We are those guys: four decades on the Pacific Crest Trail
In the summer of 1981, Rees Hughes and Howard Shapiro, along with mutual friend Jim Peacock, set out to hike the section of the Pacific Crest Trail that runs through Washington state. It was their first encounter with the 2,650-mile PCT, which stretches from...
Driven to serve
Like many retirees, Mike and Carol Johnson load up their fifth-wheel trailer just after Christmas each year and drive south. They don't head to the beach or the golf course, however. Instead, the Brownsburg, Indiana, residents head to a camp, community...
Swinging for the fences
In April, the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum opened a new exhibition, "Baseball: America's Home Run," which features artifacts representing every era and facet of America's pastime. Nearly 300 people attended the VIP opening, including the...
A Kentucky collector finds purpose in his passion
When Lamont Collins' family moved to a mostly white Louisville, Kentucky neighborhood in the 1960s, he felt like he'd been dropped behind enemy lines (although he was never physically harmed). He survived and thrived in large part because of his athletic...
Courageous conversations at the Human Library
You can’t judge a book by its cover, but most people do exactly that with humans. “We so frequently do judge people by their appearances or their identity or their religion or gender — you name it,” says librarian Susan Lauricella of the Wilton...
3 estate planning mistakes to avoid
With apologies to poet Robert Burns, the best-laid estate plans of women and men sometimes go awry. Consider the friend of estate attorney Roz Carothers' client. The woman, a single parent, left behind a detailed estate plan, but also left behind a problem:...
How the Great American Songbook unites generations
Whether it's April in Paris or autumn in New York, someone right now is probably listening to a selection from The Great American Songbook. Maybe they're taking the A train to Harlem with Ella Fitzgerald or getting their kicks on Route 66 with Nat King Cole....
Could a smarter home help you age in place?
In the heart of Louisville’s Innovation District sits the Thrive Center, a 7,500-square-foot space dedicated to showing how technology can enhance the lives of older adults. And in the center of the center is the prototype of a smart home — including...
Unconditional caregiving
Journalist Richard Lui's father, Stephen, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease nine years ago. Not long after the diagnosis, the New York-based MSNBC/NBC news anchor began commuting cross-country to San Francisco each week to help care for his father,...