Crow's Feet: Life As We Age

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What if we're not stuck living with weakening bones and painful knees or hips as we age? Join host Jan M. Flynn in conversation with Dr. Alan Beyer, the Executive Medical Director of Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Newport Beach CA  and host of radio show "Doctors in the Dugout" as he talks about heading off osteoporosis, what to do if joint pain starts limiting your life, and his journey through his own hip replacement. 

Show links:

Dr. Alan Beyer “On the Other Side of the Scalpel” video blog

Or watch on YouTube

Hoag Orthopedic Institute, home page

Alan H. Beyer, M.D., Hoag Orthopedic Institute

Doctor in the Dugout Radio Show (AM 830)

Music on this episode includes Weathervane and Chafftop by Blue Dot Sessions.

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Fear of anger can ultimately be as destructive as expressed rage. However, Amanda Barusch argues that it's time for older adults to turn toward anger rather than denying or avoiding it. By taking it seriously, people can neutralize its destructive potential and harness its energy for personal and social change.

Join host Lee Bentch with Amanda Barusch for this entertaining and informative dive into harnessing the energy of anger for the better good. Amanda has done an extraordinary amount of research on the topic, recently releasing a book titled Aging Angry: Making Peace with Rage.

Amanda is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and the University of Utah. She has served as Editor in Chief for the Journal of Gerontological Social Work and Deputy Editor for the Australasian Journal on Aging.

Comments? Suggestions? Call our toll-free Crows Feet Feedback line at 800-222-2216.

Help Build a Positive View of Aging by Supporting Our Non-Profit Work.

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The Generation X folks are no longer kids. They were born between 1965 and 2000, are now 44-59, and the oldest will soon enter their sixties. 

They have stepped into leadership roles across sectors, bringing their life experiences and perspectives to shape the future. 

Sari Botton is on the leading edge of that age cohort; she'll turn 60 next year. Besides publishing the engaging Oldster Magazine on Substack, she’s an established essayist, editor of best-selling anthologies, and educator. 

In this episode, Sari Botton offers a unique and thoughtful perspective on Gen X aging, a topic that has fascinated her throughout her life. 

Host Jane Trombley and Sari explore the concerns of Gen X aging into a world qualitatively and quantitatively different from the one Boomers experienced—concerns about climate change, economic and job uncertainties, and the stability of Social Security. All this against the backdrop of conventional worries about moving into the next chapter of life. 

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Websites: 

Oldster Magazine

saribotton.com

Music on this episode includes instrumental by nojisuma from Pixabay

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Elaine LaLanne, widow of "Father of Fitness," Jack LaLanne, leads an audience of hundreds in breaking a Guinness World Record at the age of 98. After catching her breath, Elaine shares her new thoughts on aging.

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With a new book about the women who inspire her to live a full life, NY Times best-selling author Melinda Blau talks with host Nancy Peckenham about unique women who come to life on the pages of The Wisdom Whisperers. She also introduces us to two of these women by reading passages from her newly-released book.

Author Kathleen Murphy, an essay writer from Utah, then reads her story about how she overcame fear of aging by making a list of her fears, then poking holes in each of them.

The episode ends with a reading by Mark Tulin, a writer and poet, who shares his contentment with life in his late 60s and his firm belief that he never wants to be young again.

You can order The Wisdom Whisperers on Amazon and learn more about Melinda at her website www.melindablau.com

Read more of Kathleen Murphy’s work on Medium by visiting her profile page here.

Mark Tulin’s writing is published on Medium as well. Visit his profile page here.

And check out more great essays about the latter half of life at Medium.com/crows-feet or visit www.crowsfeetlifeasweage.com.

Music in this episode includes Palms Down from Blue Dot Sessions, ceton from Pixabay, and Roman Senyk from Pixabay.

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Low mood is a common symptom for older adults, often a response to pain, loss, or changes in their lives. But Dr. Lee Penn, a Geropsychologist, college prof, and author, brings a hopeful message. That because of decades of experience, refined self-knowledge, and carefully honed problem solving skills, older adults can learn to manage their moods and greatly improve their quality of life. In this episode, host Jean Feldeisen, also a psychotherapist, talks with Dr. Penn about his work with older patients, including advice for them and their families. 

Dr. Penn has written The Golden Rules of Retirement and The Golden Rules of Life Satisfaction, to help people take practical steps to feel better. You’ll find them at Amazon.com. To learn more about his research in Geropsychology, go to his website: lifecanbegolden.com.

Music includes The Green Room by Blue Dot Sessions.

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Here's a companion piece to our latest episode featuring a kidney donor in her fifties and a two-time kidney recipient. Crow's Feet writer Ann Litts had a long career as a nurse taking care of transplant patients, and saw her own daughter through a transplant. Nobody knows better the marvel of giving and getting the gift of life.

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Kidney disease is a silent killer that affects more people than breast and prostate cancer. While fatal for many, others turn to kidney dialysis, offering a means to sustain life but with a few risks. Beyond dialysis, the best hope is a kidney transplant, which restores life without the burden of dialysis. In this episode, host Lee Bentch sits down with Carol Offen, a kidney donor in her fifties, and Betsy Crais, a multi-organ transplant recipient. Their book, The Insider’s Guide to Living Kidney Donation, is a must-read for both kidney donors and recipients about giving or getting the greatest gift.  

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A fitting quest for Pride Month, Esther Newton's personal and professional struggles mirror sixty years of LGBTQ+ history. 

In the mid-1950s, catapulted out of a liberal household in New York to a rigidly-gendered southern California high school where girls were frilly and feminine, Esther was, in her own words, “a failure as a girl.” She knew she was different—a “homosexual,” as such deviants were then called.  Alone as a teenager, fearing she had no chance at a normal life, Esther found comfort in Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa. “It showed me the culture of the 50s and 60s was just one among thousands and thousands.”

Like Mead, Esther earned her PhD in cultural anthropology. She dared to observe and write her dissertation on drag queens, a culture much closer to home. She wrote scholarly papers on “stone butches,” and how they had sex. She outed herself and became more of an activist in her collection of essays, Margaret Mead Made Me Gay.  It was “career suicide,” she says of her early work in the field, but Esther seems to have the last word in her memoir, My Butch Career, and on screen, in the 2022 documentary, Esther Newton Made Me Gay.  Today, a new generation looks up to her for her courage and foresight.

You can view the trailer for Esther Newton Made Me Gay on her website as well as links to her writing:  https://www.Esther-Newton.com . Crow's Feet is grateful to Jean Carlomusto, director of Esther Newton Made Me Gay, and Women Make Movies, the distributor of the film, for allowing us to use excerpts. Access the full documentary via Kanopy, if your local library subscribes, or by contacting the distributor: [email protected] 

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Forget the necktie and the tool box. Our gift to you this Father’s Day is a book…The Book of Dads, to be exact. 

Here you’ll find a collection of stories from Crow’s Feet writers that pays tribute to the men who played vitally important roles in their lives.  

In the “chapters” of this book, there’s a wealth of vivid memories. Some of these are happy. Some are sad. Others serve to remind us that while a parent might have loomed larger than life in one’s childhood, they might also have exhibited some very human foibles. 

Betsy Allen and Rand Bishop recall the special ways they found a connection with their fathers in ways both large and small. Bruce Stambaugh, Daniella Mini, Alex Jordan, and Mary McGrath reminisce how, over the years since their youth, they came to understand their dads better—and appreciate them. And finally, Jerry Dunn, Ilana Rabinowitz, and Jane Trombley share the influences their fathers had on them and recognize the lasting legacies they left behind. 

So pull up a chair, relax, and let us tell you some stories about our dads. 

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