Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

Ann Anderson Evans, age 82, lives in Vermont. She is a writer, linguist, and former professor. Her first memoir, Daring to Date Again (2014), which tells the story of what happened after she started dating at 62, won multiple prizes. Her sequel The Sweet Pain of Being Alive: A Memoir of Love and Death (Jan. 2024), narrates her attempt to find out why, after 13 happily married years, her husband killed himself. Her questions about his gender dsyphoria and suicide remain largely unanswered. Ann tries to heed the wisdom of the Buddhist saying, “You can’t change the past, the future hasn’t happened yet, so pay close attention to today.” The questions and answers have continued to unfold. Through contemplation about loss, aging, and evolving, I realize every day is an adventure; we must be willing to deal with whatever comes.Connect with AnnEmail: ann@annandersonevans.comWebsite: https://annandersonevans.com

Susan Gangsei, a classically trained tapestry artist from Minneapolis, MN, uses her talent to create images of women aging. Her recent series, The Sacred Journey of Aging, features the “beauty, strength, and wisdom of older women.” Susan treats viewers to her tapestries that represent different passages of growing older—feeling invisible, making mischief, putting the pieces back together, reimagining how to live with a health condition, and recognizing the paradoxes of life. Susan will exhibit selected pieces at the Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined Symposium, October 19,2024, in the Chicago area.Connect with SusanEmail: susangangsei@yahoo.com Website: https://www.susangansei.com

Visionary and disrupter, Jacynth Bassett, is an award-winning, highly sought after consultant and expert in the anti-ageism/ age-inclusive & positive movement. At only 31, she is widely recognized as a leading pioneer and voice, awarded ‘Anti-Ageist Activist’ of 2023, at the inaugural Advantages Of Age Awards 2023. and named one of Evening Standard’s 22 Londoners Changing the World.She is the Founder & CEO of the award-winning global campaign, consultancy & community Ageism Is Never In Style®, and of The Bias Cut – the first age-inclusive independent fashion online boutique.Her whole inspiration came from her Mum; Jacynth witnessed how she was being treated differently, largely due to her age. Jacynth became an activist and consciously began to use her platform to support other people. She was determined to make an impact. She studied law at Cambridge, and after graduating she conducted thorough research and started a blog to spark conversation and develop a community and following. In the last 1-2 years she is heartened to see how many people are joining the movement. Her manifesto has 5 principles, beginning with aging as you wish. It’s your choice.Connect with Jacynth:Email: jacynth.bassett@thebiascut.comWebsite: The Bias CutInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacynthbassett“I’m heartened to see how many young people are taking up the battle to end ageism.” - Jacynth BassettConnect with Jacynth:Email: jacynth.bassett@thebiascut.comWebsite: The Bias CutInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacynthbassett

LIfe is a constant adventure for Michele Kurlander, 79. She lives in Chicago, yet her heart is in France. A fluent francophile, Michelle spends much of her life traveling between Chicago and Paris. There she has met dear friends who live all across the world. When she becomes interested in an artist, an author, a performer, Michele’s obsession with art and music icons takes over and she devotes that period of her life to understanding all she can about the person. Spending years reading and discussing all 7 volumes of Proust is a perfect example. Sometimes that means traveling across the world to meet them, attending their concerts, involving friends in the obsession with her. She is also obsessed with her family.No stranger to challenge, Michele reinvented herself to make every moment count. Through it all she has maintained her love of writing and literature. And, continues to practice law while, somehow, she making it all work. Michelle will tell you, “There is no resemblance today to who I once was.”"Nobody promises you anything in life, except this minute."CONNECT WITH MICHELEEmail: lawmichelle@aol.comWebsite: https://www.kurlanderlaw.com/

Dr. Pamela Meyer is a prolific author, international consultant and keynote speaker, and college teacher whose areas of focus are leadership agility, organizational change, and adult learning.  In her most recent book, Staying in the Game: Leading and Learning with Agility for a Dynamic Future, Pamela draws on her experiences as an amateur, gold medalist ski racer and on extensive interviews with older ski racers who keep coming back. Staying in the game is an apt metaphor for women who strive to remain innovative in their later decades. Pamela identifies play, purpose, passion, and pleasure as key elements of innovative living. And she discusses four interconnected dynamics of staying in the game that are applicable to professional and personal contexts and that are particularly relevant to women as we age: meaningful identity; community; learning; and commitment. Connect with PamelaContact Page: https://pamela-meyer.com/pamela-meyer-contact/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelameyerphd/Website: https://pamela-meyer.comSelected Books by PamelaStaying in the Game: Leading and Learning with Agility for a Dynamic Future.The Agility Shift: Creating Agile and Effective Leaders, Teams, and Organizations

Sheila Solomon’s career in mass media arts spans 50 years. She was among the first African American women to work in the newsrooms of regional and national newspapers. Sheila became a dedicated advocate for affirmative action—bringing people of color into the news business and reporting on race issues in professions outside of journalism. While working as a journalist, Sheila was diagnosed with a very rare, incurable illness that is still being managed. She was allowed to work from home for six months, a unique arrangement in those times. Currently, Sheila volunteers her leadership expertise as Co-Founder/Vice Chair of the Board for Journalism Funding Partners and as President of the City Bureau Board of Directors. She is a proud legacy member of the oldest African American sorority in the United States.Connect with SheilaEmail: Srsolomon52@gmail.com

As the founder of AGEIST Magazine and Super Ager podcast, David Stewart is a passionate champion of the modern 50+ lifestyle. While interviewing David is a departure from interviewing women 70-110+, we feel that what he has to say contributes to our mission of aging reimagined.Women are the ones who are changing things. Men never experienced ageism, while women experienced sexism throughout their careers and understood ageism as a form of discrimination.Super Ager podcast focuses on how we age and live optimally for who we are. We’re all different. The podcast brings on people who have resources for those in this age group. Ageist Magazine is a natural progression from David’s previous work in magazines, with advertising. This mag is for people over 50 and to offer options for peoples’ current lifestyles. We have a poverty of imagination. The magazine helps overcome this.His work is gender neutral. He talks about functional age, not biological. He wants to know, “What can you do?” How can you be as strong as possible? As useful as possible? How are you engaging? Be in touch with yourself. Be centered with who you are. Email:  david@weareageist.comWebsite: AGEIST.com

When Sandy Gordon retired at 70, from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Rosemont, Illinois as Director of Public Relations, a colleague gave her a toast. It said in part: “Sandy has the kind of talent that startles people.  Really.  Her co-workers and colleagues often sit around wondering how she comes up with her ideas.  Ideas that seem to just sort of float out of her brain.  It’s as though Sandy can produce life from a primordial soup that for everyone else is just a bowl full of amino acids.  Sandy has that magic.”Sandy began her career as a special education teacher and immediately became an advocate for people with disabilities. Learning that then President Hubert Humphrey’s grandchild had Down Syndrome, she found a way to approach him and urged him to do something for ‘handicapped’ people. He hired her on the spot to work as Executive Director of Friends of the Handicapped for the Humphrey/Muskie campaign."Getting recognition is less important than getting the job done" - Sandy GordonAll of Sandy’s jobs have come about in similar fashion starting with the National Easter Seal Society. With no background in communication, public relations or HR, she uses her talents and skills to find her way. Her colleague goes on to say “It would be enough to comment on Sandy’s talent and imagination, but that is actually the smaller part of her whole person.  The bigger part is her heart and her humor.  Sandy has the type of personality that makes everyone around her better.  Happier.  Funnier.  Brighter.  Smarter.  She just makes the day better.  Her energy and spirit is irrepressible.”   CONNECT WITH SANDY:Email: Sandy 601@gmail.com

Coleen T. Murphy, Ph.D is Director, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics,  James A. Elkins, Jr. Professor in the Life Sciences, Department of Molecular Biology, and LSI Genomics, Princeton University. She is also Director, Paul F. Glenn Center for Aging Research at Princeton and Director of Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain. As a researcher, Coleen studies aging and the quantitation of “quality of life with age,” including the decline of cognitive and reproductive capacities with age. She is author of How We Age: The Science of Longevity. It is surprisingly readable and understandable. Coleen has had her own lab since 2005. She finds society’s obsession with nutrition and dieting limiting for her research and has, instead, questioned what else can we do to preserve our health and cognitive aging. She has won numerous awards for her research including being named a Pew Scholar. Coleen was awarded the New Innovator, Transformative R01, and two Pioneer awards from the NIH Director’s office. Effective research stems from knowing the right questions to ask. Coleen MurphyConnect with Coleen:Email: ctmurphy@princeton.eduPrinceton: http://www.molbio1.princeton.edu/labs/murphy/ ORCID: 0000-0002-8257-984XBook: How We Age: The Science of Longevity(AddLink)

Dr. Tracey Gendron is an internationally recognized gerontologist with almost 30 years of experience as a grant-funded researcher. She speaks to audiences globally about the real world impact of age bias. She is determined to change people’s negative views about aging. “Ageism, she says, is complicated - more nuanced than most people think it is. Anytime we discriminate against a person based on age, it is ageism. And, since we are all aging all the time, it can be a younger or older person who is being discriminated against.”Tracey serves as Chair for the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Gerontology, and as Director for the Virginia Center on Aging.As a child, her grandparents were an important part of her life and she believes that influenced her decision to enter gerontology. “Aging is beautiful, aging is living”, she says.  We shouldn’t talk about it as older people, aging is what everyone is doing.External and internal ageism are equally discriminatory.  Internally, if we have dread about getting older, it affects us physically, mentally, and socially. Internalized ageism is a risk factor for suicidal ideation among older people And younger people who have dread of aging, and carry that with them, are more likely to have a cardiovascular event.Dr. Gendron has a master’s degree in gerontology and psychology and a Ph.D in developmental psychology." Aging is Living. Think about how we can continue growing through all stages of our life." - Dr. Tracey GendronCONNECT WITH TRACYEmail: tlgendro@vcu.eduWebsite: TraceyGendron.comBook: Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Bias and How to End It1)- "will most likely have a cardiovascular event" - please change to are more likely to have a cardiovascular event.2) "there is a higher rate of suicide in older people who fear aging" - please change to "internalized ageism is a risk factor for suicidal ideation among older people"