As I write this, ominous, silent claxons are sounding for yet another local "air quality" alert this summer. That means lung-stinging ozone and dangerous levels of particulate matter — combined with heat and wildfire smoke from Canada — make it unsafe for folks with cardiac and respiratory issues to spend time outside.
When retirees consider ideal places to retire, their lists include things like: sunshine, cultural amenities and access to health care. While these factors are important, few consider local air quality.I love being outdoors, but this caution is more pronounced as wildfire smoke from Quebec blanketed the skies of the Eastern U.S. The crimson sunsets are breathtaking, although the air quality is dangerous. Where can I move to get away from this ill wind when I retire?
When retirees start shopping for an ideal retirement locale, their lists include the usual staples: sunshine, cultural amenities and access to health care. While these factors are important, few consider local air quality.
Yet climate change and the addition of millions more vehicles can degrade air quality, shortening lives and aggravating existing respiratory and coronary conditions. Although much progress has been made in improving the air we breathe since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, air quality in some metropolitan areas has declined to such an extent that it regularly imperils public health.
Millions Breathe Dirty Air
According to the American Lung Association's latest "State of the Air" report, "nearly 36% of Americans — almost 120 million people — still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution." While this is nearly 18 million fewer people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year's report, it still sounds a siren for those who shouldn't be exposed to specific pollutants.
We used to take clean air for granted throughout most of North America. But in an era of global warming and pollution from multiple sources and wildfires, air  has become a prime health concern, especially for older adults and people with respiratory and heart conditions.
What should concern people living in or moving to a place with consistently dirty air? Ozone, public health officials warn, is one of the greatest threats to those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which makes it harder to breathe and can lead to death.
Small Particles, Big Trouble
Pulmonologist Dr. Meredith McCormack, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, says particles that are two-and-one-half microns or less in width (known as "PM 2.5") can "go beyond the lungs and enter the bloodstream," which poses a risk for heart attacks and strokes.
"Nearly 36% of Americans — almost 120 million people — still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of . . . pollution."
McCormack notes that both ozone and fine particulates are linked to "strong evidence that they are harmful to health" for those suffering from a wide range of ailments, from asthma to diabetes.
The worst metropolitan areas for air pollution typically have abundant highways, industry and low winds. The regions with the most polluted air are Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Joaquin Valley in California as well as Phoenix, Denver and Houston.
All told, California cities occupy more than half of the slots on the "worst-25 cities" list for ozone, according to the Lung Association. Bakersfield, California, was among the three worst areas for ozone and year-round and short-term particle pollution.
Clean-Air Communities
Do you want to relocate to locales with the cleanest air? You'll have to log some miles. The cleanest cities were in Hawaii; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Wilmington, North Carolina, on the year-round particle pollution scale. Albany, New York; Asheville, North Carolina; and Bangor, Maine, scored the best on ozone.
When considering moves to more out-of-the-way places, of course, don't forget other key factors such as health care access, transportation and amenities.
According to ALA spokesperson Katherine Pruitt, the best way to use the association's ratings is to "check grades by county and city and look at the trend line and changes over time." Some metro areas have improved while others have gotten worse. When considering relocation, also consider factors you may not see in air ratings or on a map.
"Transportation is a major source of air pollution in metro areas," Pruitt adds, "including truck depots." Areas with heavy industry and big polluters like refineries will also impact local air quality.
Climate Change Effects
Generally speaking, climate scientists predict that cities in hot, humid or torrid climates will experience the worst air conditions as the planet continues to warm. Drought, wildfires and extreme heat and humidity are powerful contributing factors. Internationally, cities in South Asia are suffering the most, especially from increased ozone levels, reports a recent "State of Global Air" study.
"The health burden of ozone-attributable COPD is rising in countries with aging populations."
"The health burden of ozone-attributable COPD is rising in countries with aging populations," according to the State of Global Air Initiative. "The growth and aging of populations accounts for much of the increase in COPD-related deaths in countries across Asia." Yet poor air quality impacts nearly every population suffering from a wide range of conditions from asthma to emphysema.
If your doctor tells you that clean air is a priority for your health, you have plenty of desirable retirement locales to choose from on the Lung Association's "Cleanest Cities" report card. Keep in mind that these ratings change every year and few, if any, places are immune from the effects of climate change and dirty air. Some local conditions may improve while others decline.
In some places, data may be incomplete. For example, I tried to find particulate pollution ratings on my home county and the ALA said it wasn't reported. Not all locales have monitoring stations.
How to get real-time air quality information
A number of apps provide timely local air quality information. The Lung Association recommends AirNow, which is available online and via a phone app. Powered by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air-quality data, the free service gives overall air quality ratings that are searchable by ZIP code, city and state. It also provides information in Spanish. A "recent trends" graphic shows air quality over the past few days.
Don't look at the Air Quality Index numbers, however, without some context. You need to know the range of the scale — none of them top out at 100. Then you need to know what the numbers mean. Don't be flummoxed if there's no rating for the area you are researching. Not every locale has air quality monitors or full data on all major pollutants.
On one recent day, for example, the EPA's AirNow app posted a "108" rating for my town, meaning the air was unhealthy. The was largely due to ozone, which is particularly dangerous for "people with lung disease such as asthma, children and teens, older adults, and people who are routinely active outdoors for six or more hours a day." It offered the following tips to reduce your exposure:
Choose less-strenuous activities (like walking instead of running) so you don’t breathe as hard.Shorten the amount of time you are active outdoors.Be active outdoors when air quality is better.Invest in a high-quality indoor air filtering system.In any case, do your homework when considering relocation or outdoor activities. It won't take much time, but it can certainly make a difference in terms of quality of life.


Breathe Easy in Retirement

John F. Wasik

Soon after blowing out the candles on the birthday cake marking her half century on the planet Mariann Aalda experienced a galvanizing revelation: "I've been a woman and Black my whole life but not even that prepared me for the discrimination I faced after turning 50."
Mariann AaldaBorn on May 7, 1948 on the South side of Chicago to parents who'd endured the Jim Crow era, Aalda recalls her father Dewey, a Pullman Porter on the railroad, carrying the dictionary into the bathroom to educate himself as he'd felt duty-bound to quit high school to help send five younger siblings to college. He and wife Mantha, a seamstress/homemaker, exhorted Aalda and her younger sister Kathy to: "Do better, be better." 
"I worked harder and was paid less than men."
Aalda explains, "That way no one could think 'little colored girls,' as we were called, were 'less than.'" Both of Dewey and Mantha's daughters graduated college.
The future "Age Disrupter" as she has twice been hailed by AARP magazine, explains, "Our parents were very protective. They socialized Kathy and me to be 'acceptable Black people.' This meant cause no waves around white people: "Know your manners. Know your place." The latter dictum entailed "avoiding places where African Americans are unwelcome." 
Ever the obedient daughter, Aalda followed the rules throughout her tenure at South Illinois University where she studied journalism and theater. Then came New York City circa the 70s and her first serious run-ins with the two brick walls known as sexism and racism. She claims: "All the words that end in 'ism' are bullies." 
Flexing Her 'Discrimination Muscles' 
The first inklings of the sway 'isms' would have in her life came when she began competing for jobs first in public relations, then acting. "I worked harder and was paid less than men," she says. 
Married to her college sweetheart, Aalda describes her show biz start "doing bawdy sketch comedy and political satire on a pull-down stage off the side of a seen-better-days moving van with my infant Christopher on my hip." Her agent dubbed her "Miss Feminine Hygiene" in recognition of all the douche commercials Aalda booked.
In 1981, her acting and trailblazing careers began in earnest when she turned a contracted three-month stint on the soap opera "The Edge of Night" as hard-driving, hard-loving criminal defense attorney Didi Bannister Stoner into a fan favorite who schemed and seduced her way into viewers' hearts until the soap's 1984 cancellation.
"A lot of my career I was the wife, the girlfriend, the pretty girl…What do you do with the pretty girl when she gets old?"
During this period, Aalda faced her share of obstacles, joining the handful of African American actresses on daytime TV in an "orchards and onions" letter writing campaign. The former missives landed on the desks of advertisers and sponsors who Aalda explains, "did a good job of positively representing Black people," while the latter spelled out inaccuracies.
Another initiative involved speaking up at membership meetings of the actors' union AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Actors) concerning their treatment of Black performers "primarily as extras on soaps."
The young woman raised to make no waves was becoming increasingly comfortable rocking every boat in her vicinity. 
Her talent and tenacity enabled Aalda to forge an enviable career that included playing Redd Foxx and Della Reese's daughter in the CBS sitcom "The Royal Family," three seasons on HBO's football dramedy "First & 10" with a then-revered O.J. Simpson, a recurring role on "Designing Women" as Anthony's "yuppie-from-hell girlfriend," and appearances in movies ranging from "The Wiz" to "Beaches" and "Pretty Woman."
"If someone says, 'Oh, you don't look like you're 75', I ask, 'Why is that a compliment?' I don't look good for 75. I just look good."
Then came the big 5-0 and the subsequent gaslighting by casting directors. Aalda says, "A lot of my career I was the wife, the girlfriend, the pretty girl … What do you do with the pretty girl when she gets old?" Her agent's 'solution' was to "gain 50 pounds and morph into character acting."
His client had other ideas on how to deal with the most formidable "ism" of all. As she recounts in her 2019 Ted X talk, "If you don't want to be  invisible, complacency is NOT an option. To me, getting older is just part of the journey and not letting anybody's no stop my yes is still my north star!"
Snap Out of It!
Simultaneous with her acting career stalling, Aalda's husband left. However, when dealt a blizzard of emotional blows, it's never been this performer's style to cocoon under a mound of blankets. Her summation of that tumultuous time: "I was still Black. I was still a woman. I just added 'old' to the mix. I still had to make a living."
The next career evolution was as a certified hypnotherapist with a clientele of primarily midlife women depressed about getting older. Aalda's diagnosis: "They were under a spell the culture put them under that women lose value with age. That really pissed me off."
As she rendered suggestions to the women under hypnotherapy to reject the idea they were over the hill, Aalda's subconscious took in this message as well: "Hollywood is not the boss of me!"
Once again, she shook off the 'no's' and reclaimed authorship of her future, creating a solo show: "Snap Out of It! You've Only Been Hypnotized into Believing You're Over the Hill."
At 75 ("my Diamond Jubilee Year!"), the indefatigable Aalda is juggling multiple roles including actor (Violet Givens in Peacock's "The Bay"), comic, hypnotherapist and writer. Currently she and co-creator Iona Morris are turning their 'adults only' stage show "M.O.I.S.T. – Multiple Orgasm Initiative for Sexual Transformation" into a book.
But Aalda's primary mission is "prosecuting ageism." The activist proclaims indignantly, "There's so much shame around getting older to the point that women don't want to admit their age. Why? I'm 75. If someone says, 'Oh, you don't look like you're 75', I ask, 'Why is that a compliment?' I don't look good for 75. I just look good."
The day after my hour-long interview with Aalda, during a Zoom call with a 30-year-old, I found myself feeling offput by my jowly neck. Almost instantly I ordered myself to Snap Out of It and focus instead on a 66-year-old face aglow with hard-earned wisdom and experience.  


This Anti-Ageism Activist Considers Being Old Her Super Power

Sherry Amatenstein

Performing stand-up comedy is a formidable endeavor at any age. Margaret Cho started taking the stage to make audiences laugh when she was 14 years old. Her boldness wasn't manufactured. She was fearless and armed with a desire to entertain and "feel like an adult."
Margaret ChoInspired by her goals and the eclectic community of entertainers she grew up around in San Francisco, she went after what she wanted without a second thought, and it's paid off: Cho is a household name.
In an industry that hasn't always done a great job of embracing female performers over 30, Cho is not worried about being disposable — she's got too much to do. 
The multitalented comedian, actress, musician, writer and human rights activist has spent four decades wowing audiences with her thought-provoking words and sharp skills. Those performances and her activism efforts have earned her a slew of award nominations and wins, including a GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Golden Gate Award in 2000. 
All the success doesn't mean that it's been a completely smooth ride. Cho has been very candid about her struggles with alcohol and drugs, detailed in her 2002 memoir, "I'm the One That I Want." 
Depression and suicidal thoughts were also components of her mental health issues. Cho spoke publicly about entering rehab in 2016 and has used her own experiences to inform others who have similar challenges.
Cho is Still Tirelessly Performing 
In an industry that hasn't always done a great job of embracing female performers over 30, Cho is not worried about being disposable — she's got too much to do.  
Now 53, Cho is still tirelessly performing and loving life. She is currently touring across the U.S. doing stand-up shows, and this year is making her debut on two HBO shows, "The Flight Attendant" (the second season premiered on April 21) and "Hacks" (premiering on May 12). 
Cho is also starring in a comedy-horror movie titled "Fire Island" scheduled to release this summer.
During a Zoom call with Next Avenue, Cho talked about these recent ventures, plus how she believes we humans can be better to one another.
Next Avenue: Performing stand-up comedy is no easy feat. You started doing it at the young age of 14. What propelled you into that world, and, looking back, would you make the same decision now?
Margaret Cho: A couple of things got me going. My parents owned a gay bookstore with a nightclub above that had comedy shows — that made things easy. I also took a comedy class at school. Those things helped me get stage time in other places.
I wouldn't change any part of it. I was so fearless, and I wanted to be a comedian — I loved the art form. I also wanted to be an adult and have some autonomy; doing it gave me adult feelings. It was a decision that gave me a lot of freedom and hope for the future, so I'm glad I started when I did. It gave me a sense of control over what my life would be like.
Much of your career and life has seen you focused on advocating for women, the LGBTQ community, equality, and human rights. At that age, was that part of your intent?
Not at the time. I know there was nobody like me in that world of comedy, but I wasn't thinking about visibility or anything at the time. I just wanted to be a comic.
You inherently brought your personal beliefs into your work, which helped create a monumental awareness. Undoubtedly, change is happening in the entertainment industry; we finally see more prominent roles for underrepresented performers.
Yeah, it is very exciting. I love that there are so many more Asian American comedians. That's very inspiring and just how it should be. There are still going to be many more. I feel like this is a good time and just the very beginning. We need to keep thinking about how we can do better and where and how we can change. There's still so much Asian American hate out there, and hate crimes are happening daily. Still so much discrimination against gay people. It's all about continuing to fight.
"Menopause is like a second puberty because you are really coming into who you are as a person." 
Cancel culture has shaken up the stand-up world these last six years, with people like Louis C.K. and Ellen DeGeneres being spotlighted for different types of negative behaviors and with different results. Do you think that is a constructive approach?
It depends. What we are talking about is looking at language to be fair and trying to look at culture as a way to normalize itself and make language accountable for that, and that is important. And we still need to keep focusing on things that are dangerous. Racism is dangerous, homophobia is dangerous — why are we not canceling these things? Why are we not canceling transphobia? These are things we can afford to cancel and have had enough of.
At 53, you've spent four decades performing. The entertainment industry isn't always kind to women over 30. Hopefully, that's another area where change is happening. How do you feel being a 50+ woman in Hollywood?
Oh, I love it! I think it's great. I am enjoying my age. I love that there are so many more up-and-coming Asian American comedians so that I can be on all their shows. I want to be their Joan Collins — like when she starred on the show "Dynasty" in the eighties.
That is great. You haven't stressed about how aging might affect your career?
No, because I was always so different anyway that none of that mattered. I never fit in. Now is where it equalizes — it's not important. None of that is important. I take care of my physical health more; drink green juice now and then. I exercise, and I've gotten into gardening and bird watching. Life is just beginning. I think you are in your mid-forties when you get a handle on things. Menopause is like a second puberty because you're really coming into who you are as a person.
You've joined the cast of the popular HBO series "The Flight Attendant," starring Kaley Cuoco. How is that experience? And can you tell us anything about your character?
I am so excited to be a part of the show. My character is a fixture in Iceland, where they go this season. It's been a thrill, and I'll let audiences see how it plays out without giving too much away.
You have done so much — acting, comedy, music. Is there something in the creative realm you would like to tackle? And what else is coming up?
I would love to get into the David Attenborough space. I love nature documentaries, and I am wildlife oriented, which would be great. I have a movie coming out this summer called "Fire Island" that also stars Bowen Yang and Joel Kim Booster. I can't wait for that. I'll be doing some stand-up shows and tending to my gorgeous carnivorous plants.


Margaret Cho Thinks Life Over 50 Is Spectacular

Amy Young

Maids used to be ubiquitous in movies and television shows. Where did they all go?
 
I’ve had maids on my mind ever since the death last week of Lupe Ontiveros, 69, the talented Mexican-American actress who once told The New York Times that she figured she had played a maid at least 150 times in movies and on television.
 
While she most recently was familiar for portraying Eva Longoria’s mother on Desperate Housewives, she memorably played Jack Nicholson’s maid in 1997’s As Good As It Gets and deftly wielded a mop on TV’s short-lived Pasadena (2001) series. (She also had major roles as the deranged fan who assassinated Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez in the 1997 biopic Selena, and as an old-school mother in 2002’s Real Women Have Curves.)
 
Her career was largely built on portraying Hispanic maids. “When I go in there and speak perfect English, I don't get the part,” said Ontiveros, who was born in the U.S. to Mexican immigrant parents.
(MORE: Movies Made of Olympic Gold)
 
Maids were a staple of movies in the 1930s and ‘40s. Their characters served as sounding boards, consciences and the voice of reason while helping soignée heroines into day dresses or evening gowns in elegant penthouse apartments. Alternatively, maids served as comic relief (to say nothing of perpetuating pejorative stereotypes).
 
Mammy, compellingly played by Hattie McDaniel, is probably the single most famous servant in movies. She is, of course, one of the slaves in Gone With the Wind, the 1939 classic based on Margaret Mitchell’s best-selling novel set during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In watching the movie now, one of the most startling revelations is the extent to which Mammy is actually the film’s moral center. Her character assessments on those around her are dead-on — when she scolds Scarlett, you can bet that the self-centered heroine deserves it. (McDaniel earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role, making her the first African-American to win an Oscar.)
 
(At the other end of the spectrum in the very same film is the slow-witted and even slower-gaited character of Prissy, the young maid who “don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies.” Butterfly McQueen, the actress with a high-pitched voice who played the racist role, long said that she was never happy with the part.)
 
Like Ontiveros, actresses such as Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers (“Imitation of Life”) and Thelma Ritter (“All About Eve”) made entire film careers out of playing wisecracking, know-it-all maids. Their parts may not have been as large as those of the leading ladies they served, but these gals invariably landed the best lines.
 
By the 1950s and ‘60s, maids were migrating to TV. Beginning in 1950, Ethel Waters starred in the title role of Beulah, a sitcom about a maid who had more smarts than the family for whom she worked. (Midway through the two-year run, Louise Beavers took over the role. The show, which began life on the radio in the 1940s, continued on radio even after it transferred to TV.)
 
Other TV maids and housekeepers of note include Shirley Booth on Hazel (1961-63), Inger Stevens on The Farmer’s Daughter (1963-66), Anne B. Davis on The Brady Bunch (1969-74), Esther Rolle on Maude (1972-74) and Marla Gibbs on The Jeffersons (1975-85). With the exception of Stevens, these characters were all middle-aged, and the emphasis was on their common sense and smart mouths rather than their personal lives.
 
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, as the settings for TV shows, especially sitcoms, moved increasingly into the workplace (or the coffee shop), maids and housekeepers popped up less frequently as stars or even regulars. The major inhabitants of most contemporary TV shows became twenty- and thirtysomething professionals; they’d be lucky to be able to afford a cleaning lady to come by their place once a week, much less to employ a full-time maid or housekeeper. A notable exception: Rosario (Shelley Morrison), the maid who was locked in a never-ending battle of wills with Karen, her uber-wealthy employer on Will & Grace (1998-2006).
 
Not that the occupation is entirely going away on the big or small screen. A maid has a major supporting role in The Campaign, a comedy about rival political candidates that opens on August 10. She’s Mrs. Yao (played by Karen Maruyama), an Asian-American woman who works for a wealthy, white, older businessman in the South.
 
In one of the movie’s best jokes, Mrs. Yao routinely speaks in the gruff no-nonsense tones of an older black woman. “Your daddy pays me $50 extra a week if I talk like this,” she tells her employer’s son. Trading as it does on stereotypes and yet updating and undercutting them, the bit is funny every single time she does it.
 
And let’s not forget one of last year’s biggest movie hits, The Help, which was all about maids. A period drama, it used the viewpoint of black maids in the South in the early 1960s to explore the effect of the growing civil rights movement.
 
Octavia Spencer won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her hilarious turn as Minny Jackson, a maid who truly understands that revenge is a dish best served cold — for her, that means a, um... "chocolate" pie.
 
Maid-to-order payback?
You have to believe that Mammy and Hattie McDaniel are smiling.


Maid in Hollywood

Leah Rozen

That "Dolphin Safe" label on canned and packaged tuna in your pantry represents a decades-long fight. Collaborating with local communities to develop ocean management practices wasn't always an accepted practice, either. Environmental activists Stan Minasian and Birgit Winning helped change minds on these topics, and now they have expanded their respective conservation commitments to mentoring young people.
A student monitors the condition of a coral reef off Ulithi"Youth are our future, and it's our responsibility to support them on their path to maintain a sustainable lifestyle for themselves and the planet," said Winning, founder and executive director of Bluecology, a nonprofit ocean conservation organization.
Minasian agrees. He helped build the coalition that pressed the three U.S. tuna canneries to stop accepting yellowfin tuna caught with fishing methods that resulted in the deaths of over eight million spinner dolphins. Now he's telling his story to inspire young people to get involved in environmental issues that interest them.
Winning, 73, and Minasian, 74, met about 40 years ago at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, part of the California Academy of Sciences. Winning, a biologist, was working there as a researcher when Minasian came in to discuss "The World's Whales: The Complete Illustrated Guide," which he was writing with whale biologist Kenneth Balcomb for the Smithsonian Institution.
"All along, I just didn't take 'no' for an answer." 
The two, who share office space in the San Francisco Bay Area, have since collaborated on several of Minasian's documentary films, including "Where Have All the Dolphins Gone," which first aired on The Discovery Channel on Earth Day in 1990, and "The Free Willy Story: Keiko's Journey Home."
Currently they're working on the Safe Passage Project, which they hope results in a rope-less fishing system that will keep whales and sea turtles from becoming entangled in crab-fishing gear.
Preventing Incidental Dolphin Deaths
The work it took to get those "Dolphin Safe" labels on tuna — still considered one of the most significant animal welfare issues in the environmental movement — started small. 
Sitting in a dentist's office in 1974, Minasian read a short piece in a news magazine about tuna fishing boats returning to port in San Diego with dead dolphins in the hold. Though his previous experience with dolphins was limited to observing some from a beach in Mexico, he set out to find out why the animals were dying and what could be done about it.
Students taking part in a field service project in Ulithi"That little article focused my curiosity on the dolphins' deaths, and that changed my life," Minasian said. "I was barely out of high school, starting college and working for United Parcel Service. Then, with no credentials or prior experience, I started a nonprofit wildlife conservation group that eventually led to Congress passing the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act in the fall of 1990."
Minasian tells the full story in his recently completed memoir, "The Unintentional Activist: My Resolve to Save the Dolphins and Help Bring About Dolphin Safe Tuna." He wrote the book to inspire readers to pursue their conservation goals. 
"All along, I just didn't take 'no' for an answer," he said. "Whenever someone said 'no,' I'd pick myself up and go around them, find another way to keep moving ahead. Over the years, I had unexpected successes and also failures. You can't be afraid to fail."
Save the Dolphins, Minasian's organization, later was known as the Marine Mammal Fund and ultimately, the Animal Fund, as he took on causes involving other species. He recently produced a short film decrying the Asian dog meat industry and has donated his filmmaking skills to numerous conservation organizations as well. 
Minasian also maintains Whaleopedia, an educational site based on his whale guide, which is out of print, and continues to speak out against keeping dolphins and whales in captivity.
Collaboration with like-minded individuals is key when your goal is to make change, Minasian said. 
A team measures the depth of a hawksbill turtle nest on Maui "Working to save the dolphins, I built alliances with other animal welfare groups, politicians, movie stars, academics and even people in the tuna fishing industry, to help them develop different fishing methods," he said. "The thrust of everything I do today is to get people involved. Global warming is impacting all aspects of the natural world, and young people, especially, need to help find solutions to the many problems our planet is facing. There are avenues you can take, avenues you don't even know exist — until you start."
Defining the Parameters of Ocean Conservation 
During the 30 years Winning spent as president and executive director of Oceanic Society, she came to understand that local communities —  those most directly affected by ocean conservation policies — must have a say in the policy-making process and that locally driven decision-making is key to lasting habitat protection.
When she founded Bluecology in 2014, she determined that the nonprofit's goal would be "to realize enduring protection of ocean ecosystems for the wildlife and the communities who rely on them." Because the organization's secondary mission is to involve young people, Bluecology offers two hands-on field service programs for students, one on Maui and one on Ulithi, an atoll (coral reef) in Micronesia. 
"In both, we provide a grounding place for students from which to move forward," Winning said. "Of course, we build in time for appreciation of the natural beauty of the areas and time for fun as well."
Working in close collaboration with their partner One People One Reef, Bluecology sends a small group of college students to Ulithi for about three weeks to learn about the critical role that traditional knowledge and practices play in modern coral reef management.
"The community on Ulithi is welcoming, and they shape the experience," Winning said. "Our participants sit in on meetings and hear different opinions and then, in collaboration with local students, community members and environmental researchers, they develop ocean conservation management plans. The students learn how to listen, how to organize and wield influence and how to have an impact in advocacy roles."
"We want to immerse promising future leaders in a program that makes a difference in conservation." 
On Maui, the four-day youth program is under the auspices of Bluecology's partner Hawaii Wildlife Fund, headed by award-winning conservationist Hannah Bernard. High school students help restore sea turtle habitats and take part in beach clean-ups, and they are invited to work with Hawai'ian taro farmers. 
"Students learn some of the traditions and also the challenges of managing resources," Winning said. "There's also an element of advocacy, including how to present what you've learned and how to collaborate with other groups toward a common conservation goal."
Two students who took part in Bluecology's past programs have chosen careers in the social sciences and environmental science, Winning said. "Plus, Ulithi youth who have completed the program are now training students who live on the outer islands," she noted.
To make the program available to more students, Bluecology is expanding their scholarship fund. "We want to immerse promising future leaders in a program that makes a difference in conservation," Winning said.
Also, in the hope of moving ocean conservation literacy forward for students and adults alike, Winning is writing a practical educational guide with Boyce Thorne Miller, an ocean policy expert based in Monterey, Calif. 
"The guide will include general ecology principles and all the different ways the public can become involved," Winning said. "We want to share what we have learned."


Encouraging Young People to Dive Into Ocean Conservation

Patricia Corrigan

Do you ever wonder how people will remember you after you have departed? Hopefully, my children (and grandchildren — hint, hint) will have fond memories of shared experiences, laughter and a tin full of recipes for favorite meals. Since I'm neither millionaire nor heir, creating generational wealth or a scholarship never crossed my mind. Not until recently.
Juliana Rosales, a freshman at the University of Central Florida in Orlando will use her "fun scholarship" to visit a theme park for the first time.While pondering my purpose, passions, values and the lives I have touched in a meaningful way, I read a feel-good story about a family in Naples, Florida, that advocates the essence of legacy. They inspired me to do something similar.
I discovered grants that run the gamut from traditional monetary awards for high-achieving students (with or without financial need) to specific groups, including teenagers and adults from marginalized communities, artists, even gardeners. Recipients can use the grants to pay for tuition, books, housing, travel or take a respite from the stress of school, as examples.
Setting up an endowment isn't as complicated as one might think. It doesn't require millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Below are stories of two families keeping a loved one's memory alive by giving to others.
Isabella Eghrari Memorial Scholarship
For more than 10 years, the Eghrari family has gathered at Thanksgiving to read college freshman essays with the intent of providing a little fun.
"Mom was always bothered she didn't have a diploma. So, even though it wasn't common, she went back to college when I was in high school."
Jacqueline Eghrari, 60, daughter to Isabella, explained that while her parents came from different areas of the world — dad from Tehran, Iran, and mom from St. Louis, Missouri — they shared values, especially the importance of education. Her dad and his siblings all finished high school (very unusual in the 1930s), and her father attended medical school in France. Her mom, however, did not have a college degree when she and Dr. Massoud Eghrari married.
"Mom was always bothered she didn't have a diploma," Jacqueline recalled. "So, even though it wasn't common, she went back to college when I was in high school."
Isabella majored in English and received her MBA when Jacqueline was in high school. She and her two siblings each went beyond a four-year university: she became a physician and her sister and brother both became attorneys.
The Scholarship of the Ring
When Isabella turned 65, she splurged on what Jacqueline described as "one big honking diamond ring." Her mother told the family, "I'm going to enjoy this ring, but something good should come of its beauty. When I die, I want you to sell it and turn it into 'The Scholarship of the Ring.' "
"It was the perfect landing place for Mom's wish."
Isabella passed away in 2008, aged 74. "We were all devastated," Jacqueline reflected. Not long after his wife's death, Dr. Eghrari relocated from Long Island, New York, to Naples, Florida, where he became acquainted with The Immokalee Foundation, named for the small agricultural community it serves. The foundation administers the Isabella Eghrari Memorial Scholarship.
"It was the perfect landing place for Mom's wish," Jacqueline said. Immokalee encourages career readiness and professional development for immigrants and young, non-English speaking students from kindergarten through college.
Eghrari's mother had always wanted to help college students feel like they fit on campus. "Mom worried whether kids had money to attend a football game, buy spirit wear or buy ice cream," Jacqueline said.
One Purpose: Having Fun
So, when Eghrari's father sold the ring in 2011, the Isabella Eghrari Memorial Scholarship was born. After completing their first semester of college, students can apply for a $500.00 award with only one submission requirement: write how the money will be used toward fun. Each year, there are approximately 10 winners, all financed through the investment of the ring.
Dr. Eghrari, now 93, his three children and several grandchildren vote on the most compelling story. Jacqueline said her father "ensures the next generation understands philanthropy, both to honor their grandmother and fuel the importance of contributing to the betterment of society."
The time of year for application and awarding was deliberate, so when students are home in December for winter break, they can celebrate at an honorary luncheon. "My dad remarried a wonderful woman, Tayebeh, and together they hand out the certificates," Eghrari said.
"We are all reading through my mother's eyes as her stewards, picking the people she would have wanted."
Juliana Rosales, 18, was one of the 2023 "Fun Scholarship" recipients. A freshman at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and a lifetime resident of Florida, Rosales wrote an essay that described how she didn't have money or time to visit theme parks. She would use anything leftover for a mental debrief from a stressful semester.
"I was honestly so surprised when I received my congratulations email," Rosales told me, beaming via Zoom. She said she spent her $500 to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Bay Lake, Florida. "I felt like I landed on another planet when I was in the Toy Story exhibit," she said.
Rosales bought clothes with the remaining money. "Shopping was fun because I needed to update my wardrobe," she said. "Being in college, I wanted to walk around like it's a fashion show!"
Eghrari said the personal impact of giving was unexpected. "We are all reading through my mother's eyes as her stewards, picking the people she would have wanted," she added. "This money makes a difference, and it's such a wonderful tradition to honor my mom and keep what she wanted afloat and implemented."
Keep Your Chin Up Scholarship
Peggy Baze, 58, remembers waking up one morning in her Phoenix home and hearing her late father say, "Keep your chin up, kid." It was about a year since he passed from mesothelioma in 2018. George Keown, or GK, frequently used that expression with all four of his kids until he died at 71.
"I knew I had to turn my pain into purpose."
"My grief had been debilitating," Baze said, "and then, out of nowhere, I knew I had to turn my pain into purpose." Within hours, she designed the framework that would honor her father's memory.
Baze said her dad was a pillar of strength and "taught us about knocking down obstacles and the importance of a positive attitude." It was this mindset that moved Baze to create an award for adults. "I chose older people because they are a forgotten demographic and matched the sentiment of my dad," she said.
The Keep Your Chin Up Scholarship is considered a nontraditional award. Run twice per year, it is for two undergraduate students 25 years of age and older who are Arizona residents. Funding for tuition and books ranges from $500 to $5,000.
The GK Legacy Foundation has become a family affair, with siblings serving on the board and Baze's daughter as the scholarship director. Initially sponsored through family contributions, the organization has grown to include donations from friends and organizations.
Baze said the applicants' stories she and her family read are heartwarming if not tragic in some instances — candidates have included those who had been incarcerated, unhoused or experienced unthinkable tragedy in their families. Patricia Williams, a four-time recipient, is one of those individuals.
Williams, 37, is in her senior year of college and is scheduled to graduate this year. She was initially set to complete her bachelor's degree from the Arizona College of Nursing last year when one of her five children died.
Patricia Williams, 37, is a senior at the Arizona College of Nursing and a four-time recipient of a scholarship."It was March 2022, and my son was murdered," Williams said. "So, I needed a hiatus. Now, I've gone back and am finishing this year. I want to do something that helps my kids and one day, grandkids, and leave a legacy for them. I need to set a high standard for them."
While maintaining a 3.6 GPA and making the Dean's List, Williams works as a patient care tech at one of Arizona's larger hospitals. "My youngest believes I'm a doctor because she sees I'm in the medical field," she said. "I tell her she can be whatever she wants to be."
Before returning to school, Williams applied for the scholarship once again. "I kept my essay raw and real," she said through tears of gratitude. "My story resonated, and they allowed me to win. I tell them they are my family now, too, because they've been helping me through such a hard time."
Baze is proud of how the scholarship has changed the lives of recipients. "What started as a single-person journey is about to close its 10th round," she said. "I could never have imagined a more impactful legacy."
Beginning the Process
Eghrari and Baze shared two suggestions for designing a fund in your name or someone else's memory: First, "just do it" — emphasizing that the rewards are everlasting. Second, "use an attorney."
 "I want to do something that helps my kids and one day, grandkids, and leave a legacy for them."
Tracy A. Craig, partner and chair of the Trusts and Estates Practice Group at the law firm Seder & Chandler in Worcester, Massachusetts, said there are multiple ways to set up either a one-time gift or ongoing scholarship, each with its own tax laws, implications and consequences.
First, determine the amount you want to donate (or raise) — the magnitude will likely dictate how you proceed. Craig explained that unless a foundation can start with $5 million to $10 million or more, she usually directs clients to a lesser-known option: community foundations. They enable philanthropists to achieve their goals without taking on the administrative burden of running an independent nonprofit foundation.
There are more than 900 community foundations across the country; They bring together the financial resources of individuals, families and businesses to support nonprofit groups and activities in their communities. the Council on Foundations has an interactive map that will let you find one near you.
Start Early and Be Methodical
"Go to a community foundation while you're still alive," Craig advised, "and add the scholarship into your estate-planning documents." She suggested a personal meeting with a community foundation representative to document your request to establish a scholarship, name it, establish selection criteria, choose committee members and understand the administrative fees.
Benefits of working with community foundations include allowing donors and their families to decide how involved they wish to be, having the community foundation handle administrative and tax filings, and provide legitimacy to the funds. "Otherwise," Craig indicated, "people wonder, 'What's the catch?' "
"Even if the donation is a one-time grant, even $50.00 can go a long way for someone who doesn't have a lot of money. Please know that we who received it are amazingly thankful. You are changing a person's life."
Craig said foundations typically ask for a minimum of $10,000 to dedicate a self-perpetuating scholarship. The foundation then allocates 4% of the total dollar amount ($400 in this case) to be distributed annually, with the rest invested.
Alternatively, you can combine your bequest to a group that already is making grants in the field you want to support. "You don't have to reinvent the wheel," Craig said. You could offer grants with both benefactors' names on them or have foundations share administrative costs but still make separate grants in their own names. If you want to benefit a specific school or department, reach out directly for ways to help them during your lifetime or after your death.
One last option Craig mentioned is treating donations as gifts if the donor is unconcerned about the tax benefits of charitable giving. "Under the current law, a person can give up to $18,000 per recipient, and nobody (neither the giver nor receiver) has to report the money," she stated.
Ultimately, creating a legacy provides you peace of mind knowing your desires are in motion while bringing comfort to family members that a loved one's memory continues on. And it cascades benefits to those fortunate enough to receive a monetary gift.
In her young wisdom, Rosales said, "Even if the donation is a one-time grant, even $50.00 can go a long way for someone who doesn't have a lot of money. Please know that we who received it are amazingly thankful. You are changing a person's life."


How to Leave a Legacy Scholarship

Sheryl Stillman

This essay is an excerpt from the author's forthcoming book, "The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul," which will be published in September 2021. You own my heart. This love has been a surprise — and the most precious gift of my late life. I was not a Mommy. So, I did not expect to be a Grandma. But I married Neil and, when you came into the world, I became Grandma Connie — and my heart swelled with the sight, sound, smell and touch of each of you. This surprising love has forced me to grow, opening my heart wider and wider, as you grow, too.
I see your radiance — and don't want to do anything to squash it. So, I try to meet it with my own diminishing energy, to stay up with you when you run and play and bike and scooter.
I see your beauty. Your value is in what you are, not what you do or what you own.
I see your curiosity about everything and your passion to learn letters, to recognize them and put together words. So, I try to be with you in your learning, as inspired and excited as you are. Your curiosity is a clue that can lead you on a lifelong treasure hunt.
I see your play — "the sun's up, it's time to play!" — and the joy in your faces when we go on our Sunday adventures, when we take our special family trips, when we celebrate your birthdays and holidays. And your joy stirs a joy in me that is youthful, innocent and vibrant. For the child in us is alive at every age and can be rekindled with play.
You Are a Light 
And I see your one-of-a-kind-ness. No one has ever been like you before, and no one ever will be. No one has your smile or your voice or your fingerprint. And no one can take your place in the world, where you are wanted and needed to do your part. You are a light — and your job is to let it shine.
And I want you to see in me that the full span of life is rich and meaningful, that we never stop playing, learning and loving. I want you to feel in me an unconditional loving presence, an embrace of all of who you are, a hand to hold to keep you safe, a lap that's warm and cozy.
As you continue to grow and become teens and adults, you will find a world that's not all safe, people who are not all warm and cozy. You will face a planet in a climate crisis and a society with rich and poor people, who live very different lives. You will be disappointed, hurt and angry sometimes, as all people are. You may have your heart broken, struggle with health problems or financial problems.
But my hope is that you will take my love with you. Like a locket next to your hearts, you can carry my love as a feeling of your innate lovability. You can carry my positive gaze as a memory of your innate value.
You may have your heart broken, struggle with health problems or financial problems. 
As you find your way to a great education and a satisfying career, as you discover how to give and receive love, you will remember that there are boys and girls who are not as fortunate as you, not as loved or safe or happy as you are. And I hope that, when you're ready, you will turn and offer your hand, your love and your positive gaze to them — and return all that you have received.
Don't let others define you and limit you. Some of you are being raised Jewish, others Christian, others agnostic — all right in one family. But the values that I'm sharing here transcend those differences; they are shared ideals that transcend religion, race, gender, geography and age. And they can lead you to a life of meaning and purpose.
Life Does Not Happen on Text 
Don't let technology distract you from real human connection. Life does not happen on text, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or WhatsApp; it happens face to face, eye to eye, skin to skin. It happens outdoors in the sun and rain, woods and oceans.
Research is telling us that those teens who spend more time at home looking at screens than going out with friends and family feel more lonely and unhappy, not more connected. Their brains are over-stimulated and their bodies are under-exercised, so they struggle with being attentive and sleeping well. So, remember to use your iPhones and iPads to serve you; don't serve them. Don't let your devices be the last thing you see before bed and the first thing you see when you wake up.
Don't let technology distract you from real human connection.
Always strive to connect to something greater than yourself — whatever form that takes for you. And you will find a meaningful life.
It may mean striving to understand how life began, to unlock the mysteries of the universe, of human history, of our brains or cells. If this is your striving, then explore science — astrophysics, quantum physics, anthropology, neuroscience, physiology or microbiology. And make your unique addition to the vast body of knowledge that science has built.
It may mean striving to understand why people do what they do, how they are motivated, why they hurt others and how they recover from hurt. If this is your striving, then study psychology like Neil and me.
It may mean striving to understand the beauty of the natural world and to support the elegant web of life that connects us to plants, animals and all living things. If this is your striving, then study botany, zoology, sustainability and climate science.
Strive to Become Your Own Ideal 
It may mean striving to inspire people through creativity. If this is your striving, then explore the visual arts, performing arts, poetry and music.
It may mean striving to make a difference to others, to ease their suffering and thereby contribute to the greater good. If this is your striving, then find a passionate cause — climate change, racism, sexism, homelessness, hunger, gun violence, hunger, poverty, education, refugees, animal welfare — and make it your own. Take the resources and gifts that you've been given and become an advocate, an activist, a teacher, a doctor, a volunteer, an attorney, a journalist, a candidate for office.
It may mean striving to figure out how your devices work. If this is your striving, then explore technology — robotics, artificial intelligence, social media — and steer them to be used for the common good.
Become A Compassionate Role Model
It may mean striving to connect with the Great Mystery, something beyond your small self, behind the layers of life that we can see or touch. If this is your striving, then study religion, spirituality and philosophy and find a contemplative practice that teaches you to sit quietly, alone, and hear the whisper of your soul. You may, like the great mystics before you, penetrate the veils covering our illusions and come to know your true source and destination.
Grandma ConnieAs adults, then Elders, strive to become your own ideal. Become the generous, compassionate role models you had or sought out. Become the grandparents who Neil and I tried to be for you — or become even better than we were.
I had my shortcomings as a Grandma. I ask for your forgiveness for my absence at important moments, my impatience with your anger or tears, my over-eagerness to shape you to my own ideals. I was always imperfect — and I'm leaving you an imperfect world.
My generation's unfinished business falls to you. I fought for racial equality, watched moments of humanity waking up, then watched in sorrow as some in our nation went back to sleep. I fought for gender equality, watched moments of humanity waking up, then watched, heartbroken, as some in our nation went back to sleep.
And I fought for environmental justice, watched moments of humanity waking up, then watched in horror as our nation, gripped in a stranglehold by oil companies, denied climate change and refused the call for a sustainable planet. 
So today, tragically, we hand down these fights to you, a challenging legacy but significant social causes that can offer you a purposeful life.
The Future Is You 
The future is being shaped now, as I write, in the hearts and minds of you children and in all children everywhere — rich and poor, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, white, Black, Latino, Asian. The future lies in your feeling nurtured or abandoned, safe or afraid, confident or insecure, hungry or satiated.
The future lies in the roles models you observe — your parents and elders, heroes and heroines. What do they strive for? What is the meaning of a successful life to them?
Each one of you is a fragile and powerful force for a more promising future for everyone. 
The future lies in the spiritual and moral values being transmitted to you — kindness, generosity, empathy, service, personal development and caring for the earth. How do your teachers and leaders live these values? Do they practice a lifestyle that embodies them?
The future lies in the vision we transmit to you. 
When I was a teen, long before you were born, I watched TV when an astronaut sent back to us a photo of the Earth from space: We saw, for the first time, a tiny blue ball, floating in darkness, no borders, no labels. And I watched a moment of humanity waking up to the reality that we are all in the same boat, sharing the same small habitat and bound to the same fate. Today, climate change is a fierce reminder of that vision: The earth is one living, breathing organism that feeds and sustains us, responds to our choices, and cries for your care.
So, the future is you: Each one of you is a fragile and powerful force for a more promising future for everyone.
I bless you, as you fill me with blessings.


For My Grandchildren: A Letter of Love and Legacy

Connie Zweig

Americans love the movies. From the 1910s through the 1940s, palatial and ornate movie palaces popped up all across the country. Inspired by Hollywood, over-the-top architectural gems lured in the crowds three or four times a day with extra weekend showings. Designed to seat large audiences and primarily located in downtowns, hundreds of these magnificent theaters closed and were demolished when the economy declined and families moved to the suburbs.
Alabama TheatreFortunately, however, some of these magnificent structures were preserved.
While most no longer show movies, they do host musicals, dramas, concerts, comedians, community events and more. These cathedrals of entertainment are treasures, and today’s audiences are transported to a magical place.
Here are nine impressive historic movie palaces still warmly welcoming new patrons:
 
Alabama Theatre
Birmingham, Ala.
Paramount Studios built Alabama Theatre in 1927 to showcase its silent films, which were accompanied by Big Bertha — a Mighty Wurlitzer Organ. The theatre’s architecture combines Spanish and Mission Revival with an opulent interior of mirrored walls, eight-foot candelabras, gilded coffered ceiling and Moorish arches.
In the early 1930s, children gathered every Saturday morning for the Mickey Mouse Club meetings. In 1935, the Club had more than 7,000 members and bragging rights to being the largest Mickey Mouse Club in the world.
This summer, audiences can watch The Wizard of Oz, Dial M for Murder and Edward Scissorhands in the historic movie palace.
Chicago Theatre
Chicago, Ill.
A prototype for all of the movie palaces in America, this 1921 gem designed in the French Baroque style features a miniature replica of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe on the exterior; the grand staircase is modeled after the one in the Paris Opera House. Reaching up seven stories, the auditorium seats 3,600 people.
Besides showing movies, the theatre brought live entertainment by performers such as John Philip Sousa, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington to the Windy City.
Beaming a welcome to today’s audiences, the nearly six stories high “C-H-I-C-A-G-O” vertical marquee is a cherished landmark.
 
TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman’s Chinese Theatre)
Hollywood, Calif.
A Hollywood and American icon, the pagoda-shaped roof rising 90-feet up in the air is supported by two coral red columns, and a 30-foot tall carved dragon sits between them. Opened in 1927, the theatre contains imported pagodas, temple bells and stone Heaven Dogs.
Look for handprints and footprints of stars from yesterday and today in the Forecourt to the Stars. Each year, more than four million people visit this landmark theatre, which is a popular venue for premiering new movies and has one of the largest IMAX auditoriums in the world.
Tennessee Theatre
Knoxville, Tenn.
The theatre’s Moorish Revival design incorporates elements from all parts of the world: French-style chandeliers with Czechoslovakian crystals, Italian terrazzo flooring in the Grand Lobby and Asian influences in the carpet and drapery patterns.
Opened in 1928, the theatre created elaborate lobby displays to compliment the screenings. The stage has been doubled in size to accommodate the needs of a modern entertainment venue where audiences can see concerts, touring Broadway shows, and resident companies — the Knoxville Opera and Knoxville Symphony — perform.
Louisville Palace
Louisville, Ky.
In 1928, gilded mirrors, ornamental wall sconces, carved furniture, medieval-styled tapestries, four flowing water fountains and more than 500 statues filled the castle-like space, dazzling the patrons who welcomed the new theatre. Ushers, dressed in cadet uniforms, bowed to each audience member as they were seated. Proud to be the only movie theater in town with cool air, ads promised the temperature inside would be a comfortable 70 degrees. Movie ticket prices for adults ranged from 25 to 65 cents.
The 2,600-seat theatre still draws the crowds. While waiting in the Faces Lobby you can admire busts of Beethoven, Shakespeare and Socrates. Once inside, watch the twinkling stars on the ceiling align to the same formation they did during the grand opening.
 
State Theatre
Minneapolis, Minn.
When State Theatre made its debut in 1921, one reporter called it “a gilded pleasure palace.” Designed in Italian Renaissance style, the stage floor was made of glass and illuminated from below to create sparkling special effects. The six chandeliers and murals are original.
A variety of live arts events — from touring Broadway musicals and concerts to comedy and dramas — are featured at the theatre. Twice a month, tours of are offered for $5.
Fabulous Fox
St. Louis, Mo.
Design elements inspired by far Eastern, Moorish, Babylonian, Indian, and Egyptian themes came together in 1929 to create an imaginary place beyond the audience’s most fantastical dreams.
The 90-foot lobby with rows of flanking columns and terrazzo floor is reminiscent of a Buddhist monastery. Hand-stenciled walls, leather-lined elevators, a 2,000 pound chandelier,and marble bathroom fixtures were just a few of the ornate touches found in the new $5 million theatre, which has undergone a variety of restorations over the years, the latest in 2013 when the ceiling was restored.
Today’s audiences can see Broadway shows, comedy acts, concerts, Vegas performances and classic movies. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, tours are offered.
Majestic Theatre
San Antonio, Texas
Patrons enter a fantasy villa inspired by Baroque, Spanish Mission and Mediterranean architecture. The walls are painted to look like towers with windows of colorful glass and grape vines creeping among the luscious foliage. Balconies, tile roofs, statues and a bell tower complete the transformation.
Built just a few months before the stock market crash in 1929, the Majestic was the second largest theater in the country. Not only did it show movies, but the Majestic also featured vaudevillian acts and stars such as Bob Hope, Jack Benny and George Burns.
Today, it's home to Broadway Across America San Antonio, concerts, comedians and other live events. Spend an evening under the stars and clouds at this theater that's just three blocks from the Alamo.
 
 
Tampa Theatre 
Tampa, Fla.
Still showing classic and first-run films, audiences step into a stunning Mediterranean courtyard. Prior to almost every film screening, music from the original Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ fills the auditorium. Occasionally the organ still accompanies a silent film.
For a close-up demonstration of the organ, sign up for the Balcony-To-Backstage Tour to learn more about this theatre, built in 1926. One of Tampa’s largest preservation projects, it hosts more than 600 events each year.


9 Glorious Movie Palaces Still Thrilling Audiences

Barbara

Jim Twardowski

When  I think about why I decided to build a boutique residential community with a fully curated communal farm on the coast of Ecuador, the answer is simple: I love food. I have always believed in the power of food to bring people and family together, to give us joy, to create happy memories and above all, to keep us healthy and nourished.
Oceanside Farm ResidencesHaving grown up in Asia, I live by an understanding of food as medicine. At the first sign of discomfort, my parents did not pop painkillers; they reached for ginger tea or some brew of traditional Chinese medicine. In Chinese cooking, medicinal ingredients are used in dishes and soups as daily health tonics. I grew up immersed in this holistic approach to wellness.
Wendy ChanA Revelation About the Food We Eat
It took some life experience for me to recognize that. Early in my career in advertising, I launched food products such as packaged gourmet frozen dinners and sugary beverages. For the past decade, I have been consulting for international clients, promoting their cuisines in North American markets, including their packaged foods and seafood exports. I’ve spent years learning about the manipulating and marketing, as well as the sourcing, farming and procuring of consumer food items. Over time, I became aware of how many products of our industrialized supply chain systems are harmful to us and to our planet.
Over a decade ago, my husband and I (both boomers) started growing food on the rooftop of our New York City midrise. Encouraged by some grower friends, we filled our planters with Asian pear trees and sweet potato plants, started a trellis of concord grape vines and began experimenting with a variety of herbs and vegetables. We discovered the joy of nurturing these plants and appreciating their bounty, realizing that tomatoes and cucumber right off the vine and freshly cut chives and zucchini flowers not only bypassed the toxic manipulations of industrial farming but tasted more flavorful than the produce that traveled distances to get to our plates. We added an outdoor kitchen and it instantly became a favorite dining spot for our family and friends.
Taking Our Passion for Wellness to the Next Level
It seemed natural that when we started planning for the next stage of our lives (known to many as retirement), my husband and I focused on taking our love of growing clean, nutrient-rich food to the next level. We envisioned a home that could facilitate our wellness-driven lifestyle, one that could enable us to enjoy sustainable, independent living. So, we began searching for the right place to realize that vision.
After an intensive global search, we landed in Ecuador.
With its U.S.-dollar economy, accessible and affordable quality health care, low threshold for permanent residency and a long list of discounts and privileges for older adults, Ecuador has long been a top pick for North American and European expats and retirees.
As Next Avenue recently noted, International Living ranked Ecuador the fourth best country in the world to retire in 2019 and Cuenca, Ecuador was in the Top 10 on Live and Invest Overseas’ 2019 list.
Why Ecuador?
Ecuador has long earned a reputation for its natural beauty, too; home to the Galapagos Islands, the South American country has been called one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries. It has even chosen to protect the “right of nature” in its constitution
It wasn’t until we arrived in the coastal town of Puerto Cayo, though, that our dream of a house with a backyard farm blossomed into a vision of building a small ecological community with a managed co-op farm.
We found it easy to fall in love with Puerto Cayo. It has an excellent microclimate and an enchanting ocean landscape, adjacent to the mountains and the cloud forest of Machalilla National Park. Daily life is enhanced by bioluminescence sightings on the beach, whales breaching in the distance during breakfast, dinners with ocean catches brought in by dayboat fishermen, and captivating sunsets.
It’s where we met Sean Kelly and Dahiana Cedeño, a young couple who’d moved to Puerto Cayo from California, where they had been working in the tech and apparel sectors. Having noticed the increasing number of expats attracted to coastal living, they started a real estate development business in the beautiful seaside town, where they’ve been living with their young children, Mila and Liam.
Launching Oceanside Farm Residences
Seeing how fervently this young family also recognized the importance of good food and a clean environment was a powerful catalyst for my husband and me. Emboldened by our shared values and enthusiasm, the four of us imagined creating the ultimate “agrihood” — an active, multigenerational community with an integrated farm.
This is the genesis of Oceanside Farm Residences.
We founded this 25-acre development with a co-op farm because we believe that clean air, fresh and sustainably harvested food and a diverse, open-community are essential to cultivating health and wellness. By nourishing ourselves with great food, communing with the natural environment and learning and socializing together, we can stay engaged, youthful and sharp.
Conceptualizing and building Oceanside Farm Residences has been an exhilarating experience. As we’ve worked through reams of information on eco-conscious design, we’ve learned about sustainability, permaculture, home design and even feng shui principles.
We excavated an onsite well to supply our farm and homes with water, taking a big step toward self-sustainability.
We’ve already derived immense joy from sourcing, starting and saving seeds, picking our first harvest of squash, beets, figs and choy sum and planting specialty plants, superfoods and even TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) herbs. We added a commercial kitchen, where we plan to host  farm-to-table  (and dock-to-dish!) dinners and stage creative culinary events.
Looking to the Long Term
In the long term, we hope to invite thought- and industry leaders to explore food-forward topics here amid Ecuador’s natural abundance.
We hope our project will appeal to folks who understand that buying a home at Oceanside Farm Residences (pricing and models are available upon request) is a decision to transform one’s lifestyle. With our floor plans ranging up to four- and five-bedrooms, these residences will encourage multigenerational living. Aging is a natural part of life, after all, and we think it should be integrated into a community of people of all ages.
While we’ve worked hard to see that our homes are designed with well- equipped kitchens, private salt water pools, fireplaces, elevators and ocean views, our development goes far beyond the photogenic. We are building a place for ourselves and some dear friends and neighbors  to enjoy tranquility and vitality.
Going forward, we expect the site will continuously evolve as we strive to lead more healthful and eco-conscious lives.


How I Started a Healthy Living Expat Community in Ecuador

Wendy Chan

Bill McKibben has spent most of his life working to wean the world off fossil fuels, which, when burned, produce pollutants responsible for climate change and the catastrophic damage it causes.
Bill McKibbenHe has written 20 books, including "The End of Nature," the first to explain climate change to nonexperts. In 2021, he founded Third Act, a group for people 60 and over that demonstrates against energy companies and the banks that finance them.
After being named an Advocate for Aging, McKibben, who is 61, agreed to talk about some of the biggest issues older adults will face in this fractious election year. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
On critical aging issues that are largely being ignored
I have to say something about climate change because it actually is something older people ignore, even though there's a lot of research showing that older people are the people most impacted by natural disasters. It's physically hardest for them to move when a hurricane's coming — hardest to uproot themselves, find someplace new and start over.
"The deepest question facing older adults is probably a variation on one facing us all: the loss of a sense of community in favor of a highly individualized world where it is every man for himself."
In a larger sense, the deepest question facing older adults is probably a variation on one facing us all: the loss of a sense of community in favor of a highly individualized world where it is every man for himself. I think that's acutely felt by older people because we have a vestigial memory of a different world before that. It's particularly difficult for older people who have any hope of, say, aging in place. That requires a functioning community around you to make that happen. So that's really one of the overarching things we work on.
On the inspiration to start Third Act for activists 60 and over
The fossil-fuel divestment campaign (organized by 350.org, a McKibben group that has attracted younger people) was largely on college campuses, so I got to know all the leaders of the Youth Climate movement in their very first campaigns. And then I got to know wonderful people like Greta Thunberg (a 21-year-old Swedish climate-change activist).
That was completely wonderful. I have just heard a few too many people my age say, "Oh, it's up to the next generation to solve these problems." That sounded to me both ignoble and impractical for all their energy and intelligence and idealism.
"If you're in your 60s or 70s or 80s now, your first act was in that period of great economic, cultural, social, political transformation of the 1960s and 1970s." 
Young people by themselves lack the structural power necessary to make change on the scale we need in the time we have. As I started thinking about who may have it, I focused on people my age. There are 70 million of us over 60 and 10,000 more turn 60 every day, which is as many people as are born in this country every day. And we punch above our weight politically because we all vote and we ended up with most of the country's financial assets to ensure we are in a good position to put pressure not only on political actors, but economic ones.
On rekindling older adults' belief that they can effect change
The conventional wisdom has been that it's useless to try and organize older people for progressive change because people become more conservative as they age, for which there's a certain amount of statistical evidence. But it seems less true all the time, and this is one of the key insights of our work with Third Act.
If you're in your 60s or 70s or 80s now, your first act was in that period of great economic, cultural, social, political transformation of the 1960s and 1970s. That's in our generational DNA. Our job at Third Act has been recapturing that as people come into their third acts. So far, we've been successful, both in terms of gaining members and winning fights. We've just come off this massive victory, persuading the Biden administration to stop granting permits for new LNG export facilities, which might be the biggest loss that Big Oil has taken yet.
On making an asset of one's age
We had this big campaign against the banks that fund fossil fuel companies. We shut a bunch of them down for a day in March 2023 — 100 demonstrations in 100 cities across America. We shut them down by sitting in rocking chairs. Hundreds of them all over the place. The Times called it the rocking chair rebellion.
On other ways older Americans can work to make things better
We don't think you can solve the climate crisis without also addressing the democracy crisis in our country. The challenges to the climate and to our democracy are two things we did not anticipate in our youth. We'll be heavily engaged there.
"Our trouble is that we don't have that time. Eventually is, you know, not fast enough."
On how to discuss climate change with people who don't believe in it
The polling shows about 70% of Americans understand that we have a real climate problem and, in fact, want the government to do more about it. Partly that's because movements have done a good job and partly that's because we've had so many fires and floods and other disasters — at a certain point you're going to ask, 'Who do you believe, Fox News or your own lyin' eyes?' The problem with climate at this point is making people aware that we can be doing important things as a society to speed up this transformation (to clean energy). That's a large part of our work, helping people feel their own power.
On what to expect in the near future
You know, we now live on a planet where the cheapest way to produce power is to point a sheet of glass at the sun. That's a miracle in physical terms, one of the biggest changes in our lifetimes. The only bigger physical change is the fact that we've just had the hottest year in the last 125,000.
These are such monumental changes that over time, economics alone will produce the transition that we need. Our trouble is that we don't have that time. Eventually is, you know, not fast enough. Because climate change is a timed test. Once you have melted the Arctic, nobody has a good plan for how you're going to freeze it back up again. And so we have a very few years to try to speed up this transformation, and that means things like enacting the Inflation Reduction Act, bolstering clean energy, and standing up to the fossil fuel industry.


Bill McKibben: Older Adults Can Save the Planet

Mark A. Stein

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