Zestful Aging

Jaclyn Schildkraut is a Professor of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York at Oswego. She's an expert on mass and school shootings, homicide trends, the effects of media and crime theories. She is the co-author of "Mass Shootings: Media, Myths, and Realities" and "Columbine, 20 Years Later and Beyond: Lessons from Tragedy". Find out more at JaclynSchildkraut.com. Jackie recommends "...

Chelsey Clammer is the author of the award-winning essay collection, "Circadian", which looks at the different ways that trauma cycles through our lives. Her first book, "BodyHome", was about the concept of finding "home" in our bodies. She's a freelance editor and also teaches creative writing classes online with "WOW! Women on Writing". Chelsey lives in Austin, Texas, and is working on a new col...

Suzka is a fine artist who lived in California until her mother needed caregiving in Chicago. From the start, Suzka experienced her mother's dementia not as a loss, but as an opportunity to have a very different relationship and live in her mother's memory-less world. She found the experience enlightening and profound. Her book, "Wonders in Dementialand" is being made into a movie. Suzka also has...

Anne Marie is a nurse practitioner and family therapist in Upstate, New York. She and her husband were passionate birders throughout their married life. After her husband died unexpectedly, she began having unexplainable and highly unusual experiences with Red-tailed Hawks, which led her to write the memoir "Dancing in Two Realms: A Love Story Beyond Death". She follows the hawks daily at Oakwood...

Verla Fortier is the former director of surgery in Toronto, Canada. At age 63 she was diagnosed with Lupus. After 40 years in traditional health care, Verla became fascinated by the research showing the benefits of being outside and near trees. She's developed a system that incorporates going outside to increase health, prevent dementia, manage her chronic illnesses. Find out more at treesmendus.c...

Dr. Fossel is the world's foremost expert on telomeres, aging, and age-related disease. He gave the very first talk at the National Institutes of Health on reversal of human aging, published the first articles on the potential of telomeres as a clinical intervention two decades ago, and is the author of the only medical textbook in this field He is now president Telocyte, a biotech firm taking tel...

Ellen Goodman has spent most of her life chronicling social change and its impact on American life. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, she was one of the first women to open up the op-ed pages to women's voices and became, according to Media Watch, the most widely syndicated progressive columnist in the country. Ellen's current focus is The Conversation Project, a public health campaign and a...

Jo Moseley is the first woman to paddleboard from end to end of her native England, on the 200 year old canals. She paddles for many reasons--exercise, to pick up litter, and to raise money for charities, especially cancer. Paddleboarding came at a perfect time in her life; she was exhausted from being a single mother, caretaking her ailing mom, and suffering from physical and mental symptoms asso...

Dr. Roger Landry is an aging specialist and author of the award winning book "Live Long, Die Short: A Guide to Authentic Health and Successful Aging". He's the President of Masterpiece Living, a group of specialists in aging who partner with communities to assist them in building environments that empower older adults to maximize their unique potential. Landry's medical experience includes being i...

Peggy Orenstein is a New York Times best-selling author, and has been featured on "Nightline", "CBS This Morning", "The Today Show", NPR's "Fresh Air" and "Morning Edition". For her new book "Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent and Navigating the New Masculinity", Orenstein interviewed boys from ages 16-22 about their views on sex. The interviews were in depth and went on for ove...

Christina Adams is an award-winning writer and the author of the memoir "CAMEL CRAZY: A Quest for Miracles in the Mysterious World of Camels". Her work has been featured on "National Public Radio", the "Washington Post", the "Los Angeles Times", and many more. Her book is centered around her desperation to help her autistic son. When she came upon an obscure scientific article that described how c...

Samantha Brown, host of PBS's two-time Emmy winning (Outstanding Host and Outstanding Travel/Adventure Program) series, "Samantha Brown's Places to Love," returns with her third season. This season, Samantha will take viewers to thirteen destinations, both in the U.S. and abroad, uncovering a deeper connection to travel by highlighting the people who are changing, challenging and strengthening the...

What did you cook with your mom? Aimee Lee Ball is an award winning writing, and the co-founder of "Eat, Darling, Eat", a storytelling website about mother/daughter relationships, centered around something that is fundamental and fun, evocative and provocative, shared across all cultures and generations: food. She is also co-author of four books and a journalist for many national publications, inc...

Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham is a business woman and athlete who has been battling Alopecia, an immune disorder that results in hair loss, for 20 years. Her story about her life as a bald woman is captured in her new book, "Under the Rose-Colored Hat". Tracy is also passionate about women's rights, and is involved in 261 Fearless, which is a foundation begun by Kathrine Switzer, to empower girls...

Frailty is not a normal part of aging! Kay VanNorman, President of Brilliant Aging, is an internationally known healthy aging expert. She directed the Kaiser Institute on Aging, serves on international boards, speaks and consults around the world, and has an extensive list of publications, including two books, numerous chapters, scores of journal articles, and a Chinese translation of her latest b...

Sky Bergman is the creator of "Lives Well Lived", a film that celebrates the incredible wit and wisdom of adults 75 to 100 years old who are living their lives to the fullest. Sky interviews forty people who share their secrets and insights to living a meaningful life. Their intimate memories and inspiring personal histories are poignant, humorous and full of life. "Lives Well Lived" has now scree...

Vicki Tapia enjoyed a 30-year career as a Lactation Consultant before writing about her caregiving journey with both parents. Her book "Somebody Stole My Iron: A Family Memoir of Dementia" was a finalist in the High Plains Book Awards in 2015. Vicki's second book "Maggie: A Journey of Love, Loss and Survival" was inspired by the real-life saga of her great-grandmother. This book was recently named...

Paige Mills is the Program Director of Aceing Autism at Drumlins Tennis Club at Syracuse University. It's a national program which helps autistic children learn social and emotional skills through tennis, the curriculum is consistent for all the sites. The USTA promotes Aceing Autism through their own clinics at the US Open. Find out more at: https://aceingautism.org/

A former New York City fashion expert, Jackie Terribile moved to Upstate New York and created a styling business that includes addressing the needs of older women. She believes that women should experiment with their style and be comfortable in their clothes. She also wants women to accept the body that they have, and appreciate their own individuality. Find out more about Jackie at SmalltownStyli...

Pat Smith, AKA Action Nan, is the founder of the anti-plastic campaign "Final Straw Cornwall, UK" and owner of Bosinver Farm Cottages, where she has won many awards for being an industry leader in sustainable tourism. Pat's work in raising awareness about plastic pollution and climate change at the grand old age of 71 has resulted in international press coverage and viral online videos which have...

Liz Vassey is a Two time Emmy nominated actor who joined the cast of "All My Children" at the age of 16, and has since appeared on twelve television shows including "CSI", "ER", and "Two and A Half Men". Her directorial debut, "The Human Race", focuses on how to maintain and even increase our health as we age, specifically through running. An inspirational documentary, she profiles 6 runners as th...

Dr. Judy Butler is a Pastoral Psychotherapist who consults with, counsels and coaches Adult Children of Aging Parents, members of the "Sandwich Generation", Caregivers, and Senior Adults interested in 2nd half and end of life planning. Her passion for working with senior adults and their adult children and caregivers grew out of her own experiences as a caregiver for her parents, congregational pa...

Lisa Russell is an Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker who produces films and curates creative events that lie at the intersection of arts, social justice and global development. An established global speaker and thought leader, she is a two time TEDx speaker, UN -NGO contracted storyteller and arts curator, Fulbright Specialist, and is a regular presenter at film festivals, storytelling summits, leadin...

Bronnie Ware is the author of the international bestselling memoir, "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying", based on her experience as a palliative care nurse. The book has been translated into 32 languages and has a movie in the pipeline. Her message about living with courage and connection has resonated with millions of people. She is a true inspiration on how to live a full, rich and meaningful li...

Ann Campanella is a horsewoman and author of "Motherhood, Lost and Found". Ann moved back to North Carolina after being away from her family for several years. Ready to start a family, Ann's experienced multiple miscarriages at the same time her mother, who lives on the opposite side of the state, began showing signs of Alzheimer's. Her book chronicles this complicated time in her life, and highli...