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Marilyn Raichle grew up in the shadow of Alzheimer’s. Nearly everyone in her father’s family and many in her mother’s developed the disease. Her mother, Jean, told her, “When we get Alzheimer’s, walk away. There is nothing you can do, so live your life and don’t sacrifice it for us.” Instead, while experiencing her mother’s art, Marilyn realized the value of partnering with people with dementia and began to appreciate her mother in a new way.

Join host Jean Feldeisen in conversation with Marilyn about her personal discovery. And consider her invitation to caregivers to separate their grief over the loss of the person they knew, from assumptions about the changed person in the present. She describes a profound difference in how she viewed her mother — not as someone diagnosed with Alzheimers but as a person living with Alzheimers. Or even as a team managing Alzheimers together.

Marilyn began her career in the performing arts. She founded the Seattle International Children’s Festival, introducing children to world culture through the performing arts. In 2007, she received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Since her mother’s death she has written a book, Don’t Walk Away: A Care Partner’s Journey that features her mother’s art and how it changed the way Marilyn saw Alzheimers. She has created a foundation, The Art of Alzheimers, that focuses on the power of the creative arts to enrich and empower the lives of people with the diagnosis. She is now the Executive Director of Maude’s Awards for Innovation in Alzheimer’s Care.

Show Notes

Buy Don’t Walk Away: A Care Partner’s Journey, by Marilyn Raichle on Amazon, or on Barnes & Noble.

Link to Marilyn's website
Link to her LinkedIn page
Link to Marilyn on Alzheimers Authors

Buy Jean Anne Feldeisen’s recent book of poetry, South Jersey Sand at Kelsay Books or on Amazon.

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Stella Fosse was a teenager when she determined to publish her first book by the age of 25. That didn’t happen.

She published her first book at 68. And it was very different from her early aspirations.

Join host Jane Trombley in conversation with Stella, a former Biotech writer who pivoted to “elderotica” — in both nonfiction and as a thread throughout her novels.
During a 25-year career as a tech writer, Stella focused on writing, submitting applications, and gaining FDA approval for Biotech products.

Along the way, she joined a group of women authors reading their erotic essays featuring powerful female central characters. Stella began to dabble in the genre, participating in writing and reading her work, what she called “elderotica.”

It was time to pivot.

With little more than an idea for a guide for midlife women exploring erotica, Stella published her first book, Aphrodite's Pen: The Power of Writing Erotica After Midlife.

It would come as no surprise that the launch party for Aphrodite’s Pen was held at a sex toy shop in Berkeley, CA.

The rest, as they say, is publishing history.

Stella shows us the power of the pivot and a commitment to advocating for women’s creativity, often emerging in midlife and beyond. Come join the conversation.

Show Notes:

Website: www.stellafosse.com

Substack: stellafosse.substack.com

Grandmother Collective on Substack

Crone Hub

Stella’s Books

Rock On: Power, Sex and Money after 60

Write & Sell a Well-Seasoned Romance:

Launch Your Author Adventure in Late-Life Romance

Vampires of a Certain Age:

Five Hundred Years of Loving

Brilliant Charming Bastard:

Getting Rich is the Best Revenge

The Erotic Pandemic Ball:

Tales of Love in Lockdown

Aphrodite's Pen:

The Power of Writing Erotica After Midlife

Mentioned in the episode:

Joan Price

Ruth Saxton

Sibylline Press

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Meet Elaine Soloway, whose gift to herself on her 80th birthday was a tattoo! Soloway, the author of three books, The Division Street Princess, She’s Not The Type, and Green Nails and Other Acts of Rebellion: Life After Loss, and her Substack, Escapades, is also a bit of a rebel. “I live my life out loud,” Soloway says, having penned “10 Ways to Be A Rebel After 87” with advice such as “count your blessings,” “get comfortable with technology,” “be honest,” “be curious,” and “never say it’s too late for me.” The real-life inspiration for the award-winning Amazon show “Transparent,” Soloway will share stories from her life and how to start your own “rebellion” while living life to its fullest.

Link to Elaine Soloway on Substack

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