Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

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 highli...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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....

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 woul...

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...

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, a...

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-kn...

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 exerci...

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 ordin...

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 wou...

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 poss...

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, settl...

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...

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...

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 M...

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 advoc...

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...

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...

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 renow...

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 immig...

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 l...

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 poem...