Letter from the Editor #14
The senior action groups giving me hope; The Power of Later (aka giving yourself things to look forward to)...
Readers,
Like many of you I’m sure, I’ve lately been thrumming in a state of escalating anxiety. My nervous system is on constant high alert, on the lookout for signs of danger—but also signs of hope.
This week some of the latter showed up by way of an email from Eve France (mom of my friend, and iconic source of inspiration, Kim France). In her message, Eve pointed me in the direction of a woman named Mary Mulvihill, who turns 83 today. (🥳 🎂 🎉)
After retiring from a long career in the nonprofit sector, Mulvihill founded a great organization called Seniors Taking Action, and co-founded another umbrella organization called We the Seniors, “a grassroots alliance of activist senior groups and individuals representing thousands of seniors,” of which Seniors Taking Action is one of 62 member groups. (Check out We the Seniors on Substack.)
I was able to reach Mulvihill yesterday and interview her over Zoom. Talking with her lifted my spirits. It made me feel less alone in my eagerness to find a way past this awful moment in our country and the world, and hopeful that by banding together, we can make a difference. You can watch the video from our conversation here. ⬇️
Since 2019, Mulvihill and her cohort have been mobilizing seniors to take action toward saving our democracy.
“For the last seven years, we’ve been writing postcards and letters to the editor on social media,” she told me. “And in addition, we have a Zoom every Wednesday at 11a.m. where we have people like Bill McKibben and Senator Corey Booker. We even had Liz Cheney on. [They’ve had E. Jean Carroll, too.] It’s been wonderful for us because we learn a heck of a lot more about what’s going on, and then we can support those individuals in ways that can be helpful to them. But our single focus is, of course, to get someone different in the White House than the person we have right now because of all the things that are going on that are wrong.”
They’ve also gotten fellow elders—and younger people—calling elected officials using the Five Calls app, and protesting.
I’m so moved by what Mulvihill and her groups have been doing. While I’ve felt terrified by the violence I’ve seen in videos from Minneapolis, Portland, and elsewhere this past week, I’ve realized I am not willing to forfeit my basic democratic rights—free speech, dissent, assembly, peaceful protest—nor to simply assume they’ve been abolished because someone has fashioned himself as a dictator and sent a bunch of goons to American cities to commit illegal violence with impunity.
The violence is meant to intimidate us out of standing up for our civil rights and those of our neighbors. But simply rolling over is a big nope for me, a life-long protester and canvasser. We can’t normalize what’s happening, and we can’t back down, or it won’t ever stop.
If you’re looking for a way to join with others and stay active, I highly recommend learning more about Seniors Taking Action and We the Seniors at their websites, and joining in at whatever level feels right for you.
***
Speaking of journalist and activist Bill McKibben, last night I also attended a Zoom meeting entitled “Fighting Authoritarianism In Our Third Act,” hosted by Third Act, his nonprofit action group for people 60 and older. Joining McKibben were author, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit; educator and activist Daniel Hunter; Third Act’s Democracy Campaigns Manager Mike Johnson; and Third Act’s CEO, Kafia Ahmed.
Check out my interview with Bill McKibben about Third Act, from Oldster’s early days:
It was informative and inspiring. When video from the session becomes available, I’ll share it with you in a link roundup. I recommend checking out and getting involved with Third Act, along with Mulvihill’s groups.
The Power of Later (aka giving yourself things to look forward to)...
A new strategy I’ve found for getting through this difficult time is giving myself joyful and entertaining things to look forward to. This includes plans with friends—like dinner and a few rounds of Rummikub at a restaurant with another couple Brian and I hold dear this past Sunday—and getting tickets to movies, plays, and other performances.
Two weeks ago it was catching Marty Supreme at the new Upstate Films outpost in my neighborhood of midtown Kingston. I’ve got mixed feelings about the movie, but it was great to get out of the house and have the shared experience of cinema in an intimate (only 44 seats!) movie theater.
Last week it was going to see standup comic Isabel Hagen at Assembly, a great new venue here in Kingston. (My hilarious friend Jess Edelman opened, along with another great local comedian, Jill Mary.)
Of course, the biggest thing I’ve given myself to look forward to is the next Oldster Variety Hour at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan on Wednesday, March 4th at 7pm. I’ve been having meetings this week with the performers about what they’ll do, and it’s going to be great. I’m so excited about it, I could plotz.
Perhaps you’d like to have this event as something to look forward to as well! Tickets are selling briskly, so if you want to come, grab yours soon.
As I mentioned last week, this will be the second of hopefully many such Oldster live events. I’m also working with pianist Paul Leschen on planning a piano karaoke event at Sid Gold’s Request Room, my happy place, for late spring or early summer.
Stay tuned…
No paywall this week…
This week I’m not putting the bottom part of my Letter from the Editor behind a paywall, as I had in prior installments. If you enjoy all that I publish here, I’d love your support. Publishing Oldster takes a lot of work. 🙏
Check out the rest of this series here. P.S. Typos happen. Please forgive me if you find any!
That’s all for today. I hope I’ve given you a modicum of…hope…in this dark time.
Thanks for reading, and subscribing. I appreciate it. 🙏💝
Gen X here. I’ve been heartened and hopeful at every protest I’ve been to lately to see the high numbers of people a generation or two older than me in attendance. It also gives me ease and excitement about aging into my wisdom and continued activism!
You, madam, are a dynamo! An old boss of mine displayed that cliche plaque “what would you attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail?” on his desk. You actually live that. It’s inspirational. And thx for pointing the way to actions I will now surely take. Go Oldsters go!