Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

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: TheTruth and Humor of Life After 65. With humor and insight, Jane observeshow she is learning to acknowledge, accommodate, and accept thevulnerabilities and new-found joys of aging. Early in her career as a therapistfor crime victims, Jane witnessed people’s resilience to survive. As a therapistand writer, she advocates “talking to each other rather than being alone withour scary thoughts.” For older women, one area of interest might bediscussions on health fantasies and fears. Jane is at work on a new bookabout aging, focused on Taking Inventory: what’s past, dealing with thepresent, and planning for the future. She also explores “what brings onecomfort when the sky is falling.”Connect with Jane:Instagram: @oldershorterwiserWebsite: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.comWyldBlue Entertainment | WyldBlue Digitalwww.WyldBlueEnt.com | www.WyldBlueDigital.comWyldBlueProduction | www.WyldBlueProduction.comWyldBlue Digital PressWBDigitalPress@gmail.comwww.WyldBlueDigitalPress.comjan@SeaTurtleRock.comwww.SeaTurtleRock.comjan@JanShawKing.comwww.JanShawKing.comLIFE LINES: Verses for Reflection and RecoveryLIFE LINES: Metamorphosis of Change: Guidelines for Recovery Workbook

B. Rosemary Grant, PhD, Research Scholar Emerita at PrincetonUniversity, is world-renowned for 40 years of pioneering fieldwork, with herhusband, Peter, on two uninhabited islands in the Galapagos archipelago.Their studies of Darwin’s finches in their natural environment have madeenormous contributions to evolutionary biology and ecology. In her memoir--One Step Sideways, Three Steps Forward--Rosemary chronicles heramazing journey: teaching in the Finnish fashion; marrying and forming aresearch partnership; earning her PhD at age 49; raising two youngdaughters in the Galapagos; teaching and writing; receiving numerousinternational awards; and advocating, world-wide, for advancing youngerwomen’s careers in science. Rosemary’s research and publications havesignificant applications for broader areas, such as medicine and culturalcooperation.Quote Following your passion does not mean everything has to go in astraight line; sideways steps can lead to huge leaps forward.Connect with RosemaryEmail: rgrant@princeton.eduOne Step Sideways, Three Steps Forward: One Woman’s Path to Becoming a Biologist40 Years of Evolution: Darwin's Finches on Daphne Major Island, New Editionby 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 SuzanneEmail: suzannerowen@gmail.com

Wendy Cole, age 76, was 67 when she decided to live out in the world as the femaleshe was born to be. As a young person, Wendy was informed by ‘authorities’ that shewas 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 ColeConnect 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 livingwith it from childhood.

Cynthia Bargar, 76 is the author of Sleeping in the Dead Girl’s Room (Lily PoetryReview 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 CYNTHIAEmail: cynthia.bargar@gmail.comWebsite: www.cynthiabargar.com/Book: Sleeping in the Dead Girl’s RoomOrder 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.netFacebook: 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 newmemoir, Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity,reveals her journey of ‘discovery through the pitfalls and possibilities ofaging.’ She reflects on dealing with prolonged grief following the early deathof her husband, navigating serious chronic illnesses while living alone, andlearning 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 enjoyit… My horizon is no longer longer than I can see—I have arrived!” Andreashares how she is now able to “live a life of peace, joy, and contentment.”Connect with Andrea:Email: agilats@gmail.comBooks 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 enjoyedcollaborating on theatre and film productions, notably addressing oft-avoideddiscussions about dying and loss. Their award-winning film, A Stage ofTwilight—written and directed by Sarah and starring Karen—is a “grass-roots awareness campaign for end-of-life care and decisions.” It raises thedifficult question: “Whose death is it—who has the right to decide when,where, how, and with whom someone dies?” Karen’s directorial debut, theaward-winning A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud., is a short film about the “passingof wisdom from an older man to a young boy.” In 2025, Karen will bedirecting her first feature film, The Batting Cage, with Sarah on theproduction team. This film depicts how two sisters reconnect after the deathof their sibling. In her upcoming third feature film, Crybaby Bridge, Sarahapproaches suicide through the genre of psychological thriller. Please meetKaren Allen and Sarah T. Schwab—friends and collaborators who “reach forthe light” while pursuing what they love."Loss ties us together as human beings; we must learn to respecttime and cherish loved ones."CONNECT with KAREN and SARAH Karen Allen Karen Allen - Biography - IMDb Sarah T. Schwab Sarah T Schwab - Biography - IMDbWATCH A STAGE OF TWILIGHThttps://tubitv.com/movies/100026437/a-stage-of-twilightWATCH A TREE. A ROCK. A CLOUDhttps://tubitv.com/movies/100002111/a-tree-a-rock-a-cloudFor information to support the BATTING CAGE, Via Brian Long, producer.Brianlong.blong@gmail.com