Living 50 Plus February/March 2024

COMPLIMENTARY

COMPLIMENTARY FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Find what you love

Shoals Community Theatre gives Steve Price purpose.

Rock and Rollin’

API course changed path of Sam Phillips’ life.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

It’s never too late for love Mary, Johnny Smith enjoy their ‘ordinary days.’

Find what you love

Shoals Community Theatre gives Steve Price purpose.

It’s never too late for love Mary, Johnny Smith enjoy their ‘ordinary days.’

Rock and Rollin’

API course changed path of Sam Phillips’ life.

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Fun ways to spend extra Leap Day hours

Living 50 Plus Editor

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Living 50 50 Plus Plus 4 Shoals Living

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By Metrocreative

he sentiment that there aren’t enough hours in the day may be true for busy families and individuals. However, once every four years, everyone is given an extra day on their calendars in February. Although Leap Day is designed to move the clock and calendar more in line with the Earth’s rotation around the sun, which takes slightly longer than 365 days, it also can be an exciting opportunity to relax and have some fun. The following are some ways to maximize that extra day of the year.

Learn about leaplings A leapling is a person who was born on Feb. 29 during a leap year. Highlights magazine reports the odds of being a leapling is one in 1,461. Find out if anyone you know is a leapling or research celebrity leaplings.

Celebrate Leap Day Even if Leap Day isn’t an official holiday, it is worthy of celebration. Figure out a theme for your party, and then invite friends over for an extra day of revelry or relaxation.

Take the day off Make the most of Leap Day by enjoying a mental health day and taking off from work or school, if possible. Spend the day engaged in hobbies or other activities.

Leapin’ lizards Kids may enjoy reading up on or learning about the various animals that are good at leaping, which can include frogs or flying squirrels. Children and adults can take turns doing their own leaping long jumps to see who can leap the farthest.

Calculate your leap year age Students can practice math and have fun in the process by dividing each person’s age by four to determine what age they would be had they been born on a Leap Day. Commemorate in fours Do everything for the day in fours. Enjoy four scoops of ice cream or commit to a four-hour hike. Go out to lunch or dinner with friends and spend four hours finding out everything that has been going on in the lives of others. Watch a movie marathon that adds up to four hours of fantastic cinema.

Leap into community service Use the extra time for doing good. Figure out where you can volunteer your services and make Leap Day all about giving back.

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Jerry, left, and Halley Phillips.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

ROCK AND ROLLIN’

FROM AUBURN TO FLORENCE TO MEMPHIS

8 Shoals Living 50 Plus

API course changed path Of Sam Phillips’ life

By Preston Sparks For Living 50 Plus

I

f not for a course offered 80 years ago

by Auburn University — then Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API) — the fate of Rock ‘n’ Roll might have forever changed.

An aged and yellowed API document framed and displayed proudly on a wall inside the Sun Studio control room in Memphis, Tennessee, represents the completion of a critical Fundamentals of Radio I course that set a 20-year-old Sam Phillips on his path to becoming the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

“I think it’s a heavier connection than anyone can realize,” said Jerry Phillips, Sam Phillips’ son, referring to the API course.

“There might not have been a Sun Records or an Elvis Presley had he (Sam) not taken this course.”

Jerry Phillips. [COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

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Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, Tenn.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

10 Shoals Living 50 Plus

Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

At 8 1/2 by 11 inches, the document might seem small, but Sam Phillips’ family says the course it represents holds immense weight in music history. The Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll might have followed a different path without the educational offering that API provided in 1943 as an extension course in his hometown of Florence, Alabama.

“It really upped his game, as far as his radio career goes,” said Halley Phillips, Sam Phillips’ granddaughter and vice president of Sam Phillips Recording Service, Big River Broadcasting Corporation, and HiLo Music Incorporated. “All of those things really do go hand-in-hand in his journey. Without that knowledge, I don’t know that that would have happened.”

A SOUND FOUNDATION It was on July 30, 1943, that Sam Phillips — who would later launch Sun Records and discover Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and many other greats — received the API certificate that allowed him to gain his Class C certification to run a radio station.

Today, Jerry Phillips calls his dad’s Auburn connection “ground zero” from where everything else branched.

“One of the most important things that happened to him in his life, in my opinion, was that course,” he said. “It was like building the foundation, like a solid foundation for whatever he was trying to do.

He could always fall back on that knowledge.”

And while Jerry Phillips had heard of the certificate while growing up, he said it was a recent call from the university about the seminal course — spurred on by a sighting of the framed document in what is now known as Sun Studio — that caused him to further analyze its full significance.

Jerry, left, and Halley Phillips outside of Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

“When Auburn brought it to my attention, it really came home to me that that may have been the start of almost everything,” he said.

The recognition of such an instrumental connection comes at a timely moment as the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of Sam Phillips’ birth in 2023. The centennial celebration included a special exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Sam Phillips was among the first group to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

FUNDAMENTALS OF ROCK Long before accolades and the existence of “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Sam

Phillips lived in his hometown of Florence and in 1943 was the sole supporter of his widowed mother and deaf and mute aunt.

It was a difficult time in his life, but he was doing his part to help his family following The Great Depression and the untimely death of his father in 1941. Amid those circumstances, he worked in a grocery store, a funeral parlor, a radio station as an announcer, and also had the desire to become a criminal defense attorney to give voice to the underrepresented.

It was the Fundamentals of Radio I engineering course from API that taught him the necessary technical skills to ultimately pursue a career solely in radio.

Shoals Living 50 Plus 11

Halley, left, and Jerry Phillips hold Sam Phillips’ degree.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

“He was already interested in radio, but I just don’t think he would have been that interested in the equipment part of it, the sound of everything (without the API course),” Jerry Phillips said. “And I just think it was a huge part of Rock ‘n’ Roll music.”

And it was helpful that he wouldn’t need to attend the course in Auburn since API was making the class available at other institutions throughout the state of Alabama, including one very close to Sam Phillips — Florence State Teachers College, which today is known as the University of North Alabama.

The radio course was part of API’s desire to help the military train as many as possible in such trades that would prove helpful in the war and at home. It also was a strong part of the university’s landgrant mission of opening greater access to education throughout the state of Alabama.

“Throughout its history, Auburn has played an integral role in 12 Shoals Living 50 Plus

advancing the state of Alabama and beyond through education that changes lives,” said Auburn President Christopher B. Roberts.

“The story of Sam Phillips is a shining example of how Auburn’s outreach in the state has opened the door to so many opportunities through the years — in this case fueling ingenuity and innovation and setting the foundation for the future Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Sam Phillips earned his certificate after a total of 96 class hours. The document is displayed just inside the control room of Sun Studio to the right of the studio soundboard.

When standing next to the framed certificate, one only needs to look down through a pane of viewing glass a few feet away to the recording room where B.B. King, Presley, Cash, Lewis and others — from Howlin’ Wolf to the Prisonaires to Roy Orbison to Carl Perkins, who wrote “Blue Suede Shoes” — were first discovered by Sam Phillips.

Tours are held daily inside Sun Studio, and crowds fill its recording

room, which has remained preserved since the 1950s. The studio offers visitors a look at everything from the original microphone Presley used to a darkened ivory key where Lewis extinguished his cigar while fervently playing piano.

Historic photos of past performances there adorn the recording studio’s walls, and a faint vintage scent from the building’s past as an auto repair shop, mixed with polished mic metal and aged acoustic tiles, remains.

Without Sam Phillips taking that course from Auburn, though, would any of it have happened?

The book, “The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll,” written by music historian Peter Guralnick, vouches for the importance of the Auburn course.

“With an eye to furthering his career, he (Sam Phillips) took an Alabama Polytechnic Institute (later to be known as Auburn University) extension course offered at Florence State,” according to the

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Photos of some of the performers who recorded at Sun. [COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

book. “It was given five nights a week, three hours a night, for six weeks and was aimed primarily at certifying electrical engineers for the war effort, but it would permit him to get his Class C permit, something he needed in order to be able to engineer as well as announce his own programs.”

The book adds that “he (Sam Phillips) peppered the instructor, John Smith, the chief engineer at (radio station) WLAY, with questions until he just about wore him out.”

Equipped with that certification and resulting radio engineering 14 Shoals Living 50 Plus

experience, Sam Phillips ultimately made his way to Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked in radio at the famed Peabody Hotel before opening the Memphis Recording Service, which became the studio for his own label, Sun Records — a name that his son, Jerry, said was based on his father’s mantra of hope: “Every day is a brand new day.”

GIVING A VOICE TO ALL Central to his starting a studio was his determination to give a

voice and value to all races, classes and genders. It was his work at Sun Records that spurred on a cultural revolution, helping bridge the racial divide of the times by welcoming musicians who weren’t getting needed exposure.

Sam Phillips’ slogan was: “We record anything, anywhere, anytime.” He had a gift for finding a unique and raw sound that was different from the mainstream music typically played on radio stations of the time. His family said he was focused on changing lives and breaking down barriers along the way through music.

“My dad always felt like he was helping people out with their life to make a better life for themselves,” Jerry Phillips said.

Armed with technical skill, engineering prowess and a keen ear for what the human voice could create from the depths of hard experience, he wanted his recordings to capture the authenticity of life and the true human spirit — a “perfect imperfection,” as he put it, and the deep-down emotions we all share.

Sam Phillips — whom legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards referred to as a “genius” — also was known for his natural talent of pulling out the best in a person, shaping artists with his suggestions and building their confidence while insisting they give all they could in their performance.

A key moment in history occurred in 1951 when Sam Phillips recorded a track often cited as the first Rock ‘n’ Roll song, “Rocket 88,” performed by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. It was distinct for its prominent and novel use of a distorted guitar — a sound that resulted from a broken amplifier.

Decades later, an essay submitted as part of his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction noted how Sam Phillips “not only recorded the

varied streams of ethnic music throughout the South, from blues to country, but was convinced he could bring them together in one irresistible pop package.”

And that’s just what happened after a baby-faced Presley first walked through the doors of Sun Records in July 1953.

Presley visited the studio to record two songs — reportedly as a birthday gift for his mother and likely to also catch the attention of Sam Phillips.

Presley returned to Sun Records many more times and, through the skilled guidance and hard promotional work of Sam Phillips, launched his own journey in becoming the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, thereby immensely growing the popularity of the new music genre.

Jerry Phillips said his father and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll remained great friends through the years and would often hang out at the Phillips home and studio.

Many performers through the years, he said, would often ask, “Sam, how do you make us sound so good?” The son of the Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll said he believes it all goes back to what his dad learned through the API course.

RECORDS FROM THE PAST Archives in Auburn’s Ralph Brown Draughon Library detail the API course that started it all. The year was 1943, and API was doing its part to support the nation’s war effort amid World War II. The university offered many classes on campus and throughout the state that were focused on important trades, including that of radio work.

The class Sam Phillips took taught him about everything from soldering to schematic circuits to wire size and resistivity, as well as Ohm’s Law and color codes for resistors and capacitors.

He also learned about the comparison of sound waves to radio waves, the properties of antennas, signal flow and how to use a cathode ray oscilloscope — a lab instrument that provides accurate time and amplitude measurements of voltage signals over a wide range of frequencies.

Auburn archives listed many fields of training at the time, including that of aeronautical, automotive, chemical, electrical and radio engineers. Mechanics for airconditioning and refrigerating also were trained, as were chemists, mathematicians, meteorologists and physicists.

“We have trained and retrained more than 10,000 engineers for special work at industrial centers such as Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Gadsden, Anniston and Huntsville,” wrote then API President L.N. Duncan in a letter dated Nov. 3, 1942, to Senate Majority Whip Lister Hill.

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Shoals Living 50 Plus 15

Elvis Presley during a recording session at Sun Studios.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

Lt. Col. Black R. Van Leer of the Army Specialized Training Division wrote back to Duncan, stating: “Colonel Beukema asked me to extend to you and your staff of Alabama Polytechnic Institute his congratulations upon the many and varied contributions which your institution is making to the war effort. Alabama Polytechnic Institute has cooperated with the Army in its training program for many years, and we are looking to a continuation of this pleasant relationship.”

A WAR EAGLE FAMILY Halley Philips said her grandfather’s pivotal connection to the API course so long ago is central to her being a big Auburn fan.

“The connection with my grandfather, Sam Phillips, and Alabama Polytechnic Institute — that was my first reason to love Auburn University,” she said, adding that she 16 Shoals Living 50 Plus

also has a cousin who graduated from Auburn and became a veterinarian.

“As a teenager, I would go down and visit him because I actually thought I might be a veterinarian,” she said, noting that many of her cousin’s family became Auburn graduates as well. “So, it’s a big Auburn household for us. War Eagle!”

She said the family’s ties to the state of Alabama likewise remain strong.

“My grandfather was born in Florence, Alabama, and moved to Memphis,” she said. “I was born in Memphis and moved to Florence, Alabama. And I still work for our family radio stations that he started there in 1973 after he found success in the music business. And I’m involved with our recording studio here in Memphis. So, there are still giant ties between Memphis and Alabama.”

A SUN-FILLED FUTURE The legacy of all that Sam Phillips accomplished is advancing today through the Sam Phillips Recording Studio — which he founded in 1960 just blocks away from Sun Studio.

The Phillips Studio — with its green and white exterior — has its own iconic history, with recordings there by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Phil Collins, Hank Williams Jr. and Kid Rock, among others.

Sam Phillips’ office in the studio remains intact as it was during the 1960s. The studio continues today under the leadership of his son and granddaughter.

“I feel like I’m doing my best to continue the legacy of my grandfather by carrying the independent spirit, still creating music,” Halley Phillips said. “And I’m working alongside my father

and producing music, but also keeping our radio station businesses going and our publishing companies.

So, it’s kind of like God’s gift to my heart a little bit that I get to do this and continue this legacy that he started.”

There’s also Memphis music veteran Scott Bomar, the Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated producer, engineer and musician who is the chief engineer at Phillips Recording.

In 2023, Sam Phillips Recording partnered with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music to bring to the Phillips studio the original Spectra Sonics 1020 recording console that had been used in Stax Records’ Studio B in the 1960s and 1970s.

Bomar was instrumental in fully restoring the console.

“So, there’s a really cool crosssection of music history now in Memphis, and people are really excited to get to come and create in this space and through that console,” Halley Phillips said.

Guitars used during recordings at Sun Records. [COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

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Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, Tenn. [COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

Halley Phillips. [COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

Photos of Elvis and other recording artists line the walls above guitars used during recordings at Sun Studios.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD] 18 Shoals Living 50 Plus

Jerry, left, and Halley Phillips outside of Sun Studios in Memphis, Tenn.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

Jerry Phillips is also quick to note the immense contributions of his brother, Knox Phillips, to the longevity of the Phillips studio.

“He was really the torch bearer,” he said of his brother, who died in 2020. “My brother picked the torch up of continuing to educate people about what our father had done.”

These days, no tours are offered at the Sam Phillips Recording Studio.

The site keeps busy with its analogfocused recordings, having several big and up-and-coming acts visit frequently.

“So, we have a very independent spirit,” Jerry Phillips said. “We’re looking for people that have independent music, new original ideas, new original sounds, but also harken back to the roots of music.”

Ultimately, Halley Phillips said it’s all about furthering the legacy of her grandfather and continuing to fan the flame that was lit so long ago in an API class that forever changed the world.

Jerry Phillips stands in the doorway of his father Sam’s office.

[COURTESY OF HOUSTON COFIELD]

“I hope that future generations understand the value of human worth that he instilled in me and my family that we still try to carry forward,” Halley Phillips said.

“I hope people take the time to reflect on his life, to learn about

all of the people that he helped along the way and all of the incredible music that he created.

And if they’re interested in creating music, know that our family is still carrying the torch for Sam.”

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FIND WHAT YOU LOVE AND CALL IT WORK Shoals Community Theatre gives Steve Price purpose

Steve Price sits inside his office at Shoals Theatre.

[DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY] 20 Shoals Living 50 Plus

By Chelsea Retherford Staff Writer

S

teve Price turned 70 years old in November, but he said he’s no closer to retirement than the day he turned 60.

As manager of the Shoals Community Theatre, he said he’s content with his not-so-routine line of work, which ranges from meetings with local and national celebrities to sweeping floors in the concession stand.

“There’s a line in a country song: ‘Find what you love and call it work.’ That’s what I’ve done here,” Price said. “I love this theater. It’s not like work.”

Before he came to Florence, Price worked as manager of the Ritz Theatre in Sheffield for several years. In 2015, he was asked to step in as the first full-time manager at the Shoals Theatre to help diversify the types of events held at the venue on North Seminary Street.

“I’m a musician, and they knew I had a lot of contacts in the business, so they brought me in specifically to do that,” Price said. “They operated with a kind of housemanager situation before I came. I’m the only paid employee in the whole shooting match. It’s kind of odd. That’s why I depend on my volunteers.”

The Shoals Theatre, which was designed and built by Florence business leader and philanthropist Louis

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A Grateful Dead themed art-piece inside Shoals Theatre.

[DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]

Rosenbaum, opened its doors on Oct. 21, 1948, and first screened “That Lady in Ermine.”

When it opened, the theater was the fourth largest movie house in the state of Alabama.

The theater featured films like “Taxi,” starring Dan Dailey, and “Meatballs,” starring Bill Murray, until it shuttered its doors in 1980.

In the early 1990s, the building was purchased by the Shoals Association of Ministers & Musicians (SAMM), led by Mike Simon.

Following renovations in 1997, SAMM sponsored events at the theater, rented out the space for community events, and maintained the building until 2007.

At that time, the building was sold to the Shoals Community Theatre, the organization formerly known as the Tri-Cities Community Theatre that was made up of the Zodiac Players and Gingerbread Players.

22 Shoals Living 50 Plus

Price said the Shoals Community Theatre put in its own restoration efforts, including installing a replica of the iconic Shoals Theatre sign and marquee that had been replaced with generic lettering sometime before the theater closed in 1980.

Throughout the early 2000s, following its chain of ownership, the Shoals Theatre kept afloat by housing the theater groups, and opening primarily for live theater productions.

“The doors were closed way too often,” Price said of the situation before he was asked to step in about eight years ago.

“That was my biggest goal — to get where we had a lot of different events going on, and we have. You know, we’ve added the story-telling festival, which is great. It’s an annual thing every year now. The (Shoals Chamber of Commerce) does events here. We’ve had the governor come

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A signed Mac McAnally poster from the first show Steve Price worked inside Shoals Theatre. [DAN BUSEY/ TIMESDAILY]

An acoustic guitar signed by artists who have played a show inside Shoals Theatre. [DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY] 24 Shoals Living 50 Plus

through and speak, and we’ve done special things through the school systems.”

Perhaps what Price is most proud of is his work in lining up shows with several musical legends at the Shoals Theatre.

Great solo artists and famous bands like Travis Tritt, Ricky Skaggs, Jack White and the Raconteurs, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Jason Isbell, St. Paul and the Broken Bones have all graced the stage in Florence since Price took on the job.

While he’s awed by the all the famous names he has seen spelled out in block letters across the Shoals Theatre marquee, Price said he regrets having a few famous acts slip through his fingers a time or two.

A couple of years ago, Price said the theater came so close to hosting Jimmy Buffett, the singer-songwriter known for his tropical rock sound.

Buffett was actually going to come.

Mac McAnally is a dear friend of mine, and we’d been working for years. Mac and Jimmy Buffett would do these one-offs, which were freebies, because Jimmy Buffett’s foundation benefitted small venues,” Price said.

“So, during COVID, I got a call from Mac. Jimmy Buffett was going to play the Grand Ole Opry on a Saturday night, and Buffett called Mac and said, ‘Hey man, talk to Steve. Let’s do this.’ So, Mac called me, and it was going to happen,” he said. “Then Buffett’s agent and his wife both reminded him that Nashville was at the height of COVID.” At the time, the public was unaware that Buffett had secretly been battling Merkel cell carcinoma, which claimed his life on Sept. 1, 2023.

“COVID was peaking in the city, and you know, Jimmy Buffett didn’t need the money. The last thing he needed was COVID, which none of us knew how sick he was,” Price said.

With Buffett’s death, so too died Price’s hopes of having the star back in Florence. It was a dream he shared with a late friend, Joel Anderson, who was also a benefactor of the theater.

“Joel had offered $20,000 for the front row if Jimmy Buffett ever played the theater,” Price said with a laugh. “Anyway, we came so close, but it didn’t happen, and that was so sad. But, you know, we’ve had some really amazing artists come through here, and Kris Kristofferson would be at the top of the list for me. That’s music royalty if there ever was.”

Though Price probably most enjoys booking musicians for the theater, he said he also looks forward to the plays and movies now that the theater is screening once again.

When Price joined the efforts at the Shoals Theatre, he said it became a personal goal to reinstall projection equipment

A Dylan poster from his Greatest Hits Album inside Shoals Theatre.

[DAN BUSEY/ TIMESDAILY]

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Shoals Living 50 Plus 25

Steve Price, left, observes as the offensive and defensive line of the UNA football team carry in a 32-foot long project screen into the Shoals Theater in Florence, Monday, July 22, 2022.

[DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]

Old signage hangs inside Shoals Theatre. [DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]

26 Shoals Living 50 Plus

to get the venue back to what it was originally built for. It was a goal that was realized thanks to funding from the Anderson family in Price’s late friend’s memory.

“When we lost Joel, that really hurt,” Price said. “I approached his children after that. I waited a year and told them what our last meal was, and he told me his bucket list for the theater. He wanted to see movies in this theater. I said, ‘Well, you can make it happen, Joel,’ and thanks to Joel Anderson, actually the Anderson Foundation, we did make it happen.”

When the screen was finally ordered, Price said the theater ran into one more minor hurdle of actually installing the thing. The 32-foot screen was delivered in a

34-foot crate, and weighed around 1,760 pounds.

“They informed me the day before they were going to deliver it that I was responsible for off-loading. I went, ‘Are you serious?’ Man, I was freaking,” Price said.

A few quick calls, and several neighbors, including the University of North Alabama football team, came to help with the heavy lifting.

“That’s what you call a community event right there. We never could have made it without those guys,” Price said. “That’s what you do. We all come together, and that’s how things happen.”

Though Price has checked several items off his to do list for the Shoals Theatre, he admits he still sees no end in sight. That’s in part thanks to his love for his work and for the arts.

“That’s one wish for this whole Shoals area, if we could big time encourage everybody to support —

From left, Bill Cochran, Steve Price, Ed Foust, Steve Harrison and Bart Kirchler converse outside of the Shoals Theatre for their coffee group. [COURTESY]

not just the musicians, not just the actors and actresses, but the artists as well. It’s something that I don’t see enough of,” Price said, adding that his work at the theater is just one small way of keeping the arts alive in the Shoals.

“It’s a great place to be, and I really do love it,” he said. “It keeps me young. You see people retiring and becoming stale and stagnant.

I like to keep living. You know, it’s all about purpose. This theatre is my world.”

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LOVE 28 Shoals Living 50 Plus

Newlyweds Johnny and Mary Smith stand in their home.

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By Chelsea Retherford Staff Writer

M

ary Calvert Smith knows it’s never too late to find love. However, if you had asked her whether getting hitched was still an option for her four years ago, she might have had a grimmer outlook.

“I had determined that I would be single the rest of my days. I had already concluded,” she said. “I was content, I guess, but yeah, I was hurt. I thought I would get married like all my friends did when they were 18, and it never happened. That’s okay.”

When Johnny Smith had asked her out to dinner in December of 2021, Mary admits she hadn’t had much dating experience up to that point.

Nevertheless, at age 64, she found herself jumping headfirst. The couple had their first date just before Christmas of 2021, and by Christmas of 2022, Mary was flaunting an engagement ring.

She’d never been married before, but Johnny, now 78, had. He said he had been divorced from his first wife for

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Johnny and Mary Smith visit the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky, with their Faith Church Classics Group. [COURTESY]

Mary and Johnny Smith on another trip with the Faith Church Classics Group. [COURTESY] 30 Shoals Living 50 Plus

Johnny and Mary Smith on their first date at Faith Church, where they attend and are both involved in the Classics Group for people over 55. [COURTESY]

about 14 years when he finally got the courage to ask Mary out.

“We’d known each other about 30 or 40 years through church,” he said, explaining that he and his new bride were both involved in the Faith Church Classics Group for members 55 and older.

“The Classics had an Elvis impersonator that was going to be there for a Christmas dinner. I wanted to go, but I didn’t want to go by myself,” Johnny said. “I thought about Mary, and I’d never really thought about anybody else.”

Johnny, who retired from TVA in 2009 after 42 years, admitted he took notice of Mary even outside of church.

Knowing she worked at Milner Rushing Pharmacy, he said there were times he’d drive by, hoping to see her.

Little did he know, she’d taken notice of him, too.

“Yeah, he’d come over and talk to me sometimes, and it meant a lot to me,” Mary said. “I saw that good looking man sitting over there on the other side of the church.”

The couple said they shared many interests and values besides being devoted Christians. They each loved to travel, and they were both pet lovers. It also didn’t hurt that they found good, easy conversation with one another, Johnny said.

Dating in her 60s was more than Mary said she’d hoped for. When Johnny popped the question — sort

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Shoals Living 50 Plus 31

Mary Calvert Smith, left, and Johnny Smith walk together in their neighborhood.

[DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]

of — she said she was elated and not apprehensive at all.

“I knew it was right. Everything about it. I felt like I just floated on a cloud right into it,” she said, adding that Johnny never actually proposed.

Rather, he worked in the topic of marriage as they were having a conversation about insurance.

“I was about to turn 65, so I was asking him some questions,” she recalled with a laugh. “He said, ‘Well, you’ll be on my insurance.’ I said, ‘Oh, are we getting married?

Okay.’”

Mary said her family, including her parents, who are 88 and 91 years old, were overjoyed with the news. Throughout their relationship, Johnny had been there for Mary through some medical ups and downs, and Mary said her Daddy wouldn’t give her away to just anybody.

32 Shoals Living 50 Plus

The Smiths tied the knot on March 18 where Mary’s parents, Bobby and Nell Calvert, attend at Lexington First Methodist.

“Daddy’s got dementia, and he was really nervous about giving me away,” Mary said. “Both of my parents got to be there, and my family put the little wedding on.

My nieces did the flowers. My sister did the cake. They just did it all.”

The couple asked their “favorite pastor,” Henry Nelson, to officiate, and several of their Classics friends were in attendance as well.

“When we went over to ask Brother Henry if he would marry us, he said, ‘So, tell me, how did this happen?’ I think everybody was surprised,” Johnny said.

Though he finds love even sweeter his second time around, he advises others his age to weigh their

decision carefully before jumping into marriage.

“You want to make sure you get the right one,” he said. “It helps to have the same interests, and at this age, you’re a little more considerate of each other. You have to really love the person. As a man, you can get set in your old ways. You go when you want to go and where you want to go, and now, I ask, ‘Where do you want to go?’”

It can be really hard to change old habits, but Mary agrees about getting older and finding love after 60.

“We’re just respectful to each other,” she said. “We enjoy each other. We love the ordinary days.”

“I am blessed. I love this woman,” Johnny added. “She’s a sweet lady, and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. She is more than I have ever hoped for.”

3 TIPS

to catch up on retirement savings

By Metrocreative

O

ne need not look long or far to be reminded of the importance of saving for retirement. Indeed, it’s hard to go a single day without encountering roadside billboards, television and streaming service advertisements, and/ or promotional emails touting the retirement planning services offered by an assortment of investment firms.

If those adds seem ubiquitous, it’s for good reason, as saving for retirement is among the most important steps individuals can take as they look to ensure their long-term financial security. According to a recent survey from the online financial resource Bankrate, 55 percent of respondents indicated they are behind on their retirement saving. In addition, a Gallup poll released in May 2023 indicated that just 43 percent of nonretirees

think they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

The good news for individuals who are behind or concerned about their financial wellness in retirement is that three strategies can help them catch up on their savings. ➊Take advantage of catch-up rules if you qualify.

Laws governing retirement accounts in the United States allow individuals 50 and older to contribute more to their retirement accounts than they’re eligible to contribute prior to turning 50. Bankrate notes that current laws allow individuals over 50 to contribute an extra $1,000 per year to a traditional or Roth IRA and an extra $7,500 annually to a 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) account. ➋ Itemize your tax deductions.

The online financial resource Investopedia notes that taking the standard deduction is not for

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Perhaps the simplest, though not necessarily the easiest, way to catch up on retirement savings is to redirect funds typically spent on discretionary expenses like dining out or travel into retirement accounts. One way to feel better about this approach is to remind yourself that the less money spent on dining out and travel now means more money will be available to spend on such luxuries in retirement.

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Shoals Living 50 Plus 33

So you want to retire and become a writer?

HERE’S SOME INSPIRATION

By Steve Lopez Los Angeles Times (TNS)

F

or some people, retirement is a long-awaited chance to sleep late, relax and celebrate the joys of life without pressure or deadlines.

For others, it’s an opportunity to finally get to work.

Within a span of a few days, I heard about two retirees who had long dreamed of becoming authors, but their jobs kept getting in the way.

Then they pulled the cord, hit the keyboard and never looked back.

I was on the phone one day with former L.A. Times columnist and editor Bill Boyarsky, and when I asked about his wife, Nancy, he gloated. Her seventh novel had just been published, he said, and she was already working on her eighth.

Then I heard from L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kelvin Filer, who was talking up his brother, Duane. “He actually wrote a book documenting his first year of retirement,” the judge said. Before he excused himself with “I have to get back to my murder trial,” he added that his brother has since written several other books.

I hear fairly often from people who use retirement to chase dreams. Some set out to learn an instrument or a new language or two. Others turn volunteering into second careers.

But I probably hear from more aspiring writers than any other group of people setting out to reinvent themselves.

So I paid visits first to Nancy Boyarsky, 87, who lives in West L.A., and then to Duane Lance Filer, 71, who lives in Carson.

Boyarsky toils in a back room drenched in natural light, her cat Roxy at her side. She was a reader as a child and a fan of Jane Austen.

At UC Berkeley, she took a creative 34 Shoals Living 50 Plus

writing class, “but the teacher didn’t think much of my short stories.” She recalls “a condescending smile” and a stabbing suggestion that the writing life was not for her.

And yet she went on to make a living at a typewriter, banging out articles for various publications including the L.A. Times magazine, and she was an editor for a magazine called “L.A. Lawyer. She co-authored a book called “Backroom Politics” with Bill and spent the last 18 years of her career as ARCO’s director of communications for political affairs.

While still at ARCO, Boyarsky took some writing courses at UCLA and began working on a novel called “The Swap.” The protagonist is a Los Angeles housewife who discovers on a trip to England that her husband is a cheat and that her life is in danger, a realization that transforms the “browbeaten housewife” into an enterprising private detective.

But when Boyarsky retired in 1998, she discovered, as so many writers have, that getting a book published is a tough racket, with your odds of success roughly similar to your chance of winning the Powerball lottery.

“I got an agent, and he sent it out to publishers, and they rejected it,” Boyarsky said.

A freelance editor suggested a major rewrite. Boyarsky did not agree, and she kept pursuing agents and publishers without success before putting the dream in a drawer and taking up painting. Her house is filled with her work, including impressive portraits and botanical art.

But Boyarsky hadn’t entirely given up. In 2013, she took advantage of a growing trend and self-published on Amazon.

“Mary Higgins Clark meets London … ‘The Swap’ contributes to the women-driven mystery field with panache,” one magazine critic raved.

“I was thrilled,” Boyarsky said, and the news got better.

A small North Carolina publishing house called Light Messages reached out to say it wanted to re-publish “The Swap,” and Boyarsky was asked if she could turn her heroine into a serial sleuth. Seven Nicole Graves mysteries are now in print, and Boyarsky is hammering out the eighth while Bill, also a prolific author, works in another room on his next book.

Light Messages edits, designs, distributes and markets the Nicole Graves books on a small budget, with Boyarsky getting a percentage of sales. (“The Swap” has more than 2,000 customer reviews and a fourstar rating on Amazon.) Boyarsky said she made several thousand dollars on that one, less on the others, and she wouldn’t advise book-writing for anyone looking to get rich.

But clearly, that Berkeley professor was clueless, and Boyarsky keeps writing — for love, if not for money.

Duane Lance Filer had a bit of a different start. Rather than being told the writing game wasn’t for him, he got nothing but encouragement from his Black history teacher at Compton High School.

“Mr. Taylor,” Filer said. “Alvin Taylor.

He said, ‘Pursue your dreams.’”

With that, and inspiration from the civil rights activism of his parents — Maxcy and Blondell Filer— Filer majored in political science at Cal

Lutheran and wrote short stories there, joining the Watts Writers Workshop after college. Like a majority of aspiring writers, Filer had a day job, and for the last 29 years of his working life he was in the consumer affairs division of the California Public Utilities Commission, handling customer complaints.

Toward the end of that career he wrote his first book, a semiautobiographical novel about an aspiring young Black writer growing up in a changing Compton, a witness to white flight during the civil rights movement. Then, after retiring in 2013, he spent a year writing a breezy book called “The Baby Boomers First-Hand, First-Year Guide to Retirement.”

Filer didn’t miss the train rides to and from work. There was lots of vacuuming and cleaning to be done, and he often shopped and prepared dinner for his wife, who was still working. There were some ups and some downs, but no regrets about

retiring. On Day 365, Filer entered his writing den — he calls it the fffunklab; the three Fs stand for “Filer Family Fun”—to pen the final words of his guide while listening to Etta James sing “At Last.”

“I usually send out between 50 and 100 query letters with each book,” Filer said.

The lack of response has not deterred him one iota. He sat in on some writing classes at nearby Cal State Dominguez Hills several years ago and keeps the dream alive, noting that his father took the state bar exam over and over again — literally dozens of times — before finally passing. Perseverance, he tells himself. Perseverance.

“I love to write, and here’s the thing: None of my books make any money, or, I haven’t made a lot of money,” Filer said. “But I don’t care. At some point, my little grandson can say, ‘Oh, you never gave up.’ I will never stop writing. … I think this next book is going to be my best one.”

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Shoals Living 50 Plus 35

A honest conversation about what to expect as you age

By Judith Graham KFF Health News (TNS)

H

ow many of us have wanted a reliable, evidencebased guide to aging that explains how our bodies and minds change as we grow older and how to adapt to those differences?

Creating a work of this kind is challenging. For one thing, aging gradually alters people over decades, a long period shaped by individuals’ economic and social circumstances, their behaviors, their neighborhoods, and other factors.

Also, while people experience common physiological issues in later life, they don’t follow a well-charted, developmentally predetermined path.

“Predictable changes occur, but not necessarily at the same time or in the same sequence,” said Rosanne Leipzig, vice chair for education at the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. “There’s no more heterogeneous a group than older people.”

36 Shoals Living 50 Plus

I called Leipzig, 72, who works full time teaching medical residents and fellows and seeing patients, after reading her new 400-plus-page, information-packed book, “Honest Aging: An Insider’s Guide to the Second Half of Life.” It’s the most comprehensive examination of what to expect in later life I’ve come across in a dozen years covering aging.

Leipzig told me she had two goals in writing this guide: “to overcome all the negatives that are out there about growing older” and “to help people understand that there are lots of things that you can do to adapt to your new normal as you age and have an enjoyable, engaged, meaningful life.”

Why call it “Honest Aging”?

“Because so much of what’s out there is dishonest, claiming to teach people how to age backwards,” Leipzig said. “I think it’s time we say, ‘This is it; this is who we are,’ and admit how lucky we are to have all these years of extra time.”

The doctor was referring to extraordinary gains in life expectancy achieved in the modern era. Because of medical advances, people over age 60 live far longer than people at the dawn of the 20th century. Still, most of us lack a good understanding of what happens to our bodies during this extended period after middle age.

Several months ago, a medical student asked Leipzig whether references to age should be left out of a patient’s written medical history, as references to race have been eliminated. “I told her no; with medicine, age is always relevant,” Leipzig said. “It gives you a sense of where people are in their life, what they’ve lived through, and the disorders they might have, which are different than those in younger people.”

What questions do older adults tend to ask most often? Leipzig rattled off a list: What can I do about this potbelly? How can I improve my sleep? I’m having trouble remembering names; is this dementia? Do I really need that colonoscopy or mammogram? What should I do to get back into shape?

Do I really need to stop driving?

Underlying these is a poor understanding of what’s normal in later life and the physical and mental alterations aging brings.

Can the stages of aging be broken down, roughly, by decade? No, said Leipzig, noting that people in their 60s and 70s vary significantly in health and functioning. Typically, predictable changes associated with aging “start to happen much more between the ages of 75 and 85,” she told me. Here are a few of the agerelated issues she highlights in her book: • Older adults often present with different symptoms when they become ill. For instance, a senior having a heart attack may be short of breath or confused, rather than report chest pain. Similarly, an older person with pneumonia may

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ligaments aren’t as strong, and falls are appropriate, and whether and fractures are more frequent as medications can be stopped. Be bones become more brittle. physically active. Make sure you • Eyesight and hearing change. eat enough protein. Drink liquids Older adults need much more light even when you aren’t thirsty. Cut to read than younger people. It’s down on multitasking and work at harder for them to see the outlines your own pace. Do balance and of objects or distinguish between resistance exercises. Have your eyes similar colors as color and contrast checked every year. Get hearing perception diminishes. With changes aids. Don’t exercise, drink alcohol, to the cornea, lens and fluid within or eat a heavy meal within two to the eye, it takes longer to adjust to three hours of bedtime. sunlight as well as darkness.

“Never say never,” Leipzig said.

• Because of accumulated “There is almost always something damage to hair cells in the that can be done to improve your inner ear, it’s harder to hear, situation as you grow older, if especially at high frequencies. you’re willing to do it.”

It’s also harder to understand speech that’s rapid and loaded with KFF Health News, formerly information or that occurs in noisy known as Kaiser Health News environments.

(KHN), is a national newsroom • Sleep becomes fragmented. It that produces in-depth journalism takes longer for older adults to fall about health issues and is one of asleep, and they sleep more lightly, the core operating programs of awakening more in the night.

KFF — the independent source for This is by no means a complete health policy research, polling and list of physiological changes that journalism. occur as we grow older.

And it leaves Adult Day Services out the many ways people can adapt to their new normal, something Leipzig spends a great deal of time discussing.

A partial list of what Care Care for for the the frail frail elderly elderly and and Open 5 days a week week for she suggests, individuals with dementia dem mentia your convenience ce convenienc Providing caregivers a muchcaregiver r s m uch h Experienced and d trained organized needed break staff certified in MontessoriA loving and safe environment en nvironment roughly by the inspired dementia dementtia for your loved one programing topics above: Don’t ignore sudden changes in functioning; Every season of life brings its unique challenges. We specialize in providing support for families facing the profound effects of aging, seek medical especially dementia. Our facility provides a safe and enriching environment for your loved one, so you can take a well-deserved pause. attention. At Open Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM we offer you the freedom to carry on with life as usual while continuing the cycle of care for your loved one. every doctor’s visit, ask why you’re taking 216 South Marengo St. Suite I medications, Contact Us Florence, AL +1 256-335-5245 www.caringplaceshoals.org whether doses

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fall or have little appetite instead of having a fever and cough.

• Older adults react differently to medications. Because of changes in body composition and liver, kidney, and gut function, older adults are more sensitive to medications than younger people and often need lower doses. This includes medications that someone may have taken for years. It also applies to alcohol.

• Older adults have reduced energy reserves. With advancing age, hearts become less efficient, lungs transfer less oxygen to the blood, more protein is needed for muscle synthesis, and muscle mass and strength decrease. The result: Older people generate less energy even as they need more energy to perform everyday tasks.

• Hunger and thirst decline.

People’s senses of taste and smell diminish, lessening food’s appeal.

Loss of appetite becomes more common, and seniors tend to feel full after eating less food. The risk of dehydration increases.

• Cognition slows. Older adults process information more slowly and work harder to learn new information. Multitasking becomes more difficult, and reaction times grow slower. Problems finding words, especially nouns, are typical. Cognitive changes related to medications and illness are more frequent.

•The musculoskeletal system is less flexible. Spines shorten as the discs that separate the vertebrae become harder and more compressed; older adults typically lose 1 to 3 inches in height as this happens. Balance is compromised because of changes in the inner ear, the brain, and the vestibular system (a complex system that regulates balance and a person’s sense of orientation in space).

Muscles weaken in the legs, hips and buttocks, and range of motion in joints contracts. Tendons and

Shoals Living 50 Plus 41

Signs a computer may need some extra attention or require replacement

How to safely wipe out an old computer

W

T

orking professionals know that few things can be as frustrating as a malfunctioning computer. A computer that’s not working properly can interrupt work flow, lead to lost man hours and make it hard to get much done.

Whether it’s a spinning color wheel or some other familiar indicator that a computer is not working at peak capacity, there are some telltale signs that a device needs some extra attention. ▸ Frequent (often frustrating) glitches: Glitches are a common indicator that something is wrong with a computer. Glitches may make a computer freeze or crash.

The latter occurs when the computer screen suddenly goes blank and the device reboots without prompting. In such instances, work may be lost and it may take a manual restart after the reboot to successfully open and use programs again. ▸ Error messages: Frequent error messages are another indicator that a computer requires some extra attention.

These messages may appear suddenly, even when using applications that have been running for some time. ▸ Noise: When working smoothly, computers do not make much noise. However, when parts in the device have begun to malfunction, users may hear noises. One of the more common noises is a loud system fan. When this occurs, users can hear the fan produce a noise that makes it sound as though it’s overexerting itself. ▸ Sluggishness: Much like their human users, computers can exhibit signs of sluggishness when they feel a little overwhelmed. If a computer is sluggish, chances are its hard drive is overwhelmed and running out of room.

Moving large files and folders to an external hard drive and then deleting them from the computer’s hard drive can help a computer perform without the sluggishness.

Some of these problems can be addressed without replacing the computer. For example, a noisy fan may just need to be replaced. And installing some extra memory can improve performance when a computer is working slowly. However, persistent glitches and frequent error messages may indicate it’s time to replace a computer.

Professionals are urged to speak with their counterparts in IT to remedy any computer issues that are interrupting workflow and making it hard to get work done on time.

42 Shoals Living 50 Plus

By Metrocreative

he idea of losing all personal data on a computer, phone or tablet may send a person into a panic. How many times has a drive failed or a computer crashed and a person has worried that all of their essential files were lost forever? But there are times when it could be essential to clear data from a hard drive. That includes before selling the device, discarding it or giving it away.

NordVPN¨ says someone can access sensitive information many think is gone forever after deletion, but actually could still be stored in the hard drive. Short of removing the hard drive, which would necessitate a new owner putting in a new hard drive, devices will have to be wiped clean to ensure sensitive information is not vulnerable.

Devices can be wiped completely when they are changing hands. Consumer Reports says this is done by performing a “factory reset.” This technically wipes the drive clean of personal data.

Before initiating a factory reset, it’s important to back up any important data onto the cloud or an external hard drive. Depending on the operating system, hard drive type and device, the instructions for wiping a hard drive will vary. It’s best to do a search online or ask a technology expert about the most expeditious way to restore factory settings. Even still, there are some issues when wiping a drive that may prove problematic.

If a person recently purchased a computer, it likely has a solid-state drive. SSDs are faster and more stable than older, mechanical hard drives and use flash memory.

That means securely deleting files is very hard. This is why Wirecutter suggests encrypting the drive, which uses a mathematical process to mix up the data using a key that only the device owner has. Without the key, files on the drive will look like gibberish if someone successfully recovers them. Encrypting an SSD computer is recommended even if one has no intention of selling or trading it later. Chromebooks usually use SSD but Google enables encryption by default. Chromebook users can skip this step when resetting. Again, encryption varies based on the OS, so it’s best to study the right way to do so.

Files do not automatically erase just because they are thrown in the trash. Before selling or donating a device, a hard drive wipe or encryption is recommended.

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