Joy, love, compassion - the foundation of Eme’s life and her stories. Eme McAnam was a singer-songwriter who charted in the top 100 in Country Music. Her career has taken many turns: Singer/songwriter, novelist, art photographer.Her newest novel, Freefalling: A Novel of Senior Romance, is based on a topic she knows well from her 91/2 years serving at an assisted living facility. Lewy Body Dementia is the central theme. Seniors, she says, are “us”. She wants her legacy to be seen as understanding that no matter what comes down our path, it is our job to find joy.Change and loss is part of life. She saw people who were very sad. Eme reflects, “By the time you’re in your nineties you’ve lost a lot of people close to you. How do we keep a sense of self amid our losses? If something is not working it’s our responsibility to change it. Let’s live this life. We are not done. If we struggle with how to love ourselves, it’s not too late. Even in the most troubled story lines in the book, by the time you get to the end of the story, compassion can be found.”She is a big fan of all the sensual ways of staying alive. Eme is working on two more books  I’m tired of hearing that people get invisible. They are visible if you keep your eyes open. - Eme McAnamConnect with Eme:Email: eme@emespirit.com Website: emespirit.com Book: Freefalling: A Novel of Senior Romance

Educational equity, intercultural communication, and teacher education are the threads of Dr. Gretchen Wilbur’s 30+-year career as an educational leader. Upon retiring from DePaul University in 2019, Gretchen traded an urban lifestyle in Chicago for the rural mountains in Jamaica where she lives with the Maroon people. As the only resident who is White, female, and highly educated, Gretchen is adapting to living in a culture that tests many of her western world views, including identity, community, relationships, land, money, and time. Her love of the Maroon people inspired Gretchen to apply her organizational and artistic skills in creating the Respecting Culture & Earth Foundation which uses a self-determining approach to advance cultural arts and environmental sustainability for economic independence. Gretchen is working on a book about her deepening understanding of and respect for the Maroon culture. She and her life partner, Oral, share a vibrant home in which they host a commercial bar and guest rooms. Members of the Women Over 70 community have an open invitation.Quote: I live permanently in Accompong Town in the mountains of Jamaica because I fell in love with the Maroon people, lifestyle, and land.- Gretchen WilburConnect with Gretchen WilburEmail: wilburg09@gmail.comPhone: What’s App, +1-876-359-7093Respecting Culture & Earth Foundation What We Do — OneFamily, OneLove, OneEarth (respectingcultureandearth.org)O & G Guesthouse Microsoft Bing Travel - O G Guesthouse

[spp-player]Carol Marin, age 75, is an award-winning television and print journalist renowned for her nearly 50 years of investigative stories on politics, public corruption, and organized crime. In 2016, Carol co-founded and directs DePaul University’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence where she teaches a two-quarter long course in Advanced Reporting for graduate students “ready to jump into the profession.” Ethical problem-solving is a cornerstone of the Center, guided by key principles such as “no great story is worth doing damage to a human being.” The social impact of Carol’s work asan investigative journalist is legendary. Her multitude of awards and recognitions include three Peabody’s, two national Emmys, the Gracie Award, and the George Polk Award in Journalism. Carol has two books in the planning stages and enjoys a rich personal life with family and friends, cooking, travel, and horses.Connect with CarolEmail: cmarin@depaul.eduCenter for Journalism Integrity & Excellence | Centers & Initiatives | About | College of Communication| DePaul University, Chicago

Sex educator, Joan Price, is the voice for ‘ageless sexuality.’ In her books, webinars, presentations, newsletter, and blog, Joan talks frankly about spicy and satisfying sex for seniors, whether partnered or solo. She is the first to address sex and grief in her recent book, Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your Beloved. Joan advises that sexuality is always a journey, regardless of age and circumstance. She encourages older adults to see themselves as sexual beings and to care for their sexual health. "Sexual pleasures have no expiration date." - Joan PriceConnect with JoanEmail: joan@joanprice.comWebsite: https://www.joanprice.comBooks by Joan Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty Naked At Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your BelovedThe Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50: How to Maintain—or Regain—a Spicy, Satisfying Sex LifeBlog: Blog: https://joanprice.com/blog. Of special interest, “Solo Sex for Seniors: (January 2024): https://joanprice.com/2024/01/solo-sex-for-seniors.html

We love all our interviews. However, meeting Betty Werrenrath in person, and interviewing her in her apartment at the Presbyterian Homes in Evanston, IL was a unique experience that we would not have traded. Betty is inspiring, positive, upbeat and interesting. She was born January 28, 1914 in Harrisburg, PA. The daughter of a progressive preacher’s kid, she says, “I had to act decently because he was so well-known”."“Be more interested in others than you are in yourself. Listen.” - Betty WerrenrathAn athlete, she played field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, tennis and golf in high school and college. With a full athletic scholarship that included a job in the alumni office, she graduated from Wells College with a degree in art history in 1935.  Betty and Reinald married in 1937 and remained married for 82 years. They have three children. They moved to Presbyterian Homes in Evanston in 1998. Reinald had a stroke at age 103 and passed away in 2019.Betty's multiple passions and drive for advocacy have stayed undiminished throughout her life. When she sees changes that need to be made she takes action. In addition to church and community volunteer efforts, after Reinald retired they collaborated on over 100-16mm educational films distributed nationwide, staying for weeks in eight different countries to research and film. In the Presbyterian Homes, Betty enthusiastically pursues new friendships and activities. 

Patti Temple Rocks has had a long, successful, and immensely rewarding career in marketing and communications and still she is not done. Her work and her articles and books have been written about in major publications such as Fast Company, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal. Inc.Patti started her career at Dow Chemical in 1981. It was not until many years later that she became obsessed with making sure that age inclusivity is on every company’s D,E&I agenda and that everyone gets to end their career when and how they want to – not when ageist stereotypes say they should. Author of I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace, she wrote a second edition of the book called, I’m STILL Not Done because she is not, and ageism unfortunately, is still widespread.Every workforce should mirror the population at large.- Patti Temple RocksConnect with Patti:Website: https://www.pattitemplerocks.com/Book: https://www.pattitemplerocks.com/im-still-not-doneLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattitemplerocks/Email: Patti@PattiTempleRocks.com

Dr. Susan Mazer is a full-time performing jazz harpist and former President, Co-founder, and CEO of Healing HealthCare Systems, producers of The C.A.R.E. Channel, the only evidence-based, 24-hour relaxation channel for patient television. Now in its 30th year, C.A.R.E. is being broadcasted in over 1,100 hospitals nationally and internationally including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Australia, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, and many other locations. The discipline of health care led her to study how we can help patients heal faster. The answer is music.  And this led her to create The C.A.R.E channel and, recently, C.A.R.E VRx™ which extends the reach of C.A.R.E., providing a healing virtual environment for pain relief, reduction of anxiety, and increased comfort, through access to stunning natural spaces and places in the virtual world.Dr. Mazer is a national and international speaker and in 2019 was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Virtual Reality in Healthcare Conference in Dublin, Ireland. Her publications and presentations focus on the patient environment. She is also a blogger for The Huffington Post and has her own blog.  She is a Fellow of the Center for Social Innovation at The Fielding Graduate University.Connect with Susan:Website:Book Chapter: “Applied Virtual Reality in Healthcare: Case Studies and Perspectives"Book: Patient Privacy: When it MattersBlogger: Huffington Post; blog at www.susanmazer.com

When nearing 50 years of age and recently widowed, Judy sold everything,bought an around-the-world airline ticket, and set off alone on a year-longjourney without a planned itinerary. “The outer journey serves as acontainer” for Judy’s inner “struggle to find her way as a sober, single,independent woman.” A master teacher and published author of fiction,poetry, and nonfiction, Judy’s journey led to her first published memoir,When Your Heart Says Go: My Year of Traveling Beyond Loss and Loneliness(October 2023)."My year-long around-the-world travel adventure became an innerjourney to knowing myself."Connect with Judyemail: jareeves@mac.comWebsite: https://judyreeveswriter.comSelection of Judy’s books:When Your Heart Says Go (2023)Wild Women, Wild Voices: Writing from Your Authentic Wildness (2015)A Writer’s Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for theWriting Life (2010)

Through Top Sixty Over Sixty, Helen writes articles and speaks at conferences to encourage a reframed narrative of aging, one that reflects the age realities of the 21st century. She emphasizes the need for a longevity focus, encourages an entrepreneurial mindset, and cautions against internalized ageism which undermines the potential of older adults. Top Sixty Over Sixty also provides programs and courses for older adults as well as businesses and companies to help everyone benefit from our aging demographic.Connect with Helen:Email: helen@topsixtyoversixty.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-hirsh-spence-a029a010/Website: https://www.topsixtyoversixty.com

Janis Clark Johnston is a family psychologist, speaker, and author of several books, most recently Transforming Retirement: Rewire and Grow Your Legacy. When she experienced 9/11, Janis says, she became more sensitive to other’s pain and loss. Planning rituals to honor the person you lost helps you to grow during the grieving process. Keeping a gratitude journal, for example, is a process that is creative by nature and becomes a daily ritual. Janis believes that recognizing the difference between a ‘Growth Mindset’ and a ‘Fixed Mindset’ helps us to understand our own personalities. Life is better if we are more flexible. And when we can develop grit, purpose and passion, with energy as the driver, we are able to live in the present moment, which is the only time we have to make something happen. Our personalities are plastic, not plaster.  Living is a gift - this being alive in the present moment. When that’s your daily approach, everything flows from there. Attitude is really important in life.Janis applies her beliefs to her own aging. Exercise, meditation, gardening and learning something new every day form the basis of her self-care routine. Society needs to re-identify aging. It applies to everyone at every age. Janis finds life challenging and invigorating. She loves learning. It’s a wonderful way to age. There are always new things to learn. She has recently written a picture book that deals with bullying.Connect with Janis Clark Johnston, Ed.D.Author: Transforming Retirement: Rewire and Grow Your LegacyMidlife Maze: A Map to Recovery and Rediscovery after LossIt Takes a Child to Raise a Parent: Stories of Evolving Child & Parent DevelopmentWebsite: https://janisjohnston.comBlog: https://janis-johnston.com