Gray Matters

This is my last show for WSLR.  I'm taking a break to explore other new adventures.  This really is a double show.  The first half is an exploration, with friends Joanne and Gail, about spirituality.  The second half is friends Joyce and Renee talking not about our books, but about what we learned from the adventures of writing and promoting our books.  ENJOY!

This episode of Gray Matters is "Bali Matters: Part II."  Your host, Jean Peelen, spent almost a month on the wonderful island of Bali.  Although the beauty of Bali, the amazing artistry that is everywhere, the vibrant Hindu religion, and the sweetness of the people is entrancing, it also was clear that many people were poor and suffering on Bali.  Two people are working to change the world for the poor of Bali.  One is a Canadian ex-pat who works with Rotary International on several projects to support the hill people of eastern Bali.  The other an amazing Balinese man who went from living on the streets at age seven to being a lawyer and heading the Bali Hati foundation.   I hope you enjoy this show about the mostly unseen side of Bali and the heros working to change it.  

I recently returned from three wonderful weeks on the island of Bali - only 26 hours away.  Argh!  There aren't words to tell how beautiful the island and the people of Bali are.  Being there, around their culture, was beyond my experience.  I talked for this show with two wonderful people: Wayan Amor, our driver, guide, and friend; and Nadya an American clothing designer who has lived in Bali since the late 1970s. ENJOY! 

I've always thought that nurses were brave simply because they dealt with human beings, with all of our bodily yuckiness.  But recently I talked with three retired nurses who truly were brave, in the sense that they struck out in the world in times when women just didn't do that.  These women were some of the brave women who modeled for the rest of us that we CAN choose how we want to live our lives.  I'm grateful to them.

Andrea Ross Greene is a friend of mine.  She left the east coast for sunny California to pursue her dream of singing and songwriting.  She writes beautiful music and performs it for appreciative audiences.  Andrea's music and rich voice have been used in independent films.  Her songs capture experiences and emotions that connect immediately with the listener.  When Andrea wins an Emmy, you can say "I heard her on Gray Matters!"

Last month I was asked to speak at a fund-raising brunch for the American Association of University Women.  I spoke about waking up your vision for your life.  This is a recording of that speech, with the addition of comments about the role of vision by co-authors and friends Renee Fisher and Joyce Kramer.  Enjoy!

This week's show was recorded aboard the Royal Caribbean ship The Monarch of the Seas.  I went for a four-day cruise with my sister and her husband and had a wonderful time.  I decided to take the time to interview both the Cruise Director and a passenger who seems to cruise non-stop.  Hope you enjoy it.

Money is what Matters on this week’s Gray Matters: Changing the Conversation About Aging.  Money makes the world go around for sure and sometimes, as we age, money is a difficult subject for us.  We come from a generation that never spoke about money—our own money—to others.  For many of us money is more private than sex.  Listen to Rebecca Mitchell who has a company called “Details Details.”  Rebecca acts for seniors as a liason between them and their attorneys to handle their money.  She is a wonderful woman filled with mission and integrity. We’ll also hear a part of a chapter called “Money Honey” from “Saving the Best for Last: Creating Our Lives After 50” and have a chat about money with the co-authors Renee Fisher and Joyce Kramer. ENJOY!

As we age, we all think about how we will be living in the future.  Our future.  We all know about living alone and about living with our children and about living institutionally in independent or assisted living.  So the question is: Are there any other choices?  And the answer is: possibly.  There is a national movement toward co-housing.  Co-housing isn’t just for seniors, but seems to me that it could be the answer to a lot of our concerns about how we can live happily and safely in the future could be answered by co-housing. On this show, we talked with a series of guests.  Kathy Silverberg  has a real interest in keeping seniors in their homes as long as possible, Van Deist is the head of the local co-housing effort, and finally, I'll talk with friends Joyce Kramer and Renee Fisher about how we see our own housing futures.

It is no secret that the system of medical care in this country is broken.  Human contact, yes even friendship, between a doctor and his/her patients is a thing of the past.  Insurance companies run the way medicine is practiced, and that is not a good thing.   In this episode I talk with two doctors who gave up on the system.  Both opened their own practices, practicing holistic preventive and restorative medicine.  Both believe in treating the whole person: body, mind, and spirit.  I hope this is the way of the future.  

In a departure from our usual more serious topics, on this show we talk about laughter.  I spoke with the owner of a comedy club who himself is an experienced stand-up comedian.  In between making me laugh, he talked about comedy and about the classes in stand-up and improv he gives which are increasingly filled with people over 50!

The theme of this episode is "Ex-pats Matter."  An ex-pat is someone who chooses to live outside of his or her own country.  We talk with three ex-pats, two Americans and a Brit, about what led them to live with "strangers" and why they continued to do so.  We also get some darn good advice from them!

Hello hello hello - welcome back to Vietnam.  This episode of Gray Matters is "Vietnam Mattered."  John Shapiro, my long-time friend, tells his experience of Vietnam.  It is a unique one that you don't hear very often.  For John, Vietnam was a testing time in which he could discover himself as a brave man. After John's interview are three poems by Vietnam vets that I think mirrored aspects of John's experience.  It is my hope that you will find this program interesting, and also that through it I can give to John the welcome home that he didn't experience then. Please note there is a "buzz" sound about four minutes in (who knows why) but it only lasts about two minutes.  Also, as usual, I'm required to cut the wonderful music down to about 11 seconds.  Sigh.... Enjoy Vietnam Mattered!    

This is a very special episode of Gray Matters.  While in Prague recently I recorded an interview with a wonderful man who is living history.  Pavel Pechacek was born under nazism, lived under communism, and was instrumental in creating democracy in then Czechoslovakia.  He worked for many years for Radio Free Europe, and now is an advisor to the President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Libery.  I love this interview. As usual the music is shortened to 11 seconds for legal reasons.  I know, though, that you will remember The Beatles "When I'm 64" (my theme music), Bob Dylan "Chimes of Freedom," and Joan Baez "Oh Freedom." Enjoy!  

This episode of Gray Matters is called "Caregiving Matters."  I talked with two women who began as caregivers for loved ones, and have moved on to facilitating caregiver support groups.  I then spoke with the Director of the Caregiver Resource Center at the Sarasota Senior Friendship Center.  An apology to my friends who love music as I do.  Although I can use any music I want on the actual show, on the Podcast I am only allowed to use 11 seconds of each song.  So sorry!  The first song, by Bob Dylan is just beautiful.  Listen to "When the Deal Goes Down" if you get the chance.

This episode of Gray Matters is "Movement Matters."  In the second half of life, we become increasingly aware that our bodies are not machines that will run forever, and we simply ignore them at our peril.  Our bodies are gifts, and we are responsible for keeping them (aka ourselves) strong and healthy.  We speak with an amazing 63 year-old woman who participates in Iron Man triathalons, and a 73 year-old woman who has a mission to keep hundreds of seniors fit.  These are terrific women who both inspired me and made it clear (without words) that I am a bit of a slug!

"Travel Matters" is the subject for this week's Gray Matters.  First, we talk with an amazing woman named Jackie Meaker.  Jackie is 78 years old and has so far traveled to 124 countries--and she's not done yet.  Then we talk with Lynne Anast the head of the Road Scholar program at the Sarasota Friendship Center about closer to home wonderful opportunities for Sarasota seniors.  Finally, we have humor from my friend Renee Fisher about sneaking babies across borders.  A fun show for sure.

Vision Matters is not what you might expect.  It is a show about sight, or the lack thereof.  We talk with two amazing men, Bill Shearon, who has limited vision that began fairly recently.  After Bill began losing his sight, he served on the city commission in his town.  He and his dog Levitt are a familiar sight on Anna Maria Island.  Craig Kiser lost his sight as a teenager.  He is about to embark on an amazing feat:  he will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  How amazing is that! One note:  Unfortunately (due to my lack of technical skills) I lost about the first three minutes of Bill's interview.  Sorry Bill! 

Publishing Matters is a follow-up to Writing Matters - the last Gray Matters show in which we spoke with writers about how and why they write.  In this show, we speak first with my co-authors Joyce Kramer and Renee Fisher who went the "publish on demand" route when publishing "Invisible No More: The Secret Lives of Women Over 50" and "Saving the Best for Last: Creating Our Lives After 50."  Then we speak with Julie Ann Howell who is the founder and President of Peppertree Press, a small Sarasota publishing company.  Enjoy!

I just LOVE this show, and I thank Dennis Blanchard, author of Three Hundred Zeros, for technologically saving my butt by recording it at home and sending it to me.  I WILL own this technology yet! On Writing Matters, I talked with three writers: a poet, a non-fiction writer, and a mystery fiction writer about how and why they write.  I loved talking with them and I greatly admire their works.

This week on Gray Matters the topic is "Memories Matter."    For some of us seniors, Alzheimer's disease is a frightening yet possible future.  It is time to stop avoiding the subject and, instead, consider how we can know whether we are developing Alzheimer's, whether we can avoid it, and what the newer nutritional theories are on delaying its onset or progress.  Finally, we hear from some wonderful residents of The Garden Unit at The Pines of Sarasota.  They have Alzheimer's and have created a theater company! 

GRAY MATTERS: Changing the Conversation About Seniors This week on Gray Matters the topic is “Seniors Supporting Our Environment.”  First, we  talked with Joe Greeley.  Joe is the Director of an exciting new Sarasota Program called “Retirees in Service to the Environment.”  Next, we spoke with Suzie Fox, the Director of the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch.  Both have challenges to give to community seniors to move into the forefront in preserving our beautiful, coastal environment.  As usual we will end with Renee Fisher holding forth in true Boomer Humor style with “Recycling Wars.”

Hope you listen to part 2 of "Doggies Matter."  If not, you will miss some good stuff!

This week, Gray Matters is in two parts due to the technical inexperience of the creator.  (Wonder how much longer I can use THAT excuse?!)  Do hope you listen to both parts of "Doggies Matter." This week Gray Matters - the show for Sarasota seniors - is going to the dogs.  There can be a strong and healthy connection between seniors and pets - especially dogs.  This week we talked with Shona Otto, head of Underdog Rescue of Florida about snow-bird fostering, then with Kate Franklin of the Humane Society of Sarasota on many ways to have or support doggies, then, finally with PETA about their campaign to protect dogs from abuse by dog food companies' laboratory testing.  And, as always, Gray Matters ends with relevant humor from humor columnist Renee Fisher.

It’s clear that where we seniors live is completely dependent on our finances and the economy. On Housing Matters, we talked first with a realtor who specializes in assisting seniors who are ready to down-size from their long-time homes, then with the administrator of an independent living facility in Sarasota that offers affordable living for those with limited income. Finally we will talked with a Sarasota resident whose has no home at all. This episode of Gray Matters ends, as do all Gray Matters, with a humor piece from Renee Fisher.