Aging Well: Finding Beauty in the Gray

Send us Fan Mail Lifelong athlete Lynn Edgar had knee replacement surgery in the Fall of 2022. In March of this year, she celebrated her ongoing recovery and dedicated work by completing the 2.5 mile Nevis to St. Kitts Cross Channel Swim under adverse Caribbean Sea conditions. Following this, she did another open water swim in Central North Carolina. Join us to hear more of Lynn's story inclu...

Send us Fan Mail Approaching retirement and newly single, Mark Edgar decided one year ago to sell his home and most of his possessions, buy a truck and towable RV and head out to see the country.  With faith and perseverance, he made his way around the United States and met many fascinating folks, each one kind and generous. After pausing back in his home state of Georgia for his daughter's c...

Send us Fan Mail Through both straightforward advocacy and whimsy, Bett Padgett's songs cross the borders of Celtic, Old-time, Folk, and New Age to help us learn more about today's social, environmental, and political climates, indeed to learn more about ourselves. Among many things, she is passionate about her craft, her students, and supporting musical artists the world round. She is a...

Send us Fan Mail Les Thornbury is a documentarian and astute student of nature and people, in other words, of life. After time spent in Vietnam aboard a "wallowing, wood-hulled minesweeper," he retuned home in 1972 and borrowed an old, spring wound Bolex film camera. He wrote and then made a documentary of the Currituck Banks along the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  A second film about...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we welcome Dr. Rosanne Leipzig, an internationally acclaimed geriatrician with a superlative 40+ year career. She is the Gerald and May Ellen Ritter Professor and Vice Chair, Emerita of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.  Her new book, out in January 2023 is Honest Aging:...

Send us Fan Mail Mercedes Bristol is the founder and executive director of Texas Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. Mother for a second time to five biological grandchildren, she has pressed forward with clear-eyed love, courage, and conviction. Tune in to hear more of her inspiring story and commission to support others in similar circumstances in Texas and beyond. Learn more about her work at h...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen King calls Abigail Thomas the "Emily Dickinson of memoir." Thomas' remarkable path has taken her from raising her family through times of color and challenge on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to her current home in Woodstock, NY. Along the way she has been a book editor and agent before turning to her own writing. She is the author of numerous books of fic...

Send us Fan Mail Kered Whitcraft, medically retired years ago due to lifelong and worsening visual impairment, refused to concede to the doctors' repeated conclusions that he would be blind by now,. Instead, Kered has boldly pushed forward in life. This is seen in his Bay Area heirloom garden and his passionate work with splotch and tactile visual art. Recently he had a piece on display at th...

Send us Fan Mail Dan Gordoqui is a Registered Maine Guide and Certified Wildlife Tracker. He brings his skills and passion to bare via his nature-based consulting, training, and guiding business Lead with Nature. Cappy Caprio is a high school English teacher, writer, and naturalist living in southern Maine. These two nature enthusiasts have partnered together for many years to bring the beauty and...

Send us Fan Mail Lori Hensley left a long career as a teacher and school counselor to join Beyond Fences, an organization in Durham, North Carolina that tirelessly works to break down the effects of poverty and structural inequities that create barriers to affordable veterinary and pet wellness services. Along the way she is making cherished and lifelong bonds with the people and animals she and B...

Send us Fan Mail Mark H. Campbell is an accomplished visual artist with numerous works in public and private collections nationally and internationally. He is also the Executive Director of Eldergivers, the parent organization of Art With Elders (AWE) in San Francisco. Their mission is to use the power of art, creativity, and community to enrich the journey of aging. Join us as we welcome Mark to...

Send us Fan Mail Annette Council, youngest daughter of Mildred (Mama Dip) Council is the author of The Recipe: Have a Seat at Our Table ... and the founder of Sweet Neecy Cake Mix Company. She grew up learning baking and so much more about living a life with purpose, creativity, intention, and integrity from her mother in the family restaurant.  Tune into to hear more of Annette's story and l...

Send us Fan Mail Sandi Shortt, from Ontario, Canada, is, among many things, the mother of three adult sons and seven wonderful grandchildren. She is long-term widowed and a survivor of cancer. Out of these myriad and profound life experiences, Sandi became a mindset and life coach, inspiring and empowering women in particular to live the balance of their lives with passion, purpose, and fulfillmen...

Send us Fan Mail Join us to hear more about Jo Anna's crusade against puppy mills and their destructive practices. After retiring, Jo Anna became passionately involved in this cause, to include lobbying legislators on Capitol Hill. Out of her inspiration, she wrote the middle grade novel, Lily Unleashed. To learn more about Jo Anna, go to emptycagespress.com Jo Anna is also involved with Bail...

Send us Fan Mail Author/essayist and 11th generation New Hampshire farm girl, Rebecca Tuttle, heeds her daughter's request to drive a VW van from Maine to her daughter's home in California. Rebecca shares her tales from the road during her seminal, heroine's journey. Rebecca repeatedly chose joy over fear during this five-week trek. Join us for more on this magical adventure. To lea...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Dorian Mintzer, author, retirement coach, consultant and popular speaker, joins us on the show to share more about her dear friend and colleague, Alan C. O'Hare. Among many things, Alan is a community psychologist, actor, writer, director, and Celtic storyteller. These two friends came together for an interview about his experiences and wisdoms that grew into the book, Ho...

Send us Fan Mail Following the great success of Season One, we are back for more stories of adventure, connection, joy, challenge, and the passions of people living their best Third Age lives. We also have more experts coming on to help us think of ways to be more healthy and more prepared for the times ahead. Join host Hugh Willard as he takes a few moments for reflection and reminiscence of our...

Send us Fan Mail Mrs. Merry Claus, aka Lou Shelton, and Santa MikeE, aka Mike Eckardt, drop by the show to share their experiences as professionals in their respective roles. They, and many others like them, take their craft most seriously and devote countless seasonal and year-round hours and passion toward bringing Christmas joy to children of all ages. Learn more at https://www.gigsalad.com/mrs...

Send us Fan Mail Scott and June are married and have two teenage sons. Scott is Jewish, June is Jewish-ish. Join us to hear these two writers share their stories of melding traditions during the Festival of Lights. They shared some of their experience in Our State magazine in December, 2021. Here is a link to this story: https://www.ourstate.com/the-miracle-of-the-oil/  Learn more about Scott and...

Send us Fan Mail Ruth Lebed is a retired attorney and more importantly, a Jewish mother,  living in Wisconsin. From her earliest days living in a Jewish enclave in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, she has enjoyed the traditions and celebrations of the Festival of Chanukah. Join us as Ruth shares some of favorite memories and treasured rituals of this Jewish celebration commemorating the...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Katharine Esty has had a long and distinguished career as a social psychologist, psychotherapist, consultant, and author of four books, including Eightysomethings: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness. She joins us this week to share more of her personal story and the wisdoms she has gained over her 87 years, much of which informed the...

Send us Fan Mail Our guest this week is Dean Lambert, project director of the non-profit Love Always Project. This important grassroots movement is created to encourage people to preplan and pay for their funeral as the ultimate act of love for those they will leave behind. Dean shares his passion, professional, and personal experiences for this new project on our show. To learn more about this wo...

Send us Fan Mail Pam LeBlanc is an Austin, Texas based freelance writer specializing in stories about adventures in the great outdoors. Six years ago, she reached out to an old friend, Marcy, with an invitation to repair their fractured relationship. An intensive trip to the Grand Canyon was the backdrop for this life affirming account. Spoiler alert: they now have a regular tradition of spending...

Send us Fan Mail Podcast host, psychotherapist, and author Hugh Willard has signed with Warren Publishing to put out his latest book, Finding Beauty in the Gray: Stories and Verse From the Third Age. This is a collection of essays and poems about everyday folks flourishing and sometimes struggling with their walks along the Third Age paths of life and love. Tune in to hear Hugh read several excerp...

Send us Fan Mail Jan Cullinane is a best selling author, consultant, speaker, and retirement expert practicing what she preaches in her books The New Retirement: The Ultimate Guide to the Rest of Your Life ; Retire Happy! ; and AARP's The Single Woman's Guide to Retirement. She joins us on this week's show to further explore the themes germane to single women in the Third Age.  Whet...