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Monday, November 30, 2020

Iron Levels Key to Longevity and Health



A new study revealed that iron levels could be an important factor to slow aging, and more often isn’t better.


Remember when Lawrence Welk pushed Geritol during every dance and orchestra break on his TV show? The audience was led to believe that Geritol (a combination of alcohol, B vitamins and iron) would wash away fatigue and make them happy. It turns out that taking iron supplements is unnecessary unless you have anemia, and taking too much iron has serious consequences, including dangers to the heart. While the makers of Geritol got hit with the largest fine in FTC history, more recent research discloses another way iron levels affect our aging bodies.

Don’t Take Iron with These Medications

Certain drugs bind with iron in the stomach, rendering the drugs less effective or ineffective. Therefore, do not take iron two hours before or after taking these drugs. The following list may be incomplete; check with your doctor if you are taking iron supplements.

  • Antibiotics (Cipro, Penetrex, Zagam, Trovan, Raxar, and tetracyline antibiotics)
  • Biophosonates (Fosomax, Didronel, Actonel, Skelid)
  • Levodopa
  • Levothyroxine
  • Methyldopa (Aldomet)
  • Mycophenolate Mofetil (CellCept)
  • Penicillamine (Cuprimine, Depen)

Cast Iron Cookware Adds Iron


Cooking in a cast iron skillet or pot can add substantial amounts of iron to food. Acidic foods that are high in moisture, such as applesauce and spaghetti sauce, absorb the most iron. One recent study found that the iron level in spaghetti sauce was nearly ten times higher after being cooked in a cast iron pot. A longer cooking time, stirring often, and a newer iron skillet or pot all increase iron levels more with any food. 



Scientists Find Link Between Iron and Aging


A recent study, which looked at genetic information obtained from more than a million people, found that maintaining the correct levels of iron in blood could be the answer to healthier aging and a longer life. A research team of international scientists based at the University of Edinburgh and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Germany examined a trio of measures linked to biological aging: lifespan (length of life), health span (years of disease-free life) and longevity (living a very long life). 

“We are very excited by these findings as they strongly suggest that high levels of iron in the blood reduces our healthy years of life, and keeping these levels in check could prevent age-related damage,” commented research lead Paul Timmers, Ph.D., from the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh. “We speculate that our findings on iron metabolism might also start to explain why very high levels of iron-rich red meat in the diet has been linked to age-related conditions such as heart disease.”

Iron and Genes


The results of the study pointed to three traits that were linked by genes. “Genetic correlations between publicly available health span, parental lifespan, and longevity reveal these traits share 50% or more of their underlying genetics,” the scientists said. “Ten regions are of particular interest as they associate with all three aging traits and are, as such, likely candidates to capture intrinsic aging processes, rather than extrinsic sources of aging.”

When they looked more closely, researchers discovered that gene sets linked to iron were overrepresented in all three measures of aging. They used a statistical method called Mendelian randomization (MR) to find that genes governing the metabolization of iron in the blood are partly in charge of health and longevity. “… In line with the highlighted pathways, we find a causal role for iron levels in healthy life in an MR framework,” the scientists wrote. And although the study had a number of limiting factors, the researchers concluded that “… the strong signal for heme (a compound that contains iron) metabolism, in combination with the MR results, suggests the evidence for the involvement of this pathway in human aging is reasonably robust.”

Iron Levels Affect the Body


Diet affects iron levels, and unusually high or low amounts have long been associated with Parkinson’s disease, liver disease and the ability to fight off infection. “Heme synthesis declines with age and its deficiency leads to iron accumulation, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction,” the researchers further noted. “In turn, iron accumulation helps pathogens to sustain an infection, which is in line with the known increase in infection susceptibility with age. In the brain, abnormal iron homeostasis is commonly seen in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.” In fact, other research has found a relationship between iron accumulation and early death, liver disease, osteoarthritis and systemic inflammation. 

One hope is that the study will lead to development of a drug that will improve iron metabolism by mimicking desirable genetic control to overcome certain effects of aging. Therapeutic targets that can reduce the burden of age-related diseases, extend the healthy years of life, and increase the chances of becoming long lived without long periods of morbidity,” the scientists concluded.



Click below for the other articles in the November 2020 Senior Spirit


Sources:

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors




Thursday, November 19, 2020

How to Talk to Parents About Their Finances



Most American families don’t like to talk about money, but as parents age it becomes a crucial conversation.


Most older adults will need some type of long-term care in their lives, but 85% of the decisions about it are made during a time of medical crisis. One in seven Americans over age 70 has dementia. One in four deaths is the result of a heart attack. And yet most adults would rather discuss sex with their children than talk about aging with their parents. 

The result is that parents can become debilitated or die without their children knowing how, or being able, to access money to pay for their care. Children may also wonder if they’ll be responsible for paying for care, with adult children contributing an average of $10,000 per year in the 50% of cases where nursing home costs are borne by families. 

It’s important for children to have conversations about money with their parents before anything happens to them so that when and if something does, everyone will be as prepared as possible. How can you start the conversation, and what should you talk about? It will be different for everyone, but here are some guidelines to get you started.



Resources

The Eldercare Locator or 800-677-1116 is the first step to finding resources for older adults in any U.S. community. It is a free national service of the Administration on Aging that provides an instant connection to resources that enable older persons to live independently in their communities and offers support for caregivers.

Another excellent resource is the book Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations With Your Parents About Their Finances by Cameron Huddleston. Or read her article for ten tips from the book about how to approach the conversation



Create a Time to Talk


Find a time that is relatively stress-free. Your parents may be very reluctant to talk about money and could even feel threatened that you want to take over the nest egg they’ve spent their lives building up. It’s better to ask when a good time would be than announce at Thanksgiving dinner that you need to know how to access their bank accounts. If siblings need to be included, either arrange a time when you can get together, have a Zoom meeting or FaceTime call, or share information later. A day after a holiday celebration is better than before or during the event. And three shorter conversations are better than one marathon session.

If you don’t know what shape their retirement savings are in, you could start by asking them how they managed to save (a 401(k) or pension?) and ask them how much they think you should be putting away. By asking for advice, you can make it more of a conversation about “us” than “them.” It’s easy to lose track of pension benefits with a job change. Check the government’s “finding a lost pension” database to make sure a benefit hasn’t been overlooked. 

Documents and Professionals


Do they have important documents drawn up and do you know where they are? You should know where to find important information such as a will, titles to property, insurance policies, powers of attorney, advanced directives such as a living will, mortgages, tax returns, financial account information, military records, and marriage and birth certificates. 

It’s best if an adult child or trusted professional or friend of the older adult has a general durable power of attorney (DPOA), which authorizes that person to handle finances, legal issues and health care on behalf of another person. The “durable” is important; the power of attorney will stay in effect if the person becomes incapacitated (verified by a doctor), such as from illness or an accident. These documents vary by state, and they’re not recognized by the Social Security Administration, which requires the establishment of a representative payee — a person or organization that receives benefits for someone who can’t manage or direct the management of their own account.

Your parents may have copies of all these documents with their attorney, financial advisor, insurance agent, accountant and/or banker. Get names and numbers for these professionals so you can access information. If your parents have a bank deposit box, the only way for someone else to access it may be with the key. Keep the key in one place, note its location on paperwork and tell family members where to find it. Having a DPOA also listed on the account can make it a lot easier if the holder is suddenly incapacitated.

Business Settlement


If your parents run a business, the family should be informed about what they’d like to have happen with it when they’re gone. This should be an ongoing discussion that takes place over many meetings and many years, especially if it’s a large company with employees. Will someone be able to take it over? Will it be sold and the proceeds divided? Is there a plan to transfer it to employees? Succession planning is complex and should involve a professional to ensure that, for example, payment will revert to a spouse upon the owner’s death. Even a much smaller concern will need discussion, i.e. how to turn off the eBay store. 

Computer Access


Depending on how computer savvy your parents are, you may need a password to the computer itself and/or financial accounts. It may be preferable to be placed on the account as a joint holder or attorney-in-fact. Discuss this with your parents and their financial professional. 

Financial Fraud


Unfortunately, scamming older adults is big business. Billions of dollars go to these thieves, who have duped even the savviest targets. Give your parents a list of common scams, or point them to the FBI’s list of top scams and crimes. If someone calls your parents saying they are a friend of the family who needs money to get their grandson out of a ticket/jam, or if someone calls to verify bank account or Social Security numbers, your parents need to know they should hang up. Let them know that you are always available to offer an opinion, and to call you first if they have the slightest suspicion. If they do get caught in a financial scam, keep calm and help them contact the Justice Department’s Consumer Fraud Division to report it and obtain resources. 

Work with Your Siblings


If you need to step in with financial help for your parents, work with your siblings to come up with a plan. Contact Medicaid to see if your parents qualify for the assistance offered by this federal health care program. The site also has information regarding a veteran’s pension. If either of your parents was in the military (even if only one was and that person has died), check to see if their income and assets qualify them for the pension. Low-income veterans may also merit help with daily activities or assisted living via the Aid and Assistance benefit. Beware of fraud against veterans; it’s unfortunately a common occurrence. 

You might also want to investigate a reverse mortgage if your parents have home equity but want to stay in their home. Check with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding your parents’ responsibilities before making a decision.

Perhaps the most important thing about these talks is to think of them as mutual exchanges of information. Approach them with love and calm, and don’t get upset if your parents need some time to share much of their information, or prefer to tell you, for example, that they are on sound financial footing rather than to give you specifics about each account. A tiny bit of progress with a smile is better than pushing too hard and having bad feelings.



Click below for the other articles in the November 2020 Senior Spirit


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Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors



Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Connecting with Older Adults in Long-Term Care Facilities During COVID-19



The pandemic has left those in skilled nursing, rehabilitation facilities and assisted living feeling isolated and often sad. Here’s what you can do to help.


The pandemic has hit everyone hard as we struggle to stay safe with social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing routines. But it’s worse for older adults in long-term care facilities, where the risk of a fatal outcome from catching the coronavirus is particularly high. 

“Eight out of 10 deaths from COVID-19 have been from those age 65 or older,” according to Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, a family physician in Phoenix, Arizona. “The reason why is because our immune system is less effective at fighting infections as we get older. Also, having multiple other chronic diseases can complicate this virus.” So, it’s vitally important to protect this population and as a result, many facilities have banned face-to-face visits since March. 


State-by-State Guide


As of this writing, 41 states were allowing visits to nursing homes, assisted living and rehabilitation facilities. However, some facilities continue to restrict visits to ensure the safety of their residents; protocols vary widely by individual location. Check for updated information on the status of your state

What About Residents With No Family?


If you are interested in helping residents with no family to write or call them, it’s best to call the facility directly and ask about their policy. There may be a volunteer organization that is writing letters and/or making calls. Another option is to check with the Friendship Line, founded 40 years ago. It’s now national and accredited as a combined crisis line and “warmline” for callers who are just lonely. It is targeted to serve disabled adults and people age 60 and above.


Phone Chains


There are ways to mitigate the isolation. Video chat and conferencing platforms such as FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom work well to help your family member feel included and up to date. If your loved one doesn’t have a smartphone or other device to use, see if the facility has one to borrow and someone to help facilitate the call, if needed. 

Ordinary calls are welcome, too. Set up a phone schedule with other family members to ensure the resident gets a daily call, or even one in the morning and one in the evening, if possible. Family members can send photos and videos. Although it’s hard to top grandchildren, a video of a walk in the woods or elsewhere outdoors can be a welcome change from the resident’s room. 

Different Meal


Another idea is to share a virtual meal together, perhaps made with a family recipe. Some facilities will allow you to drop off a serving for the resident, so you can eat at the same time, chatting over the phone. Check if it’s okay to have food delivered from a restaurant; it can be a welcome change from the same old fare made onsite. 

Photo Album


Print off some favorite photos and staple them together to make a booklet that the resident can page through again and again. You can caption the pages to identify family and friends. A new one could be delivered every week if it’s a hit. 

Window Visit


Some residence facilities are allowing window visits. The resident stays indoors, seated near a main-floor window, and the visitor can “visit” through the glass. It may be possible to chat, and certainly you can exchange smiles. Homemade signs can be designed for special occasions like birthdays. 

Snail Mail


Older residents can enjoy the gift of a letter many times over. There’s the anticipation every time they go to the mailbox, the excitement when they see a letter, the fun of opening and reading it, and the continued comfort in reading it again and again. Keep your news cheery, with updates on family activities. Kids can add a note and/or draw a picture. Enclose a magnet or clip so the letter or pictures can stay in sight. 

Recordings


You can send a recorded text message so the resident can hear your voice over and over. Consider asking about long-ago events, such as “When we lived in Texas, you had a Girl Scout troop. Do you remember some of the things your troop did?” You can then leave a silent space for the resident’s response. If the resident has dementia, it may be played repeatedly. 

Plants and Animals


Perhaps the resident would enjoy taking care of a small plant such as an orchid or succulent. Caring for something gives a sense of purpose and usefulness. Residents with dementia especially might enjoy having a stuffed dog or cat to cuddle and talk to. For about $110, you can even purchase robotic versions such as the Joy For All Companion Cat

Send a Caregiver


If you are fortunate enough to have extra funds, consider having a caregiver visit the resident. Most facilities allow CNAs to enter, and having a visitor devoted just to the resident for a couple of hours can be enormously uplifting. This person may help with exercises, dust and tidy, assist with a project such as going through photos, facilitate calls, or simply engage the resident in conversation. 

Listen


The resident may well have days, or every day, when he or she needs to vent — about the loneliness, the food, the staff, or whatever. You can help just by listening and commiserating. It’s a lousy time to be shut away, no matter how nice the facility. Elizabeth St. John, a licensed clinical social worker at Stanford Health Care, says that older adults need to talk to people who “can just listen and validate their feelings. Be the person who will bear witness to their sadness, stress, and anxiety and who will let them reminisce because this is a really sad time.”

You don’t have to bear the burden all by yourself. Residents love to hear from old friends and relatives. Spread the work around so that you don’t get caregiver burnout from afar. 



Click below for the other articles in the November 2020 Senior Spirit


Sources:

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors



Sunday, November 15, 2020

Internet Satellites Providing Access



Fleets of SpaceX low-orbit satellites are beginning to bring internet service to rural U.S. locations and unserved areas around the globe.


Elon Musk may be the Michelangelo of our times. The storied entrepreneur heads electric tech and car company Tesla, infrastructure and tunnel services outfit The Boring Company, and aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, better known as SpaceX. Apart from figuring out how to land reusable rocket boosters right-side-up on a ship in the ocean, SpaceX has been working on satellite technology, dubbed “Starlink,” to span the world with internet accessibility. 



Loon Balloons

A few short years ago, Facebook had big plans to use solar-powered drones and laser-based tech to beam Wi-Fi to antennas around the world. Crazy, right? Facebook abandoned the plan in 2018, but Google’s effort to spread the internet survived. What would Google use? Giant balloons containing solar-powered units to transmit from the stratosphere. And they’re starting to be deployed. 

As of July, Kenyans might see a giant (49 feet across) white balloon floating 12 miles above the earth in the central and western part of the African country. Made of common plastic polyethylene (the same as grocery bags), the balloons are launched with the help of a crane and use predictive modeling to shift them as needed for reliable connections on the ground. 

Although speeds are slow compared to the U.S. and they only transmit in daylight, each balloon can cover an area about the size of Delaware, or a little less than 2,000 square miles.



Coverage Needed


You may think that everyone in the U.S. is already covered, but you’d be mistaken. Rural parts of the country often suffer from slow or nonexistent internet service. The pandemic has forced many schools to offer all or a portion of learning online, highlighting the need for accessibility. And there are vast swaths of Africa and other continents that also lack internet connection. 

Falcon 9, designed and manufactured by SpaceX, launched May 23, 2019 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a nosecone full of the first 60 Starlink internet satellites. According to Musk, 400 satellites would be needed to provide “minor” coverage, 800 for “moderate” coverage, and up to 12,000 for a complete network. For comparison, the 12,000 number is more than six times the count of all operational spacecraft now in orbit.

In fact, more than 700,000 individuals in the U.S. had expressed interest within a month and a half of the company allowing people to register their interest on the Starlink website.  As of August, SpaceX had launched more than 500 of the table-size satellites and had begun building the ground station network to connect consumers to the network. Beta testing began this summer.

Current Speeds Are Slow


With 540 satellites in the air in August 2020, tests conducted by Ookla (and collated by Reddit users) documented download speeds ranging from 11 Mbps (megabits per second) to 60 Mbps, with upload rates between 5 Mbps to 18 Mbps and latency ranging from 31 ms to 94 ms. These compare negatively to eventual expected download speeds reaching 1 Gbps with latency between 25 to 35 ms, but speeds are expected to increase as more satellites are put into orbit. And, the speeds are still above what most rural Americans currently receive. In fact, the average download speed across the entire U.S. is 33.88 Mbps according to mobile performance data aggregator Speedtest

According to the Federal Communications Commission, Starlink is slated to begin offering commercial service in the northern United States and southern Canada before the end of 2020, “and then will rapidly expand to near-global coverage of the populated world in 2021.” Musk has claimed the speed will rival existing services, “… so somebody could play fast-response video games at a competitive level.”

Market Potential


SpaceX plans to use revenue from Starlink to fund its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, designed to take people to and from Mars and other space destinations. It won’t be an easy task. SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell expects the project to cost $10 billion or more. And Musk himself has admitted that “there is a lot of new technology here. So it’s possible that some of these satellites may not work.” The billionaire added that there’s a “small possibility that all of the satellites will not work.”

However, the gamble could pay off big. SpaceX informed investors that Starlink has a $1 trillion addressable market. One hiccup? Some astrophysicists are not happy that Starlink satellites have been interfering with photographs of comets. The low orbit (341 miles above the earth’s surface) of the satellites gets in the way of stargazing, and with more than 20 times the current number of satellites expected to go up, the problem will likely get worse.



Click below for the other articles in the November 2020 Senior Spirit


Sources:

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors



Thursday, November 12, 2020

30 Days of Change



Novelist (he wrote one in 30 days) Matt Cutts says the secret to a happier life may lie in a series of 30-day challenges, big or small, that you give yourself.


Let’s be honest. Most of us are somewhat happy with our lives, but wondering if there isn’t something more — something more we could be doing, something more we could be learning. Think back to the aspirations you had as a child or young adult. When did you let go of those goals? 

Setting 30-Day Goals


Software engineer Matt Cutts felt the same way. After creating the family filter for Google’s search engine, he reduced his work load to spend time with his wife and pursue other goals. But he went about it in a way that seemed attainable: he would give himself a goal and spend 30 days making it happen. He gave up sugar. He biked to work. He wrote a novel. He took a photograph every day. 

Eventually, some of the goals stuck. He kept biking and accomplished another goal: finishing an Iron Man race. He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Other goals, such as cutting out sugar, didn’t stick completely, and that was fine. What Cutts found was that his life became more full as his memory bank filled with new experiences. 

View the Ted Talk Cutts created here

In fact, research shows that time seems to slow down when we do something novel. Our brains have to pay more attention as we perform a new activity, and the memories from the experience expand time. Time also stretches when we are emotionally engaged. You can actually experience more time than you have by exposing yourself to new things and making an effort to notice what is going on in each moment.

What to Do?


Most of us will never run an Iron Man, but there are plenty of things that an average person can aspire to do every day for a month:

  • Write a poem
  • Take a walk
  • Take a free class online
  • Quit watching the news
  • Work in the garden
  • Volunteer somewhere new
  • Perform an act of random kindness
  • Meditate for 30 minutes every morning
  • Lie on your back and look at the sky
  • Paint a picture
  • Make a meal from scratch
  • Give up criticizing, except regarding yourself
  • Exercise for half an hour
  • Learn how to lift weights
  • Reach out to a family member or friend

Cutts found that smaller goals were easier to keep as habits after the first month was done, and he often built on them to accomplish bigger things. He also noted that his self-esteem increased as time passed and he completed more of his goals. Each of us will differ in what we chose to do, but we will grow no matter what our goals are. Starting today, what will your first goal be? 


Click below for the other articles in the November 2020 Senior Spirit


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Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors

www.csa.us

Monday, November 9, 2020

Famous and 65

Look who's turning 65 this month

Find out which celebrities are turning 65 this month!


Image Source: Wikipedia

November 5 - Kris Jenner, TV personality


Mama Kardashian Kris Jenner became famous promoting her large brood on reality television’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians. In doing so, she became a television personality, entertainment manager, and author. The kids from her marriage to lawyer Robert Kardashian include Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Robert, with an additional pair, Kendall and Kylie, from her marriage to Olympic gold medalist Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner. 

Born in San Diego, Jenner’s parents divorced when she was seven. She worked in her mother’s children’s clothing store as a teen and was a flight attendant in 1976 on American Airlines. She runs her own production company, ran a children’s boutique with daughter Kourtney for several years, wrote an autobiography and a cookbook, and hosted a talk show for six weeks.

The reality show had its genesis when Jenner met with Ryan Seacrest in 2007. She knew her family was a natural for the genre, with plenty of everyday drama that wouldn’t have to be manufactured. Jenner became the executive producer, and the hit has run longer than almost any other reality show in the country, generating several spin-offs. 

Jenner’s first ex was Robert Kardashian who she remained on good terms with until his death in 2003. A month after her first divorce, Jenner married retired Olympian and heartthrob Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner, who she divorced in December of 2014 after 23 years of marriage. 

Jenner is in a long relationship with Corey Gamble and has nine grandchildren.







Image Source: Wikipedia

November 6 - Maria Shriver, American newscaster

Prolific and compassionate, Maria Shriver is a journalist, author, founder of the nonprofit The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement and served as the former First Lady of California, initiating volunteer programs, women’s awards and much more in the process. She has written six books and been honored with television Emmy Awards for her television work and Peabody Awards for journalistic endeavors. In 2017, she received the first Lifetime Achievement Award ever given by the Alzheimer’s Association.

Born into the legendary Kennedy family, Shriver’s mother was an activist and sister to late President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and Senator Robert Kennedy, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (all deceased) and a bevy of other accomplished siblings. Shriver’s father was a politician, and she credits her success in journalism with being sent to the back of his plane while volunteering for his 1972 U.S. vice presidential race, calling her time with the press corps “the best thing that ever happened to me.” 

A slew of anchor positions followed on top shows such as Sunday Today, NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC. Shriver had married Austrian bodybuilder and film star Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1986, and the couple had four children by 1997. In 2003, Schwarzenegger became governor of California and Shriver had a more prominent platform for promoting and supporting Special Olympics and other projects, especially for mentally challenged children and those with dementia. 

A sad end note was the public revelation, in 2011, that her husband had fathered a child 14 years earlier with a member of their household staff. The marriage of 25 years didn’t survive the “painful and heartbreaking” episode. 






Image Source: Wikipedia

November 13 - Whoopi Goldberg [Caryn Johnson], Actress


Whoopi Goldberg, née  Caryn Johnson, never finished high school. The actor, comedian author and T.V. personality didn’t need to, as she went on to be one of only 16 to have won a Tony Award, an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and an Emmy Award. 

Her breakout role as Celie in Steven Spielberg’s period drama set in the Deep South catapulted her to fame in 1985. The roles kept on coming, and the hundreds are too many to list. She has done one-woman shows on stage, produced a comedy album, and is famed for acting the part of Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

But it hasn’t always been so easy. In the 70s, Goldberg strung together a series of odd jobs: bank teller, mortuary cosmetologist, and even bricklayer, before joining an avant-garde theatre group. She also taught comedy and acting classes; one of her pupils was future Kurt Cobain squeeze Courtney Love.

Since 2007 Goldberg has been moderator and co-host of morning show The View. You may consider her a strictly liberal voice, but she has said she is a member of the NRA, defended Mel Gibson against racist criticism and made several other eyebrow-raising comments for those on both sides of the aisle. Goldberg is nothing if not her own woman.

She has been married three times and has a daughter, Alex Martin, who is also an actress and producer. However, she has since stated that she never loved any of the men and doesn’t foresee another union. 






Image Source: Wikipedia

November 27 - Bill Nye, The Science Guy


Bill Nye has turned hundreds of thousands of kids (and their parents) on to science. He got a mechanical degree in college and connected with astronomer and guest teacher Carl Sagan. With his B.S. from Cornell, Nye went to work for Boeing, where he invented a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used on the 747. Alas, he really wanted to be an astronaut, but NASA turned him down four times. 

In an interesting turn of events Nye won a Steve Martin lookalike contest in 1978, and this would be a defining moment in his young life. He began to do Steve Martin impressions at parties, egged on by his friends, and the young engineer found he liked being in the limelight. He began to be a jet navigation systems engineer by day, and a standup comic by night. He quit the Boeing job, not comedy, and the rest is history. 

The pilot for Bill Nye the Science Guy came out in 1993. Distributed by Disney and underwritten by the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy, the show ran for five years. It was a runaway hit, nominated for 23 Emmy Awards and leading to a slew of other science-themed media appearances. 

Nye’s current mission is to advocate against climate change. 






Click below for the other articles in the November 2020 Senior Spirit




Sources:

https://www.wikipedia.org

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors