One of the hottest DJ’s on the rock scene was nearly 70 when she began her career. You read that right. Ruth Flowers is dazzling young audiences in some of the most popular night spots in Europe. Known as Mamy…
#636 Rockin’ granny
Aging
#622 Sister Madonna Buder, still competing in her 80s
Sister Madonna Buder is my choice for the most inspiring Catholic nun. Last September she was in Penticton, at the south end of Okanagan Lake, to make history. She was the first over-80 woman to complete the Ironman Canada, in…
#578 Edythe Kirchmaier’s longevity secrets
When Edythe Kirchmaier renewed her driver’s license on January 22, 2008, she was given the normal five-year extension. That is rare for someone born in 1908, but Kirchmaier is lively, vibrant and still committed to her volunteer work for her…
#535 Taking on the youth and beauty police
If you want to know “what it’s really like to get old”, drop by Time Goes By and the related blog, Elder Storytelling Place. Though the site dates back to 2005, I’ve just stumbled onto the blog. I’ve read only…
#530 Boyd Lee Dunlop’s Buffalo Blues
If photojournalist Brendan Bannon had not stopped by the Delaware Nursing Home to talk with a doctor about a project, Boyd Lee Dunlop might have died without recording his music. The bio Hank Cherry wrote for Dunlop’s Web site tells…
#504 Dementia in Denmark
My mother became the invisible woman, one brain cell at a time. Alzheimer’s was a stealth robber, gradually stripping her of the outgoing, friendly personality she had worn through life. In many ways she was one of the lucky ones.…
#498 How old is too old?
For James Arruda Henry, the answer to “How old is too old?” would be: “Never.” He was 96 years old when he learned to read. Once he acquired literacy, he hand-wrote his autobiography, In a Fisherman’s Language. He might have…
#483 The old violinist
To honour soldiers who have experienced war, I want to share this piece, originally published on Catching Courage. The old man was one seat away from me in the Williams Lake, British Columbia, airport. At his side was a battered…
#474 Aging into love and loving into age
This was a lonely little bear. He arrived along with a beautiful bouquet of flowers on Australian Father’s Day 2011. The Aussies honour their dads in early September so the flowers and bear were a double treat, arriving on my…
#463 Scooter gran a hit with skateboarders
She’s become an icon in Perth, Scotland, and a virtual hit on the Internet. Barbel Roerig is the 74-year-old retired architectural technician who has been dubbed “Scooter Gran”. Roerig actually started using the scooter nine years ago, after she saw…
