens, Ravinia-- to encourage interest in science and music. As a resident of The Mather, a senior center in Evanston, Carol walks every day to Lake Michigan to enjoy the diversity of language, color, ethnicity. She delights in various offerings of her alma mater, Northwestern University. Carol’s high-level energy and spirit shine in every word she speaks.
The secret of aging well is to have your mind on something or someone other than yourself.
Take-Aways
- Pursue meaningful work, but family needs come first
- Travel—with family, with groups, alone—just do it!
- Take care of yourself so you are healthy enough to engage in different activities
- Biking, walking, skiing—whatever physical activity you are able to do
- Keep up with technology so you can be part of the world the way it is
- Be active in the community you live in, no matter your age
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
In this episode, we discuss our lives before we launched Women Over 70 - Aging Reimagined. Our careers in education and business led us to a shared interest in the experiences and lives of women.
Take-Aways:
-
We are inspired by our guests who are women aging well in a variety of ways.
-
WomenOver70: Aging Reimagined is a community for younger and older women who learn from each other.
“A tiny shift in mindset can mean the difference between getting stuck at a roadblock or opening up to an opportunity.” - Gail Zelitzky
“We can better hear our own stories when we listen to and learn from other women.” - Catherine Marienau, Ph.D.
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Susan
explore how Susan’s process for effective change—personal and organizational—emerged through her journey of personal transformation. At age 48, Susan engineered a major life turn, getting her GED so she could leave a corporate job and move into leadership of nonprofits. Over 12 years, Susan completed numerous college degrees, including a doctorate.
Susan does not gloss over the chaotic, painful stage of change; rather, she offers guidance on how to confront it and move to victory. For Susan, that involves leading, teaching, writing, coaching, and motivational speaking. Susan’s story inspires us all to lead a full life built on our passions.
“My mission is to ignite energy and creativity and generate ah-ha moments to awaken purpose and potential.” - Susan Neustrom Ed.D.
Connect with Susan Neustrom:
Email: sneustrom@gmail.com
Website: http://www.susanneustrom.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/susanneustrom
Book: The Comfort Zone Illusion, Leaving Your Comfort Zone is Not So Hard After All, 2015, published by Happy About, Cupertino, CA.
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Instagram: Womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Stephanie discuss:
- Life’s unplanned adventures and why resilience is so important
- The social and emotional effects of addiction on both individuals and families
- How compassion fatigue highlights the need for women to learn self-care
Stephanie shares with us her own life experiences and why she is as enthusiastic about life today as when she first embraced social services at the age of 13.
Take-Aways:
- Women need self-care and should take pride in doing so
- The importance of moving - physically, emotionally and mentally - as we age and learning through our own life cycles
- Ambivalence is a tremendous life-challenge requiring us to consider where to go from here
“Live by choice and not by chance. Have a center that is worth reaching for.” - Stephanie Kutzen, PhD
Connect with Stephanie Kutzen:
Email: emcns1@comcast.net
Author: Grandparenting - Tales from the Crib. When Your Children Become Parents
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Susan discuss: Susan’s journey from a provincial upbringing in the 1950s to being at the front of major movements--starting in the mid-1960s--women’s rights, civil rights, student rights, anti-war (Vietnam) protests, and labor organizing. Listen to Susan’s fascinating story as she moves in Chicago circles from women’s consciousness raising groups to raising awareness about sex trafficking; as she brings her love of jazz and rhythm tap to supporting youth in the arts; and as she confronts the reality of mortality by promoting Compassion and Choices, part of the movement in medical aid in dying.
Key Take-Aways: While age is just a number, pay attention to the realities of your energy levels. Commit to what you care most about and stay engaged…and don’t take on too much! We can drive toward positive change at any age.
"Throughout my life, I've gravitated toward instances of injustice and movements for social justice change." - Susan Munaker Oppenheimer
Susan Recommends:
HerStoryTheater.org Our mission, through theater and the written word, is to shine bright lights in dark places on women and children in need of social justice and community support. We believe that if made personal, our audiences will respond to the social issues and presented and take action.
Chicagotap.org The Chicago Human Rhythm Project builds community through American tap and contemporary percussive arts in world class, innovative performance, education and outreach programs. Classes are held throughout the year at the American Rhythm Center, primarily for adults. Every summer for the past 30 years youth and adults attend master classes at the annual summer tap festival.
MADDRhythms.com Master tappers teach love and respect for the art of tap dance. These dancers pull from the tradition of the hoofers and annually teach adults and hundreds of kids over the summer and special weekends.
CompassionandChoices.org Compassion & Choices improves care, expands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey.
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/womenover70/
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Kathleen discuss the reality that life often does not follow a straight line and derailments can lead to new paths. Kathleen shares her passion for helping adults to continue developing and learning in ways that can be transformative. Kathleen still has a tremendous urge to do things that make a difference—from teaching working professionals in a doctoral program to facilitating workshops for peer tutors at San Quentin prison.
Key Take-Aways :
Kathleen believes that—
- We have choices about who we are and who we can be.
- When we recognize the power of our own minds, and exercise our voices, we can bring about profound changes in our own lives and the world around us.
- One has no choice but to think about aging—Your mind may say you are a spring chicken, but your body is likely to say otherwise.
- Keeping doing keeps you going.
"Recognizing how each of us learns best is as important as what we learn." - Kathleen Taylor
Kathleen Taylor, Ph.D. full-time professor in Educational Leadership at Saint Mary’s College of California. Resides in Berkeley, CA. Age 75. Co-author of Facilitating Learning with the Adult Brain in Mind (2016) and Developing Adult Learners: Strategies for Teachers and Trainers (2000). Consultant and workshop leader on how the brain ‘learns’ and effective ways to foster learning, development and change for individuals, groups and organizations.
Connect with Kathleen Taylor:
ktaylor@stmarys-ca.edu
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/womenover70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/womenover70/
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Judi discuss:
· How life choices are not always final
· What it means to age out of your chosen profession
· Why failure is sometimes a very good thing
Judi shares with us how she took a leap of faith after selling her 40-year old PR business and emerged as the funniest woman in town.
Key Take-Aways:
Develop new relationships with younger people as you age. That enables you to make big changes. Ask lots of questions of people who are doing what you want to do, and admit you are learning something new. Drop the technophobe act.
“We have, as we get older, more room for failure, more room for risks and, therefore, more room for rewards.” - Judi Schindler
Connect with Judi Schindler:
Email: judi@judischindler.com
Web: https://judischindler.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/womenover70/
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Roni discuss:
- Life enriching benefits of volunteering.
- Opportunities for growth that come from experiences of loss and deficit.
- The value of community and connection for women as they age.
Take-Aways:
Remaining vibrant is a key goal as we age-- by sharing the “I get it” space with other women; by intentionally engaging in new learning and reinventing yourself; by sharing your talents with others in need; by believing in your own, and others, self- worth.
“I define myself first and foremost as a volunteer. My life as a volunteer has helped me develop greater empathy and put judgment aside. I feel enormous gratitude for witnessing people reach their goals.” - Roni Buckley
Connect with Roni Buckley:
Email: vbuckley@depaul.edu
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Twitter: @gailzel
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gailzelitkzy
In this episode, Gail, Catherine and Rita discuss:
- How life experience informs and changes us.
- Loving life even in the face of adversity.
- How journal writing is a voyage.
Key Takeaways:
- You cannot have a testimony without having a test.
- Intentional silence can open your ears and eyes and help you connect with yourself and others’ spirits.
- In order to successfully scale, you must take time to be quiet, to journal, to take sabbaticals. That’s how growth happens.
"During our lives, we’re always building - we’re evolving, and we’re building more and more to that ultimate purpose." — Rita Ricks
Connect with Rita Ricks:
Twitter: @ritacricks
Facebook: Speak to Your Spirit
Website: SpeakToYourSpirit.com
Book: Permission Granted! A Journal of Spiritual Epiphanies & #justfortoday: 365 Actions to Fuel Your Daily Rhythm
Show: Speaking To Your Spirit
YouTube: Rita Ricks
Instagram: @ritacricks
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Twitter: @gailzel
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 - Aging Reimagined
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gailzelitkzy
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
During her years as an integrative health physician specializing in older women, Carolyn saw the benefits of integrating alternative and conventional practices. She advocates a learning partnership with health care providers to obtain optimal care.
Key Takeaways:
- Life doesn't need to slow down in your 60's, 70's and 80s as women look to stay healthy and active in all ways for years to come.
- Now there are many more opportunities to work with practitioners who address your desire for a more holistic approach, both inside and outside the traditional health care system.
- Be a learning partner in your own health care and take a more proactive role in getting the care you want and need.
"As a practitioner, I want to understand how my female patient learns so I can tailor what I say to her way of knowing. If I don’t connect with her as a learner and active participant in her own health care, she's probably not going to make necessary shifts.” Carolyn Torkelson, MD.
Connect with Carolyn Torkelson:
Profile: https://familymedicine.umn.edu/bio/familymed/carolyn-torkelson
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Sharon discuss:
- How Sharon started a Nanny Agency and wound up in Home Health Care
- Her path to become a name in the Over 50 market
- Her first book: ‘Bandstand Diaries’ and how teenagers helped bring Rock n’ Roll to the masses
- Her 2nd book, ‘Super Agers’ outlining Mature Resources
Key Takeaways:
- Opportunity is everywhere you look, if you look.
- Ask no questions: if you want something, go for it!
- There’s a lot of wisdom to share with younger people.
"In 100 years, I want an obituary that tells my life story with meaning. So all these years I’ve been filling up, hopefully, a eulogy for myself that has a lot of great stuff." — Sharon Sultan Cutler
Connect with Sharon Sultan Cutler:
Facebook: facebook.com/sultancutler
Website: www.bandstanddiaries.com
Book: Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sharonsultancutler
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Twitter: @gailzel
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: www.WomenOver70.com
Email: Gail@WomenOver70.com and Catherine@WomenOver70.com
Show: Women Over 70 - Aging Reimagined
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gailzelitkzy
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
In this episode, Gail, Catherine, and Linda discuss:
- How to use your natural gifts to feel good about yourself while helping the larger world as well.
- Transitioning in and out of retirement.
- What it means to make life more fun.
Key Takeaways:
- Look for volunteer opportunities that will help move policy forward, to help bring injustice and social justice issues to light.
- Speak to others about what you are experiencing in life and gain their feedback and suggestions.
- Rediscover activities you like, try new ones and spend time with family and friends. Find the things that make your life more fun.
"I found myself really fighting to get my voice out there, which is something I didn't have to do when I had my title and my role." — Linda Gesler
Connect with Linda Gesler:
Email: geslerlh@gmail.com
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Twitter: @gailzel
Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70
Website: www.WomenOver70.com
Email: Gail@WomenOver70.com and Catherine@WomenOver70.com
Show: Women Over 70 - Aging Reimagined
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gailzelitkzy
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
Karla approached her eighth decade wondering ‘how do women in their 70’s lead vital lives’? Her interviews with women in their 70s, then into their 80s, were illuminating. Transitioning to a retirement community rekindled her passions for pottery and poetry.
Key Takeaways:
- As we become old(er), we can find new ways to engage in our passions.
- Moving from a home and community of 54 years is difficult, but the important thing is having the choice to move and not be in a situation where others have to move you.
- Aging is a process that brings new awarenesses, challenges and opportunities with each passing decade.
"I am a museum of memories of myriad images, a spectrum of emotions, cares, and commitments." - Karla Klinger
Connect with Karla Klinger:
Poem: Fruition by Karla Klinger
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
In this episode, Gail, Catherine & Gayle Carson discuss:
- Gayle’s successful career as a radio host, television spokesperson, educator, entrepreneur, and world-renowned speaker
- How plans to be a single woman focused solely on her career changed when “the best human being she’d ever met” became her husband
- How a passion for showing people the impacts of a positive mindset can have on their lives inspires her to continue working
Key Takeaways:
- Feeling down about the circumstances in your life isn’t positive. Five minutes of negative thinking takes the body 24 hours to recover.
- It’s never too late; if you see something you want, then go for it. If you don’t try, then you will never know.
- Women over 50 worry about age discrimination, loneliness, feeling unattractive, and their health.
"I really want to know that every day when I get up, that there’s been a purpose to my day. If that’s contributing to somebody or helping somebody or having an impact in some way then to me, it’s been a successful day." — Gayle Carson
Connect with Gayle Carson:
Twitter: @gaylecarsonFacebook: Spunkyoldbroad1Website: www.spunkyoldbroad.com Book: The S.O.B. Guide to Business SuccessShow: www.spunkyoldbroad.com/radio-shows-2/sob-radioYouTube: spunkyoldbroadLinkedIn: gaylecarson
Connect with Gail & Catherine:
Twitter: @gailzel Facebook: facebook.com/womenover70Website: www.WomenOver70.comEmail: Gail@WomenOver70.com and Catherine@WomenOver70.comShow: Women Over 70 - Aging Reimagined LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gailzelitzky/
As Director of Learning with a global outplacement and career transitioning firm, Judith defies the myth that people are too old to contribute in the workplace. She advocates the value of formal education at any age, and finding joy in lifelong learning.
Key Takeaways:
- Approach interviews by telling your success stories. Share who you are, what it is about you that stands out, what you do well, and what you want to do; how you can contribute.
- Be open to roles in different industries as most people end up in a business or industry by circumstance and opportunity.
- Many companies are willing to pay for the wisdom and value brought by experienced individuals.
"There’s a lot more joy in late life careers. You find that you can do things you didn’t do before, you don’t have the same anxieties, and you can take risks you were unable to early in your career." - Judith DeVries
Connect with Judith DeVries:
Website: www.challengergray.comTwitter: @grantplaceFacebook: facebook.com/msjudith
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen to Episodes by Season
https://womenover70.com/season-two/
https://womenover70.com/season-one/
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
Women Over 70 - Aging Reimagined with Gail Zelitzky and Catherine Marienau!
Your hosts for Women Over 70 Aging - Reimagined are Gail Zelitzky and Catherine Marienau. Gail and Catherine met while Gail was attending graduate school at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois and after her graduation, they became strong colleagues and friends. Gail has owned multiple businesses and is still active in the business world, coaching women in all stages to reap the benefits of business ownership. As a speaker, author, and mentor, she believes that every woman, no matter their age, deserves to rediscover her unlimited, unrealized potential. Catherine has been listening to women’s stories for nearly 50 years—as mentor to female students (ages 35-80), as instructor of women’s issues, and as researcher-writer on women as learners and on vital women in their 70s. Her primary context has been innovative, customized degree programs for adult learners, most of whom are women. Now, at age 70, Catherine is moving from a full-time faculty position to focus on her ‘passion projects’—women’s learning and development through the lens of aging, and adult learning through the lens of neuroscience.
"There are no guide books on what path to take or how to navigate our last quarter century or maybe more. Our hope by inviting women on the show, who are already in their 70s, 80s, and 90s, is to share their stories and create new ways of thinking that will enhance the lives of everyone who listens in.” – Gail Zelitzky
Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined
Twitter: @womenover70
Instagram: WomenOver70
Website:https://womenover70.com
Email: info@womenover70.com
Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined
Listen to Episodes by Season https://womenover70.com/season-two/
https://womenover70.com/season-one/
Listen on: Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, Stitcher, or Spotify
Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen.
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.