Episodes

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 understandi...

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, communi...

[spp-player] 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 pr...

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 t...

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 Werr...

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 ca...

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 a...

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...

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 Stat...

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 i...

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 t...

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...

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 ...

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. ...

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—lo...

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 Sha...

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 a...

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 fami...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 c...

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 ...

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...