Backyard OASIS - Older Adults Seeking, Inspiring, Serving

On this episode of Backyard OASIS, host Denise Schwartz introduces us to author, memoirist, mother (and daughter) Lee Uttermark Wicks. Lee reads several passages from her 2021 memoir Muriel and the Grocer's Daughter, her attempt to tell her mother's story in her mother's voice. Lee is also the author of her latest memoir, 2026's A Five Dog Marriage.

Praise for Muriel and the Grocer's Daughter:

“We may think we have read books such as “Muriel and the Grocer’s Daughter” before, about mother/daughter power struggles, but this duet has a force field like none other. Written in alternating monologues, initially there is no let-up in the sense of disparate points of view. Think of waves, relentless, riveting, crashing on competing beaches. Yet, the more the daughter mulls and imagines her mother’s point of view, the deeper their bond becomes. In the end, candor leavened with humor and compassion leads to wisdom and, best of all, a story you can’t put down.”

—Madeleine Blais, author, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists and professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Praise for A Five Dog Marriage:

"Lee Wicks used a myriad of innovative narrative techniques to catapult Muriel and the Grocer’s Daughter (2020) to the very top ranks of creatively written biographies. A Five Dog Marriage (2026) confirms and expands her placement in this rare and exclusive pantheon. Weaving a continually melding braid of reflection on her beloved dogs, her complicated self, and our troubled times, Lee’s readily accessible, deeply personal, and brilliantly insightful second memoir will resonate in the mind and heart of anyone who reads it. A true work of art without a single strand of ego.”

— Richard Andersen, professor emeritus of English at Springfield College and author of We Called Him Bunny.

Ideas for the show? Want to be a guest? Reach out at [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted by Denise Schwartz

Contributors: Lee Uttermark Wicks

Produced and Engineered by Alex Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

On this very special edition of Backyard OASIS, friend of the show and Age- & Dementia-Friendly Program Director Jason Molony fills in as host to speak with all of the amazing people who contribute the most to the show about what their journey with the show has been like. Hosts Henry Balzarini, Christine Copeland, Chad Fuller, Judy Raper, and Denise Schwartz are all here fielding Jason's thoughtful questions, and producer and engineer Alex Audette even makes a brief appearance. The group reflects on what they think makes the show a success, why they started it in the first place, and why they plan to keep it going for 100 more episodes.

Thank you to all our listeners who make this show possible.

Ideas for the show? Want to be a guest? Reach out at [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted by Jason Molony

Contributors: Henry Balzarini, Christine Copeland, Chad Fuller, Judy Raper, and Denise Schwartz

Produced and Engineered by Alex Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

Written as a group of essays that serve as thought points on the timeline of her life, artist and writer Judy Podell candidly explores her life as the daughter of immigrants in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. There is a constant tension that pulls the reader through the book as Podell wrestles with a lifelong desire to both fit in and stand out. She describes Monkeyface as "an honest and truthful self-portrait of an opinionated, big-mouthed New York Jewish woman that I hope readers who are not at all like me will relate to." She says she'd like readers to be glad they met her and that the "$20 they spent to buy the book was money well spent!"

Ideas for the show? Want to be a guest? Reach out at [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Produced by Denise Schwartz

Produced and Engineered by Alex Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

On this episode of Backyard OASIS, host Denise Schwartz talks with Greenfield, MA resident and world traveler Suzanne Patnaude about her recent ventures aboard the Queen Mary cruise line. Suzanne talks about some of her favorite places to visit, how she spent time at sea on her months-long cruise around the world (hint: a whole lot of ballroom dancing!), and offers some advice and words of reassurance for any listener who may be considering traveling solo. It's a world-wide tour on today's episode, so hop aboard and enjoy!

Ideas for the show? Want to be a guest? Reach out at [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Produced by Denise Schwartz

Produced and Engineered by Alex Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

Jennifer Ferrara describes her journey as her father's caregiver and the moment she realized that to continue to care effectively for him she had to begin to care for herself. A heartfelt and open conversation with import for Sandwich Generation caregivers and others.

Ideas for the show? Reach out at [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Produced by Denise Schwartz

Produced and Engineered by Alex Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

Gloria Ratcliffe, alumnae of Greenfield Community College and host of the Ms. Americana Podcast on Backyard OASIS invites guest Anna Morrison, LICSW, a licensed clinical social worker, into the studio to discuss depression. They discuss the different types of the disorder, the different causes, and how to both avoid and fight it. During the conversation they attempt to de-stigmatize depression and mental illness and leave listeners struggling with depression with a sense of hope.

Ideas for the show? Reach out at [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Produced by Gloria Ratcliffe

Produced and Engineered by Alex Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

On this episode of Backyard OASIS, host Denise Schwartz speaks with travel columnist and theater critic Max Hartshorne about his areas of expertise. Max opens with practical and unexpected travel advice (did you know that a week in Spain might cost you less than a weekend on Cape Cod?), his appreciation of meal kit subscriptions, before delving into some money-saving tips for older adults all over the country. He also asks: Is it really that strange to open the door when somebody knocks?! All this and more on this week's episode!

Max's work can be found at his website: https://maxhartshorne.com/

Find more on his Substack: https://maxdeerfield.substack.com/

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Produced by Denise Schwartz

Photo credit: Max Hartshorne

Produced and Engineered by Alex Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

On this special edition of Backyard OASIS, host Denise Schwartz invites actor, playwright, and theater artist Rich Vaden to read Bird of Providence, a short story written by her brother, T.P. Schwartz-Barcott. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1989, Bird of Providence introduces us to Joey G. Gagliardi, a young guy trying to find his way out of a neighborhood that "no longer matters because no one who matters lives there. "

T.P. Schwartz-Barcott's book "Let There Be Light", as well as his other books, can be found online.

“Writers Read Us Stories They Love”, a Backyard Oasis series, introduces listeners to authors in western Massachusetts who read from their books and talk about their work, their ideas, and the stories they wish to tell.

Be sure to subscribe to the Greenfield Community College Backyard OASIS Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Produced by Denise Schwartz

Photocredit: TP Shwartz-Barcott

Produced and Engineered by Alexander Audette at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

In 1894, fifteen Sunderland women joined the national Woman's Club Movement that had established the idea that women had a moral responsibility to transform public policy. More than 125 years have passed since the ladies got together to chat and work for change (something had to be done about those dirt roads!) and the club is still moving forward today.

Today, host Denise Schwartz sits down with the outgoing President of the Sunderland Woman's Club, Brenda Wozniakewicz. They discuss the broad history of the women's club movement in the United States. What value might we find in continuing the tradition of women's clubs in our communities? What is their appeal to women of different ages today in 2026? All this and more on today's episode of Backyard OASIS!

Photo credit: Sunderland Woman's Club

Be sure to subscribe to the Backyard Oasis Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Produced by Denise Schwartz

Produced and Engineered by Alexander Audette

Recorded at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA

Join us for the third episode of Ms. Americana on Backyard OASIS. This week, Gloria Ratcliffe discusses Women’s Health with returning guests Professor Emerita Anne M. Wiley and Author- Professor Emerita Joanne McNeil Hayes of Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

This episode touches on how health care research in the United States excluded women and girls for years, and examines the importance of longitudinal and life-long research for women and girls specifically. Disparities in access and outcomes of health care, particularly for Black women and their children in the U.S. are highlighted, including several concrete narratives featuring Gloria, Anne, and Joanne's personal stories discussing healthcare access across generations. The group concludes by touching on how we can all get involved to change access to care for all women for the better.

Resources:

• Foster, Diana Green. 2020. The Turnaway Study: The Cost of Denying Women Access to Abortion. Scribner Publishing. see also https://turnawayproject.org/
• Our Bodies Ourselves. 2011, 35th edition Boston Women's Health Collective. Touchstone Publishing. See also https://ourbodiesourselves.org/
• Valenti, Jessica. 2024. Abortion Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win. Penguin Random House. See also https://www.jessicavalenti.com/
• Aftershock: Turning Grief into Action. a documentary film. Aug 25, 2023. ONYX and ABC Studios. Available on HULU and other streaming services. See trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoZFERlanMM

Be sure to subscribe to the Backyard Oasis Podcast and check back regularly for new episodes as well as other enriching GCC content!

Hosted and Co-Produced by Gloria Ratcliffe

Produced and Engineered by Alexander Audette

Recorded at Greenfield Community College in Franklin County, MA