Aging Well: Finding Beauty in the Gray
Aging Well: Finding Beauty in the Gray is a podcast for everyone in or approaching the retirement years. There’s a lot to unpack here apart from the financial planning component, and we’ll do just that. We’ll explore new interests, priorities and goals and finding purpose for ourselves and in our relationships. Join me each episode as I share stories and chat with guests learning to live their best next act, lives. Have a question or comment? Please reach out to me, Hugh Willard, at willowwaycreations@gmail.com or via any of the social media links at the top of this page.
Episodes
108 episodes
Warming Heads and Hearts: Edgemere Knit Wits Mary Ann Stover and Donna Powers
Did you know that March is National Knitting and Crochet month? Across the United States, there are thousands of dedicated Knit Wits-groups of committed volunteers, many of whom are seniors, creating hats, scarves, even toys, to share with infa...
From Role to Soul: Dr. Connie Zweig and the path to greater meaning in the Elder years.
Dr. Connie Zweig is a retired therapist and author. Known as the Shadow Expert, she has written several books on the spiritual path to health and wholeness. In this show, we talk about her book, The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul...
The Next Chapter: Heart of the Pamlico Poet Laureate Michelle Garren-Flye shares her passion for the written and visual word.
Michelle Garren-Flye is the owner of the Next Chapter Books & Art in New Bern, NC. She is a multi-published author of romance, children's books, and poetry. Michelle was named the Heart of the Pamlico Poet Laureate in 2021. She is ever curi...
Knitting Up Loose Ends with Love: Jennifer Simonic and Masey Kaplan and the Loose Ends Project
Jennifer Simonic and Masey Kaplan are the founders of the Loose Ends Project. Both avid knitters, they realized they had a shared experience: Friends would often ask them to finish blankets, sweaters, or other projects left undone by dece...
Love Is In The Air: Dr.'s Gloria Horsley and Frank Powers and romance in the senior years.
Two years ago, Gloria and Frank, both retired psychologists, met on Silver Singles (https://www.silversingles.com/), an online dating website for folks 50+. Since their first date, they have been inseparable and decided to share the secrets to ...
The Year in Review: Heather Lyons and Hugh Willard take a look back at the 2023 shows
Join us as we welcome Heather Lyons back to the interviewer's chair. Heather and Hugh will reminisce about memorable shows and guests over the past year and Hugh will read more from his latest book Finding Beauty in the Gray: Stories and Verse ...
Ho Ho Ho!: Santa Warren Keyes and his Christmas message of inclusion and love
For the past decade, Santa Warren Keyes, Stafford Braxton, and the rest of the folks with santasjustlikeme.com have travelled the Southeast United States, igniting and sharing in the excitement and anticipation of the magic of Christmas to litt...
The Many Branches of the The Lawyer-Turned-Author Family Great Oak Tree: Author and Podcaster Landis Wade and the Writer's Life
Landis Wade is a recovering trial lawyer turned award winning author turned founder and host of the popular Charlotte Readers Podcast. https://charlottereaderspodcast.com/ His third book, The Christmas Redemption won the Holiday...
There's No Place Like Home: Photographer and Farmsteader Joanna Eldredge Morrissey comes full circle
Joanna Eldredge Morrissey is a native of Peterborough, New Hampshire. She migrated west to get degrees in communications and philosophy from Cal State Fullerton. She stayed for a time working at a commercial photo studio and the Corona Public L...
Living the Lumbee Way: Millard and Connie Locklear and their New Ground Farm
Millard and Connie Locklear, husband and wife, are the owners and operators of the New Ground Farm, a 26-acre abundance of heirloom and hybrid crops that follow the traditional farming methods of their Native Lumbee families. They were named Sm...
Finding Beauty in the Gray: Hugh Willard's Long-Awaited Book Launch!!
For this week's show, we have a special guest host. Heather Lyons, Hugh Willard's partner in love and life takes over the interviewer's headset to talk with Hugh about his long awaited book, Finding Beauty in the Gray: Stories and Verse Fro...
Getting By With A Little Help From Our Friends: Dr. Heather Altman talks about important community resources for healthy aging.
Dr. Heather Altman has spent the bulk of her career in the non-profit, healthcare, and aging services sectors. She is currently the Executive Director of the Health Sciences Health Innovations Group and the North Carolina Serious Illness Coalit...
Movement is Medicine: Health and Fitness professional and podcaster Erin Eleuterio and path to active and vibrant aging
Erin Eleuterio is a dedicated health and fitness professional with a commitment to improving the lives of individuals over the age of 50. She holds a B.S. in Kinesiology and is a certified Functional Aging Specialist. She is also the crea...
Grit and Gratitude: Writer and storyteller Brad Campbell and his inspiring account of recovery and resilience following his bike accident
Brad Campbell retired from a career in advertising in 2018. These days he enjoys storytelling, writing feature articles for Our State magazine, exploring all things nature with his wife Judy, and riding his bike. This last passion included a tr...
The Magical World At Our Feet: Naturalist Kim Hainge and her life in the Great Smoky Mountains
Naturalist, entomologist, and trail keeper Kim Hainge lives on a 36 acre United Plant Savers Sanctuary in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina with her botanist husband, Jim. Here she hosts talks, lead hikes, and in general shares her lo...
Rocking Chair Wisdom from Three Old Guys: The Camp Codger Podcast
In just over a year, Camp Codger has become one of the top-rated podcasts for seniors. And that’s no accident or stroke of blind luck. These three stalwart codgers, Gary Ebersole, Richard Kipling, and Randy Schultz seamlessly blend themes wise ...
And You May Find Yourself...Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo: Bestselling author Sari Botton and her Everywoman treatise
Sari Botton is an author, editor, and teacher with decades of experience. Her memoir And You May Find Yourself...Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo is a collection of searingly honest, gritty, funny, and at turns painful, essays...
Living, Laughing, and Learning: Eliza Kiser and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at North Carolina State University
A year after Eliza Kiser took over the helm as director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at North Carolina State University, the ship remains steady with a clear course ahead. OLLI is a superlative program in many settings across...
Living and Leaving Your Legacy: Author and educator Merle R. Saferstein on the practice of journaling your way to wholeness and connection across the generations
Merle R. Saferstein is an educator, speaker, author, and pioneer in the field of legacy journaling. She has been featured on numerous outlets including NPR, The Robyn Graham Show, Huffpost, Thrive Global and more. Her latest books are Living...
A Very Good Boy: Author Rona Maynard and her latest memoir Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World
Rona is the author of two memoirs, My Mother's Daughter and most recently Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World. The craft of writing for Rona is encoded in her DNA and was ensconced in her world from day on...
Trendsetting and Paying Forward: Gia Peebles and Glenda Turner and The Ebony Anglers
Gia Peebles and Glenda Turner are no strangers to challenges. These resolute African-American women have yet to meet a mountain they are not willing to try climbing, or a powerful fish they won't fight for hours. Successful in business and in l...
"The Recipe Keeper of Eastern North Carolina": Dr. Tammy Kelly's labor of culinary love
Dr. Tammy Kelly's family is generations deep in Eastern North Carolina. This long time director of Cooperative Extension for Lenoir County has been shaped by this life of integrity to family, to the land, and to its food traditions. She has lov...
"An Unaverage Person Trying To Be Average": Todd Brown and the long road to his barbeque legacy
Todd Brown, from Midland, Texas, learned the art and mastery of barbeque at the feet of his father in Southern California. After a couple of hard detours in his early years, including time in prison, Todd found his way. His passion and mission ...
Planny McPlanerson: Jeff Edgar and how to have a fulfilling life in the retirement years.
After an initial retirement following a long and storied career in the US Navy, Jeff Edgar pivoted to working for several defense contractors. He then decided to do the full-fledged retirement version in 2017. And thanks to a steadfast and thou...
On Second Thought, Maybe I Can: Debbie Weiss says yes to life and to herself
Join us as welcome Debbie R. Weiss. Debbie is an entrepreneur, author and lifelong caregiver. In her upcoming memoir, On Second Thought, Maybe I Can..., Debbie details her transformational story of overcoming obstacles and saying yes t...