Atlanta Senior Life - April 2021 by Atlanta Senior Life from Reporter Newspapers

Senior Life Atlanta

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making a difference

A lifelong commitment to justice and service page 12

april 2021 • Vol. 6 No. 4 • AtlantaSeniorLIFE.com

senior tennis bounces back

TWO NEW COLUMNS START THIS ISSUE

Travels with Charlie

Georgia journalist Charles Seabrook hits the road page 16

The Environmental Gardener

Greg Levine of trees atlanta explores native plants page 18

Contents APRIL 2021

COVER STORY

Senior tennis bounces back after courts shut down to slow spread of COVID-19

PERSONAL HEALTH Seniors react in varying ways to mental health stress of pandemic

FOOD & DRINK Local distilleries show a passion for spirits

MAKING A DIFFERENCE Elizabeth Omilami devotes her life to community service

FROM THE CRATES Variety Playhouse became a mainstay of Little Five Points

PEOPLE Abe Schear chronicles how Atlanta became a major league city

TRAVEL Charles Seabrook explores cross-state highway Ga. 11

GARDENING The Environmental Gardener says using native plants benefits everyone

PERSONAL SAFETY Stay Safe columnist Steve Rose warns of business email scams

PERSONAL FINANCE Ask Rusty about Social Security

THINGS TO DO Visit a garden, check out an art show, hear and see an opera

On the cover David McClintock prepares to serve in an

Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association match. ALTA stopped play in March 2020 because of COVID-19, but reopened during the summer and came back strong, with senior players returning to the courts. Photo by Phil Mosier

18 Atlanta Senior Life focuses on the interests, accomplishments and lifestyles of the active senior population in metro Atlanta. It aims to inspire readers to embrace a more rewarding life by informing them of opportunities to expand their horizons, express their talents and engage in their community.

Published By Springs Publishing

Contributors Greg Levine, Kelly McCoy, Isadora Pennington, Steve Rose, Charles Seabrook, Mark Woolsey Advertising For information call (404) 917-2200, ext 1002 Sales Executives: Jeff Kremer, Rob Lee, Janet Porter

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Circulation/ Subscriptions For distribution information, call (404) 917-2200, ext. 1003 © 2021 All rights reserved. Publisher reserves the right to refuse editorial or advertising for any reason. Publisher assumes no responsibility for information contained in advertising. Any opinions expressed in print or online do not necessarily represent the views of Atlanta Senior Life or Springs Publishing

Keith Pepper keith@springspublishing.com (404) 917-2200 ext 1001 Publisher Steve Levene Founder & Publisher Emeritus Amy Arno Director of Sales Development amy@springspublishing.com (404) 917-2200, ext. 1002 Rico Figliolini Creative Director rico@springspublishing.com Deborah Davis Office Manager deborah@springspublishing.com (404) 917-2200, ext. 1003

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55 OR OLDER, UNEMPLOYED AND LOOKING FOR WORK?

WE CAN HELP! For more than 50 years, AARP Foundation Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) has provided people over age 55 with opportunities to fill entry-level and mid-level positions with employers in their communities.

HOW IT WORKS SCSEP trainees are placed in a variety of community service activities at nonprofit and public facilities like day care and senior centers, schools and hospitals. This on-the-job training experience can be a bridge to find employment opportunities outside of the program. Participants work an average of 20 hours a week and are paid the highest federal, state or local minimum wage.

WHO’S ELIGIBLE? You must be age 55 or older, unemployed and financially qualified. Please contact your local office to learn more about the financial qualifications. AARP Foundation SCSEP program (CFDA 17.235) is funded with $77,808,096 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Labor. This funding provides 90% of the support for SCSEP, with the AARP Foundation matching 10% ($8.774,913 million). AARP Foundation operates in 21 states and Puerto Rico.

INTERESTED? Contact your local SCSEP

OTHER BENEFITS We provide participants with training and support services that are important for funding future employment. The services include Individual Employment Plan (IEP) development, specialized training to prepare for placements, wages and fringe benefits, annual physicals and assistance in securing future employment.

WHAT KINDS OF JOBS ARE AVAILABLE? You could be placed in a wide variety of community service positions at both nonprofit and public facilities including day care and senior centers, governmental agencies, schools, hospitals and libraries. These training assignments help build the skills and experience needed to obtain future employment. Additional training through lectures, seminars, one-on-one instruction, training programs and community colleges may also be provided

L earn more at aarpfoundation.org

AARP Foundation Senior Community Services Employment Program 1718 Peachtree St., NW, Suite 991 South Atlanta, Georgia 30309 (404) 892-4446 office (404) 892-4464 fax 4319 Covington Highway, Suite 204 Decatur, Georgia 30035 (678) 919-8283 office (678) 949-5126 fax

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

COVER STORY

senior tennis bounces back

Tennis, a favorite sport of Atlanta’s seniors, returns after pandemic shutdown briefly clears the courts By Joe Earle Bob Fitzgerald’s introduction to Atlanta tennis came about 30 years ago, soon after he moved from Pennsylvania into a new East Cobb subdivision. When he met his neighbors, “Somebody said, ‘Do you play tennis?’ I said, ‘no.’ They said, ‘Well, do you drink beer?’” He did. Soon he was holding a racket and batting balls on the mean courts of Atlanta’s suburbs and drinking beer afterwards with his teammates in ALTA, the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association. ALTA, which turns 87 this year and claims to be one of the largest tennis associations in the world, is an organization that promises to give “big-city Atlanta a small-town feel.” ALTA brought both exercise and social life to the shiny new tennis courts spotted across Atlanta’s sprawling burbs. “It was a great experience,” Fitzgerald said. “You got to meet all the neighbors.” To hear ALTA’s fans tell it, pretty much everybody in Atlanta’s suburbs plays tennis. The organization claims nearly 60,000 racket-wielding members, but as Fitzgerald and others point out, you only had to go to a grocery store on a weekday morning and count the customers wearing tennis dresses to see evidence of the game’s reach. Sandy Depa, who settled Atlanta in 1994 and now lives in Forsyth County, said the metro area was so well known as tennis-obsessed that friends in Tulsa told her even before she moved that she would have to learn the sport to fit in. “I said, ‘I don’t have to do anything,’ she said. “But I got sucked in.” Both Fitzgerald, who’s 64

and lives in Woodstock now, and Depa, who’s in her 60s, are still playing regularly. Both got so deeply involved with ALTA that they ended up running the organization. They were chairman and president of ALTA during 2020, which Depa calls “the wonderful year, the year that takes all the prizes.” Fitzgerald was ALTA’s chairman and Depa its president when the COVID-19 pandemic cleared Atlanta’s tennis courts. Depa calls ALTA tennis “a lifesaver” for its players. “It’s your outlet to get away from work and it’s your social life. It’s outdoors,” she said. “I think it’s huge.” ALTA’s organized play has always attracted older players alongside younger ones. The association officially defines “senior” players as those older than 45 and says about 37,000 of its members are older than 45. But many players who are much older regularly hit the courts, with half of ALTA’s members aged 50 or older, nearly 12,000 aged 60 or older, 3,000 aged 70 or older and nearly 300 aged 80 or older still playing regularly, ALTA marketing director Emmy Powell said. Members live in communities spread from Peachtree City to Hall County, Powell said. Then came last spring and the sudden rapid spread of the pandemic. Because of the coronavirus, “last year was exhausting,” Depa said. As the virus quickly spread last spring, ALTA officials weren’t sure what to do. “We really didn’t know,” said Debbie Gaster, ALTA’s president for 2021. “When it first started, [we had questions such as] ‘Are the tennis balls dangerous? Everybody’s touching them.’”

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

PHOTOS BY PHIL MOSIER

Above, Rita Maloof, left, and Karen Woods watch the match.

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Top, ALTA 2020 president Sandy Depa, left, 2021 president Debbie Gaster, right, and 2022 president Lamar Scott, center. Above, Bob Fitzgerald, ALTA’s chairman during 2020, returns a shot. (Special)

“We were scared,” Fitzgerald said. “What if it wasn’t safe? ... The last thing we wanted to do was put people’s lives in danger.” ALTA stopped its league play in March 2020 as the first wave

of shutdowns were ordered in Georgia and some tennis facilities started to close. Depa said ALTA’s leadership finally decided to end play once they saw the Cobb County schools were closing because of the pandemic. That meant some players likely would have to stay home with their kids. Shortly after ALTA announced it was ending its season, the state issued orders that just about everybody shut down nonessential gatherings. The decision to shut down ALTA play wasn’t popular with everyone. “My inbox was flooded with about 500 angry emails calling me every name in the book, telling me how stupid it was,” Depa said. The next question was whether and when to reopen. By summer, articles began appearing listing tennis among the safer sports, Depa said. “Tennis was number one,” she said. “It was in the newspaper, it was in articles, it was on the internet, so we did make the decision to open,” ALTA play returned in July. Fitzgerald calls the decisions to close and then to reopen “two of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.” The decision to reopen also drew critics, Depa said. For its reopened matches, ALTA leadership imposed new rules: no lunch spreads after matches; no hanging around before or after play; players had to stay distanced from one another; rules on forfeits were broadened to account for teams that couldn’t compete because their players didn’t feel safe. The new rules effectively ended much of the social aspect of the matches that ALTA members prided themselves on. Still, players raced back onto the courts. And the older players led the way. More players signed up for senior league play in the summer of 2020 than had the Continued on Page 6

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Continued from page 5

year before, even though those players faced the greatest threat from the coronavirus. “I was so shocked,” Depa said. “It actually grew.” Woodstock tennis pro Mark Billson saw a similar resurgence of interest at the center where he teaches. The center shut down briefly last spring because of the coronavirus. Despite the threat, players wanted to get back on the courts, he said. “Everyone wanted to open,” he said. “The ones that didn’t want to open, they didn’t have to come…. It was a bit of a risk, but we were careful and people were careful. They needed it for their sanity.” Billson, who’s 60 and learned the game growing up in South Africa, instructs ALTA players and plays on ALTA teams himself. The oldest student he’s had was 88, he said. “It’s not really a young

Mark Billson

person’s game. That’s what’s so great about it,” Billson said. “The cliché is, ‘Tennis is a game for a lifetime.’ You can play this game forever.” He sees the advantages

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for older players as obvious, compared with other sports. “The risk of injury is low, You get good exercise. There’s a lot of camaraderie in tennis and you can compete with all ages. Sixty

[year olds] can play with 20 [year olds] pretty easily. … I’m 60. I’m a lot slower, but I can play with almost everybody. I know my small area [of the court] pretty well. They can’t run me out of it.” Fitzgerald says the Friday Night Seniors league has become one of his favorites. “They’ve been playing a long time and everybody’s there to enjoy the match. … You say ‘nice shot’ more than you used to. It’s not as intense. I’d say everybody’s got a number of years under their belt. You’ve won and lost enough.” But maybe they still haven’t played enough. Depa said that when ALTA restarted after just a few months off for COVID-19, some players were thrilled. “I can still remember one lady coming up to me and saying, ‘I want to say thank you so much for getting tennis back. You saved my marriage.’ “

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Socially distanced taps of the rackets congratulate the winners.

Kelly Douglas

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PERSONAL HEALTH

Seniors react in varying ways to mental stresses created by the pandemic By Mark Woolsey Assessing the ongoing mental health of seniors as the COVID-19 pandemic moves into a second year is tough, mental health professionals say. As with other age groups, no one size fits all. But some seniors and experts alike say they have seen some hopeful signs emerge despite the mental stresses created by the fear and separation caused by the pandemic. A U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey published in late 2020 showed 29.3% of adults older than 65 reported depressive disorder or anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. Contrast that with the rate reported for adults aged 18 to 24 — 56.2%, almost double the rate for the seniors surveyed. Some senior adults with emotional or cognitive issues have seen them worsen. Others are in counseling or getting help for the first time. But that’s counterbalanced by seniors who fight isolation by connecting on Zoom or Facetime, taking up hobbies, exercising outside or keeping cognitively sharp by reading, doing puzzles and playing games. Still, seniors have faced a series of challenges since the world changed in March 2020. “I think that [for some in] the 65-and-older community,

being distanced at first was exciting, with all these technologies like Zoom and Facetime seeming fun,” said clinical health psychologist Dr. Rachel Feit, who works with patients having underlying medical issues connecting mind and body. “But now there’s a general

Kelly Morgan

fatigue around ‘When I going to be able to go take a pottery class in person?’ or ‘When am I going to be able to go to church and feel safe?’” And many seniors who live in care homes have been denied in-person interaction for months while others haven’t been able to properly mourn the loss of loved ones. “We have lived our lives for

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

the past 40 years or so with the idea we can get to anyone by plane or car, but with COVID we have had so many families separated throughout the country that those yearly visits where grandma or grandpa come to stay for three months haven’t existed,” Feit said. In her own case, she said, her husband’s parents live up north and have never seen their 1-year-old grandchild in person. Senior Susie Rose of Woodstock said “trying to break out of this mental slump has been difficult. Certainly, I don’t have the concentration or focus I would normally have. I don’t have any patience with nonsense.” Jennifer Sims of Mountain Park said her senior father is in an assisted living center. She said with COVID restrictions, she’s only been able to visit him in the last three monthsand that through a window. No hugging allowed. She choked back tears as she described him, saying that frequently “he doesn’t know where he is or why he’s there.” She’s worried about further decline because “they say for dementia and Alzheimer’s [disease] one of the best things to do is to keep your mind stimulated. I just can’t imagine just sitting in a room 24/7 for the past year waiting for the next meal to come.” Those fears can seem wellfounded. Licensed clinical social worker Kelly Morgan specializes in treating older adults and related how one of her partners has patients who have steadily declined while locked away from their families in independent care centers. They’ve wound up in nursing homes. Mental health workers

forecast that even after the worst of the pandemic subsides, they’ll be dealing with patients on after-effects. Morgan tells the story of a client who was going out and doing things prior to the pandemic. Now she’s developed an almost paralyzing sense of fear of being able to again connect with people on the outside. Others note those who have seen their loved ones pass away over the last year haven’t been able to grieve properly, without a traditional funeral and resultant close in-person connectivity with loved ones. At the same time, as

“Trying to break out of this mental slump has been difficult. Certainly, I don’t have the concentration or focus I would normally have. I don’t have any patience with nonsense.” Susie Rose Woodstock

vaccination levels build and COVID cases level off or decline optimism seems to be building as well. Psychologist Dr. Regina Koepp said a preponderance of older adults without lifealtering illnesses or dementia seem to have zeroed in maintaining connections in a safe way and focusing on quality, not quantity of relationships.

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East Cobb resident Tessa Another positive sign is a Sisson is one of those who said pandemic-enforced increased she’s maintaining well. “All my use of mental health-related children live nearby and for telemedicine. a while we Morgan didn’t get to said Medicare see each other and insurance and that was companies have difficult,” she increasingly explained. relaxed their “Things seem restrictions on like they’ve re-imbursing eased up a bit for remote for me and for counseling or them. Now we mental health socialize, but treatment. She with respect said previous for distance.” telehealth She said was mostly to the increase provide service in staying to remote areas. apart led her “Right now back into because of the Kirk Bryant painting — pandemic it’s Wellstar Neuropsychologist she showed wide open,” she her work said, but she professionally when younger fears that insurance providers — and has convinced her to may beef up restrictions again spend her time more wisely. as COVID caseloads drop.

And still others on the mental health front believe the pandemic has convinced some seniors who had been reluctant about therapy to seek help when they need it. Mental health workers said the responses they are seeing make plain the importance of connecting with other people, however that’s accomplished. “I had a patient today who talked about their church having virtual services and that it’s just not the same,” said clinical psychologist Kirk Bryant. “I’d say that even though it’s not an ideal solution, people need to work on forging links.” He said regularly scheduled phone calls might help. Maybe writing a letter or sending a gift could be what the doctor ordered. Without regular human connections, he said, not just emotional maladies could worsen, but there also

is an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. For those reluctant or confused by remote technology, Feit has straightforward advice. You can start simply with better habits, she said. Always change out of the clothes that you slept in. Line out different day and night routines. She suggests journaling to put down what you are experiencing and how it makes you feel. And seek professional help if that feels appropriate. “Stop being stubborn,” she said. “I would say to those people that nothing is ever going to be as good as [being together] in person. [But] there are so many other roadblocks that we have been faced with that are out of our control. Don’t add another one for yourself.”

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FOOD AND DRINK

SHOWING A PASSION FOR SPIRITS

By Isadora Pennington If you’re a lover of spirits and all things local, you’re in luck. Local distilleries turning out small-batch bourbons, ryes and specialty rums are bubbling up around metro Atlanta. “Spirits production is an art form,” Seth Watson, founder of Distillery of Modern Art in Chamblee. “After spending nearly two decades in hospitality, I decided to sell my old business and create a new distillery from the ground up.” A relative newcomer, the Distillery of Modern Art opened in May of 2020. The business combines production of spirits with an art gallery. “Having no preconceived notions of the industry allows for us to create our own path,” Watson said. The first new distillery inside the Perimeter was Independent Distilling Company in Decatur. The company opened its doors in 2014. Founder Michael Anderson offers a core set of five spirits: Independent White Rum, Independent Barrel Aged Rum, Hellbender Corn Whiskey, Hellbender Bourbon Whiskey and Hellbender Straight Rye Whiskey. In addition, they experiment with other spirits such as barrel-finished whiskeys, single malts, brandies, and gin. “We like to use local and highquality ingredients and are always up to collaborate with local wineries, cideries, breweries and farmers,” said whiskey specialist Casey Teague. It must work. The company is planning to move to a bigger space in Decatur and a celebration of its seventh birthday with the release of a Hellbender Bottled in Bond Bourbon.

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

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Photos by Isadora Pennington

ASW The Distillery at American Spirit Works, one of the distilleries that opened in recent years in metro Atlanta, makes, ages and bottles a variety of types of spirits, including Fiddler Bourbon.

ASW Distillery, located just a stone’s throw from Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta, is among the city’s oldest established distilleries. “Every type of whiskey, we make it here,” said Chad Ralston, head of marketing. Two roommates from the University of Georgia, Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson, founded the company after they came up with the recipe for a clear whiskey in 2011. They first produced the spirit in a facility in Charleston under the name American Spirit Whiskey. A few years later, the two opened up their first facility in Georgia. In 2015 they brought on master distiller and partner Justin Manglitz and the team opened their distillery and tasting room on Armour Drive in 2016. They have since expanded to include a larger facility on the westside near the BeltLine and plan to soon open a tasting room at The Battery. Some of the company’s best-selling spirits include Fiddler Bourbon, Resurgens Rye, and Duality Double Malt. “It’s a super hands-on effort, not only distilling the whiskeys but also for that heartwood product,” Ralston said as he described the way Manglitz sources, seasons, and hand-chars the wood for staves that add flavor to some of their offerings. The ASW tasting room is popular among locals, and their spirits are winning prestigious awards. ASW’s Cask Strength Ameireaganach Maris Otter Unpeated Single Malt won World’s Best Craft Whiskey and a Double Gold, a designation achieved when all 40 judges unanimously agree to award gold to a spirit. In 2020, faced with shutdowns because of the coronavirus pandemic, local spirits makers got inventive and began using their distilleries to make a different sort of product: hand sanitizer. Old Fourth Distillery and ASW both donated sanitizer to local healthcare professionals and to Atlanta residents who suddenly could not find sanitizer on the shelves of local stores.

where to find some metro area distillers ASW The Distillery at American Spirit Works 199 Armour Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30324, www.aswdistillery.com, 404-590-2279 ASW The Whiskey Exchange 1000 White Street, Atlanta, GA 30310, www.aswdistillery.com, 404-590-2279 Distillery of Modern Art 2197 Irvindale Way, Chamblee, GA 30341, www.distilleryofmodernart.com, 404-482-2663 Independent Distilling Company 731 College Ave, Decatur, GA 30030, www.independentdistilling.com, 678-576-3804 Old Fourth Distillery 487 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312, www.o4d.com, 844-653-3687

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

She’s devoted her life to the front lines of community service were coming us to get mass food distribution training and product. We have expanded into being a food bank, just not a food pantry. We distribute food pallets to community organizations who turn around and take them back into the communities that they serve.

Elisabeth Omilami sits on a bench alongside a statue honoring her father, Hosea Williams.

Elisabeth Omilami’s commitment to justice and to helping people in need took hold early. The daughter of civil rights activist Hosea Williams, Omilami accompanied her father to marches and demonstrations across the south from the 1950s into the 1970s and, along the way, became one of the youngest people arrested in the civil rights movement. The Atlanta native worked steadily in the theater and movie industries after graduating with a theater degree from Hampton University. She also founded the People’s Survival Theater, one of Atlanta’s groundbreaking theater companies. After her father died in 2000, Omilami took over his nonprofit, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, renamed it Hosea Helps and expanded its scope from feeding the needy during major holidays to a year-round, multi-pronged humanitarian operation that offers medical clinics, barber and beautician services, rent and utility assistance, clothing distribution and children’s educational programs. Atlanta Senior Life contributor Mark Woolsey caught up with Omilami recently.

Q. Your group had had to scramble to find a new home. What happened? A. The West End got gentrified. Property values shot sky-high and the building we had been in for 26 years was bought out from under us. We were living as a nomadic organization for two years going from warehouse to warehouse and we finally found the Q. How building that we bought (in has COVID southwest Atlanta) but it had Elisabeth Omilami challenged you to be completely rebuilt on the folks and the way you serve the inside. We had a capital campaign poor and needy? where we raised $1.7 million to A. This year we had people who meet our needs. Right now, we preregistered on our website to are at the end of the process and drive through and receive enough getting inspections so we can get food to feed their families for a our certificate of occupancy. couple of weeks. We had another Q. What’s your take on the Black intake for the homeless to give Lives Matter movement and the them bags of food and fresh resurgence in civil rights activity? produce and drinks. So instead A. It’s very different from the 60s. of being inside with hot food [and I was raised in a way that you took various services] we were outside on a thing with a certain purpose the Georgia World Congress Center. and you achieved victory over Our household impact that thing. Maybe it was employee has increased by 200% both rights, and you had a picket and because of COVID and because a boycott and the management of our collaborative efforts with would come in and you’d negotiate community partners and with and you’d have your victory right elected officials who have come to there. us and wanted us to do drives and Today, they have a lot of energy distribution in their districts. and [although] I’m proud of Q. How has the methodology of them getting out and marching, Hosea Helps altered in recent I don’t feel like they’re focused years? on a specific goal to achieve, so A. We have switched from their marching doesn’t become primarily serving the homeless and as impactful as it did when I was unsheltered to serving and training younger. I know they want to nonprofits and that was a great get laws passed, [but] I think the switch because we were able to movement is more about being increase our services to low-income heard than it is about concrete families throughout the Atlanta victories you can point to. metro area. Organizations in Q. What has changed in Atlanta cities (Clarkston for example with and what kind of changes would its high refugee concentration) you like to see going forward?

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

A. I see a lot more higher-income, younger blacks and whites… because of technology or entertainment or sports. I see a lot of money available. What I’d like to see is that money connected to a charitable activity. I know a lot of them have their own foundations and do a lot of good work, but they could be doing more. People making $50 million a year -- are you kidding me? [People such as] a rapper or a football player are wearing my annual budget around their necks when they go out to a club. Do you realize the kind of good you could be doing in a community with that kind of money? Q. You and your husband put acting on hold when COVID-19 hit. Have you resumed? A. We just started back up and are shooting in our home studio, doing auditions on video and uploading them. I definitely want to continue my career as an actress because I don’t want to be on salary at Hosea Helps. I want to give to them as my charity of choice. My husband just booked something. I have been auditioning but haven’t booked anything. I am trying to do as much of that as I can which is why we need more volunteers in the organization. Q. What about the future? A. We are in the middle of a succession plan. We are praying that our son will be the executive director of the charity. He has been working here most of his life. Just as my father passed it on to me, I will pass it on to him. It’s a legacy. Q. Will you then retire? A. We have finally realized that we are not going to retire in the way people normally think. I think we are not going to buy a home in Florida and drink mai tais. I plan to keep working and staying active in the anti-poverty movement until the day I die. I want to teach young people and I haven’t found young people who want to sit and listen. It’s very frustrating and I don’t know what to do about it.

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FROM THE CRATES

Variety Playhouse became a mainstay of Little Five Points Kelly McCoy is a veteran Atlanta broadcaster who writes about the days popular music only came on vinyl records, which often were stored in crates. There are parts of Atlanta that we cherish maybe a bit more than others. When you’re in the city and find some of these older sections and learn a bit about the history, you really can begin to appreciate and understand some of the culture. For some reason, I’ve always been drawn to Little Five Points. Maybe it’s a vibe. The area reminds me of college days in Athens in 1971. The aromas from the various businesses fill the streets. Street vendors and performers add flavor, and color. The restaurants, bars and unique boutiques add to the L5P makeup. It’s eclectic. It’s hip. It’s

are not necessarily looking for a big venue. Do a little snooping around on the internet, and you’ll be amazed at the performers who have done their thing on the Variety’s stage. These performers have made Variety the perfect “music melting pot,” perfect for Little Five Points. There have been nearly 500 shows at Variety Playhouse. A good sound crew always has the room sounding tight, and right within a few songs after a show begins. Old theaters were built with sound and acoustics in mind, along with what we’re supposed to watch on the big screen. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you about a few up close and personal nights there. One particular artist comes to visit at least once a year: Delbert McClinton. He’s been a regular there for years. Fans come to the “House of Delbert” to party together. This is achieved by soaking up few adult beverages while soaking up one of this country’s song-writing treasures who always fronts a band that “destroys” the room.

I truly hope you are lucky enough to be a fan of the band Little Feat. Hearing them perform, “Oh Atlanta,” in Atlanta is a religious musical experience. I witnessed their close friends, Tower of Power, there one evening. They had the house in such a state of funk, the building was probably still moving for many days afterward. In 2015, this old beauty got a “face lift” from new owners. Enhancements were made throughout without losing any of the character of the place. It’s still one of the few rooms where you can go down front and give the musicians onstage a high five if they allow you to do so. Quite often the artists will sign and sell their wares after the show. I can honestly say every time I’ve left the building, my Variety experience was more than worthwhile. When things resume after our pandemic time, rest assured this magical, monumental and very special musical shrine will once again bring Variety fans exactly what we crave.

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from the crates

cool. It’s old, and funky…like me. And there was the Variety Playhouse, one of the mainstays in this part of town. Built in 1940, it was originally the Euclid Theatre, a sister to the Fabulous Fox, the movie palace in Midtown. A third theater was The Gordon Theatre. The Gordon was located in the West End and its former home now is out of the entertainment business. I think you’re aware of what’s happening with the Fox. The Euclid Theatre closed in the early 60’s. Other than being used as a storage warehouse for a brief period, it sat empty for 20 years. It was scheduled for destruction until City Hall came to the rescue. Aren’t we glad they did? I cannot imagine Atlanta’s music scene without this rich venue. There could be a more fitting name, but I doubt it. Variety is known for its mixture of artists from punk to funk, outrageous acts, and performers representing pretty much every genre of music. Everyone from cutting edge current, to obscure acts you thought were dead or had broken up have reappeared there. The Variety does balance things out with mainstream players who

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APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

PEOPLE

A baseball fan’s newsletter recalls how Atlanta became a major-league city By Joe Earle As Abe Schear tells it, his introduction to major-league baseball bears the classic marks of a 1950s boyhood. Schear grew up in a small Ohio city and cheered the Cincinnati Reds. He collected baseball cards and put extra cards into the spokes of his bike wheels to create that special rattle and roar as he rolled along. He read about baseball every day in his hometown newspapers and stayed up at night listening to games on a transistor radio he’d snuck into bed. “I was listening to games when I was supposed to be asleep, with the radio under my pillow,” Schear recalled recently. “Baseball took me to faraway cities. Baseball was my view into the rest of the world when I was a little boy.” Schear, now 69, is a real estate lawyer with the Atlanta firm of Arnall Golden Gregory. After graduating from Emory University and its law school, he stayed in Atlanta, where he

discovered, and got interested in, a new and different kind of baseball story. For the past two decades, he’s recorded Atlanta’s baseball history through a series of one-on-one interviews with players, politicians, league officials and fans. He circulates them in a newsletter called “Baseball Digest.” During many of the years Schear was listening to ball games on that radio beneath his pillow, Atlanta was a minorleague town. The Atlanta Crackers (and the Black Crackers) played at Ponce de Leon Stadium, a romantic old ballpark across from the huge Sears, Roebuck & Co. building (now Ponce City Market). Freight trains rolled past (on tracks where people now stroll the BeltLine). A magnolia tree grew in the outfield. (Although the park is gone, the tree’s still there.) Then, in the 1960s and 1970s, Atlanta, like a base-stealer headed to second, kicked it into a higher gear and raced to become a new kind of city. Atlanta didn’t

Happy 100th!

Abe Schear

just get bigger, it got better known and became a place people wanted to be.

Sandy Springs resident Millie Kinbar celebrated her 100th birthday Wednesday, Feb. 24, with a “drive -thru” party at the Hammond Glen Retirement Community, where Kinbar lives. Because of the restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kinbar’s birthday party was held outside and wellwishers drove past in their cars to convey their birthday greetings. PHOTO BY DONNA P. WILLIAMS

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

Sports played a big part in Atlanta’s new image. In the middle 1960s, the football Falcons and basketball Hawks set up shop in Atlanta. The Braves moved to town (after years in Boston and Milwaukee) and in 1966 played their first game in a new stadium that the city’s promoters had dreamed up to lure a team. Things didn’t end there. In 1970, Mohammad Ali made his comeback in Atlanta after years of boxing exile. The Braves showcased Henry Aaron, one of the greatest players of all time and who, in 1974, would break Babe Ruth’s homerun record during a game in Atlanta. In the years since, Atlanta has hosted Super Bowls, the World Series, Major League Baseball’s and the NBA’s all-star games, and the NCAA’s Final Four. In 1996, the Olympics raised its flag over the town. Atlanta’s evolution into a big city wasn’t an accident. As Schear and others have written, the city’s changes followed a plan

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conjured by local boosters who sought to raise the city’s business profile internationally. Sports played a big part. Those early boosters wanted to lure major league teams to Atlanta so their city’s name would appear every day in the sports sections of other cities’ newspapers. Schear thought it would make an interesting project to learn about and record Atlanta’s baseball history. “I knew that my friends would much rather read about baseball than about real estate leasing,” he wrote recently in what he says may be among his last articles. Over two decades, he interviewed about 80 local community and baseball leaders. He shared his Q-and-A’s with friends and law partners and self-published a book containing about 30 pieces called “I Remember When: A Collection of Memories from Baseball’s Biggest Fans.” Some articles are posted on law firm webpage at agg.com/professionals/abe-

schear. His subjects ranged from Atlanta business and political leaders such as Jimmy Carter, John Lewis, Judge Griffin Bell and Herman Russell, to great ballplayers such as Phil Niekro and Tom Glavine. “The story of baseball in Atlanta is told by so many people. You come up with so many answers,” Schear said. “I’ll never forget that when I asked President Carter what was the best thing about going to see the Crackers, he said the best thing was going to Sears after the game to buy something. In Plains, you could only get stuff in the mail.” Big-league baseball is set to return April 1. Last season, of course, we fans were stuck at home because of the pandemic and watched and listened from our couches as our major league teams took us to faraway cities. And we bought stuff online that was delivered to our doorsteps. Perhaps, unlike Atlanta, some things really haven’t changed all that much.

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TRAVEL

Rolling down Highway PHOTOS BY CHARLES SEABROOK

Vogel State Lake Trahlyta

Shuler’s Store, Union County jackson county

Monroe

Jefferson

Steam tractor, Walton County

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Peaches, Houston County Country Lane, Jasper County GRAY Abbevlle

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Nashville

Hawkinsville Harness Racing Ben Hill County

Alapaha River

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Peanut farm in Lanier County

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Traveling Georgia from state line to state line Travels with Charlie Veteran Georgia journalist Charles Seabrook has covered native wildlife and environmental issues for decades. For “Travels with Charlie,” he visits and photographs communities throughout the state. At least one day a week, if the weather is decent and I have no pressing issues to deal with, I go exploring in Georgia. I might visit places only a few miles from my home in Decatur or as far away as the coast, which usually means an overnight stay in a cheap motel. Often, I have no idea where I’ll end up. On any given day, my rambling might take me to small towns, wildlife preserves, swamps, state parks, funky museums, covered bridges, white-pillared mansions, old cotton mills, quaint farms, peach groves, apple orchards, rushing mountain streams, tidal creeks, meadows, gardens, lakes and on and on. I’ll take lots of photos — hundreds of pictures of old barns, country churches, tumbled-down sharecropper cabins, courthouses, produce stands, old stores, horses and cattle grazing in pastures, tractors, wildflowers, birds, turtles, butterflies, cotton fields, junk cars and on and on. People ask why I do it. My honest answer is: I don’t have a clue. I just know that I love it. Perhaps one reason, though, is that I am immensely curious about Georgia. Even after living here nearly 50 years, I still haven’t seen it all: I still come upon profoundly beautiful

scenes that leave me breathless. To me, Georgia may be just as beautiful, fascinating and history-rich as the places in other states and around the world that I travel thousands of miles to see. A year or so ago, I decided to explore one of Georgia’s longer state highways in its entirety, taking time to absorb everything worthy of attention along the way. I chose the longest state route of all, Georgia Highway 11 — 376 miles long, mostly rural, running north to south through the middle of the state. It starts at the North Carolina line 10 miles north of Blairsville in the Blue Ridge Mountains, runs through the rolling Piedmont and across the flat Coastal Plain. It terminates at the Florida line near the Okefenokee Swamp in perhaps the remotest section of Georgia. In essence, it cuts the state in half, a dividing line of sorts between east and west Georgia. (The Fall Line is considered the dividing line between north and south Georgia.) Along its route, Highway 11 runs through 20 Georgia counties and almost as many county seats with their old courthouses. (In some stretches, it is concurrent with some more familiar highways, such as U.S. 129, 41 and 78, but in many areas it is all by itself). In short, Highway 11 traverses Georgia’s heart and soul, offering a slice of the state’s rich culture, history and natural beauty. Few other highways can match 11’s motley mix of quaint towns, peaceful farms, serene mountain valleys, meadows and forests lush with wildflowers, old barns, historic churches, antebellum mansions, old stores, waterfalls, jungle-like rivers, and even scenic swamps with bellowing alligators. It‘s like stepping back in time across Georgia — a soothing balm for one’s wanderlust.

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APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

GARDENING

Using native plants means eco-gardens for everyone THE ENVIRONMENTAL GARDENER Greg Levine, co-executive director of Trees Atlanta, describes himself as happiest when his hands are in the dirt.

Like many gardeners, I have been addicted to gardening since I was a kid. At the early age of 6, while in the baseball outfield, I was more engaged with the ants in the dirt than in the game my father expected me to play. I remember discovering how easy some plants (from peanuts to English Ivy) were to grow. I loved it all. In the 70’s, native plants were not mainstream and gardening focused more on food and the aesthetics of certain plants. Gardening may be the biggest hobby in America, but it isn’t a static one. Always evolving, it is moving from a focus on aesthetics to one of function, including community and environmental benefits. Over the last century American gardens have celebrated plants from other countries, often ignoring the beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees that grow locally in the surrounding woods and meadows. Native plants celebrate a sense of place and support the local creatures who share our land. I have never planted ivy again and continue to learn that what we plant in our yards and landscapes affects the entire web of life around us, impacting future generations. April is a great time to start talking about gardens. The explosion of spring leaves and flowers is at a pinnacle of color and growth. Early spring is an excellent time to find unusual perennials at local nurseries and plant sales. Perennials’ size affords almost instant gratification within the first season of planting.

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

Cone flowers

Choosing native plants for your garden has become a much more viable option over the past 20 years. If possible, always check for the Latin name of a plant to assure you’re getting the proper species. Varieties and cultivars of our favorite natives have helped to grow the appeal for those needing a bit bigger plant, uniquely colored flowers, or some other attribute. Echinacea, commonly known as purple cone flower, is an example of a plant with dozens of beautiful cultivars created to satisfy anyone’s color palette. The latest studies show that landscapes with 70% native species will help support pollinators’ healthy populations, so it may be a goal that we should all set for our gardens.

One can still keep their favorite camellias and peonies but have a landscape that serves very important ecological functions like feeding our local pollinators, birds and other wildlife. A few of my favorite April bloomers include: Coreopsis species — There are many varieties that range from gold, orange to a burnt red. An older yellow variety called ‘Moonbeam’ is a full, compact plant with abundant flowers, a long blooming time and a great ability to re-seed. It needs full sun and will perform in average soil and with minimal effort. There are so many cultivars of Coreopsis that you should be able to find them almost

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Dogwood

anywhere. Stylophorum diphyllum, or woodland poppy — It is another yellow flowering perennial that thrives in deep shade and moist soils with plenty of organic matter. This poppy is more challenging to find and grow, but the payback in early April is great, especially if you are

looking for color in a woodland garden. Cornus species, dogwoods – Everyone wants to plant this tree when they see one blooming in early April. While it’s not an ideal time to plant trees, you can certainly do it successfully with proper watering and care. Dogwoods have become more

susceptible to diseases over the last 30 years, so many people prefer cultivars resistant to disease like anthracnose and powdery mildew. Cherokee Princess is a lovely large white flowering dogwood, while Cherokee Brave is a dark pink selection, both cultivated for disease resistance. Alternate leaf dogwood is an underplanted favorite of mine. The flowers are less showy, but still beautiful and loved by pollinators. Native plants are often difficult to find, but worth the chase. Mail order is one solution for finding rare selections, but the size and accessibility can be a downside. Opening a box of plants can be exciting, even exhilarating. Non-profit plant sales are another way to get natives that are hard to find, while supporting a cause that you believe in.

The following organizations have plant sales online, in person or both. Dates published online for upcoming sales are listed below. Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Gainesville Garden, 1911 Sweetbay Drive Gainesville, April 6-15, atlantabg.org Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell, April 2-3, reservations required, chattnaturecenter.org Oakland Cemetery, 248 Oakland Ave, SE, Atlanta, April 10, oaklandcemetery.com State Botanical Garden of Georgia, 2450 South Milledge Avenue, Athens, April 3, registration for timed access required, botgarden.uga.edu Trees Atlanta, 225 Chester Avenue SE, Atlanta, treesatlanta.org Online sale at treesatlanta.org/ plantsale with in person sale on April 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Carter Center, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway NE Wylde Center, 435 Oakview Road, Decatur, April 1-June 15, wyldecenter.org

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

PERSONAL SAFETY

Watch out for business email scams STAY SAFE Steve Rose is a retired Sandy Springs Police Captain, veteran Fulton County police officer and freelance writer. He is the author the book “Why Do My Mystic Journeys Always Lead to the Waffle House?” and the column “View from a Cop.”

On Feb. 22, the Department of Justice issued a press release announcing the formation of a task force that will focus on Business Email Compromise, or “BEC fraud” schemes. Examples of possible email fraud given in the release include: ■ A vendor repeatedly sends invoices with differing bank account numbers. ■ A company CEO asks

assistants to purchase dozens of gift cards to send out as employee rewards, then asks for the serial numbers, so they “can email them out right away.” ■ A homebuyer receives a message from a title company with instructions on how to wire a down payment. I know of at least two examples that took place in Sandy Springs, both to companies, and specifically directed to an office manager. One was a request by the CEO for $30,000 to complete a sudden opportunity for a business deal, and the second was a request for funds to pay a vendor. The CEO’s email address was slightly off, by one letter, which the office manager did not notice. She wired the funds, then spoke with the CEO, who naturally was unaware of the

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

transaction. Needless to say, both had a bad day. The way things are with cybercrimes, you have to inspect everything with a microscope to ensure yourself that you’re not being taken—which is hard, given all the emails and cybershopping that we do. The purpose of the task force (including local, state, and federal agencies) is to disrupt the flow of funds that benefit the criminal enterprise. The effort will involve strict prosecution and, I hope, a significant effort to support investigations to bring these bottom feeders out of the darkness and into the light where we can identify them, convict them, and send them to prison for a long time. Still, the effort, if successful, will have to involve community outreach—which is what we have been doing for years.

Does that help? I think yes, but cybercrime constantly evolves, which means we have to constantly keep up with the latest ways crooks are developing to take your money. I’m all for throwing the book at the cybercrooks when we catch them, but it will ultimately fall on each individual to pick up on the clues, which means consistency — which is hard, right? Day in and day out? Come on! I can’t even keep up with which Kardashian is getting divorced this week. Still, it will be what makes the difference. Here is where I toss the monkey wrench in. The older we get, the more we let our guard down. We are trying our best to keep up with the technology but at times, we slip and fall. It happened to me. As much as I hate to admit it, I got hacked and my account was compromised. It was an extra account for my off-duty police jobs. I had just paid out a bill or two, so the joke was on them and they got almost nothing, but they got in. I had to change the account and ensure that nothing else was compromised. I was made, embarrassed, and quite frankly, ashamed. After all, I’m the guy telling you to be careful. After securing everything, putting a solid curse on those who victimized me, and a drink or two, I chalked it up as a learning experience. I had let my guard down. (Note to self: Don’t do that again.) I hope that this new task force will have a long reach that extends internationally and puts a dent into the fast track of those taking your money through cybercrime. I want to see the faces of those who hid behind their computers for so long. I want to see the FBI, with their blue windbreakers, conducting numerous perp-walks with the bad guys so that we sit back and feel a little bit better about cybercrime. And, if you are the guy or gals who scammed me, and your ears, among other things, suddenly fell off your body … well, that was me.

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PERSONAL FINANCE

Does Paying FICA Tax Now Increase My Benefit? ask rusty Russell Gloor is a certified Social Security advisor with the Association of Mature American Citizens.

Dear Rusty: If a person retires at age 66 and continues to work full time, Social Security taxes are still taken out of his weekly paycheck. Will this taxation for Social Security contribute more to the person’s Social Security benefit, even if already retired?

Signed: Curious Retiree Dear Curious Retiree: Since its inception in 1935, Social Security has been a “pay as you go” program where contributions from those who are working are used to pay benefits to those who are collecting Social Security benefits. That remains true even if, after you start collecting Social Security, you work and pay payroll taxes into the system. Those Social Security payroll taxes you are contributing now aren’t deposited into a personal account for you, they’re used to help pay benefits to all recipients. So, paying SS FICA payroll taxes after you start collecting benefits doesn’t affect your benefit payment. However, what might affect your benefit amount is if your current earnings from working are more than any of those in the 35 years used to originally compute your Social Security benefit when you filed. When you apply for benefits, Social Security adjusts every year in your lifetime earnings record for inflation to bring those earlier earnings up to today’s dollar values. They then select the 35 highest-earning years over

your lifetime, and from those years they develop your “Average Indexed Monthly Earnings.” That, in turn, is used to compute your Social Security benefit at your full retirement age. Social Security examines your earnings every year after your earnings for the previous year are reported to Social Security by the IRS. After your benefits have started, and if your current earnings are higher, Social Security will replace an earlier year’s earnings with your more recent earnings and recompute your benefit, resulting in a small benefit increase (“small” because it would represent only 1/35th of the average lifetime earnings used to compute your benefit). A key thing to remember is that each of your past year’s earnings (up until you are 60) are adjusted for inflation before computing your benefit amount. So, for example, $25,000 earned in 1990 is worth more than $60,000 in today’s dollars, and it is the inflation-adjusted amount that your current earnings would need to exceed increase in your benefit. This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/ social-security-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org. About AMAC The 2.3 million member Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] www.amac.us is a conservative advocacy organization founded in 2007 that represents its membership in the nation’s capital and in local Congressional Districts throughout the country. The AMAC Foundation (www.AmacFoundation.org) is the Association’s non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and educating America’s Seniors.

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THINGS TO DO

GOING OUT Under the Alliance’s tent The Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta, is offering a series of plays and concerts in its new “Under The Tent” series. Works by both the Alliance’s company and guest artists will be performed live in a tent installed next to the theater’s home, the Woodruff Arts Center. The Alliance says it will offer socially distanced, open-air performances that follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, provide contactless entry and require use of face masks. Productions also will be recorded and streamed on demand through Alliance Theatre Anywhere. Planned productions include:

Schwartz, and James Taylor.

April-June 6. “Working: A Musical,” based on the book by Studs Terkel and featuring songs by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, Stephen

must be pared down to focus on the essentials. We’re living in a lean, threepenny world right now, so it’s appropriate that we’re paying homage to Kurt Weill and producing threepenny operas that accommodate our present times,” Zvulun said. “The Threepenny Carmen,” is scheduled to be performed April 15 through May 8. “The Threepenny Opera” is scheduled to be performed April 22 through May 9. Tickets to the shows are sold only in “pods” of two or four people who will be seated together. Tickets for two-person pods cost $89 to $219. Tickets for pods of up to four people cost $149 to $399. Masks are required. For more: atlantaopera.org

April 7-8. “An Atlanta Jazz Revival” with guest artist Tyrone Jackson & Friends.” Jackson will bring his favorite musicians and singers to perform jazz, blues, and ballads. April 8-18. “Beautiful Blackbird Live!,” billed as a family-friendly concert, offers original music by Eugene H. Russell IV and inspired by Ashley Bryan’s children’s book “Beautiful Blackbird.” April 10. “Soaring High,” in which guest artist Sister Omelika shares her journey as an artist is told through dance, spoken word and songs accompanied by traditional African drumming. April 15-17. “Hamlet.” Guest artist The TINY Theater Company presents an adaption of “Hamlet” that features elements of Black culture and music to reimagine the story of the young prince whose father’s death has uprooted the castle. For more: www.alliancetheatre.org

Atlanta Opera brings back its tent The Atlanta Opera is bringing back its tent for more performances. The tent will be set up at the Cobb Energy Centre. The company is presenting world premiere productions of new adaptations of two iconic operas, Bizet’s “Carmen” and Kurt Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera.” Tomer Zvulun, the company’s general and artistic director, reimagined the works as “opera for starved societies” and reworked them to accommodate the needs of the current season. For instance, the production of the “Threepenny Opera” includes puppets.

For the birds April 17-May 16. Georgia Bird Fest 2021 returns with guided field trips to birding hotspots, workshops, webinars and speakers. Georgia Audubon calls it Georgia’s largest bird and nature festival. Scott Weidensaul, author of more than a dozen books on natural history, gives the opening keynote on April 18. Registration is required by event and costs vary by event. An all-access pass to webinars planned during the event is available for $40. For more: /www.georgiaaudubon.org/birdfestevents.html

“Audiences are smaller, run-times are shorter and grand operas

APRIL 2021 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com

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STAYING IN

eagleeyebooks.com/home/eventgendetails/1897 April 10, 11 a.m. Martha Alanis discusses her new children’s book, “I Am American. Soy Mexicana. Soy Me.” April 14, 7 p.m., Tia Mitchell, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Washington correspondent, discusses Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building. April 22, 7 p.m. Judy Batalion discusses her book, “The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos,” about young Jewish women in Poland who helped transform Jewish youth groups into cells that resisted the Nazis during World War II.

Authors online The Gwinnett County Public Library is offering a series of talks with authors that can be viewed online. Admission is free, but registration is required for the events, which are streamed live and last an hour. Planned talks include April 1, 7 p.m.: Moira Welsh, a journalist with the Toronto Star, discusses retirement homes, long-term care facilities and the effects of COVID-19 on seniors. ►April 5, 7 p.m. Author Joshilyn Jackson discusses her new novel “Mother May I” with best-selling thriller writer Karin Slaughter. The Eagle Eye Bookstore is offering signed copies of Jackson’s new book and tickets to the online event for $27.99. For more:

Joshilyn Jackson

April 29, 7 p.m. Counselor Mazi Robinson talks about the effects of COVID-19 on our mental and emotional health. For more: www.gwinnettpl.org/authorspeaker

Garden documentary and online chat April 19, 7 p.m. Thomas Piper, director and producer of the documentary film, “Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf,” discusses the film and Oudolf’s work during a Zoom webinar presented by the Cherokee Garden Library at the Atlanta History Center. Registration is required. Upon registering, participants will an email with a link allowing them to watch the film before the talk and a separate link to take part in the webinar. For more information, contact scatron@atlantahisorycenter.com

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