Lovin' Life After 50 - Scottsdale - June 2021

June 2021

The Retreat at Alameda

‘Can Do’ is ‘Must Do’

Community boasts technological advances

Trattoria D’Amico continues its legacy

Treating the

Whole Person Glencroft erases stigma of modern living centers

Scottsdale Edition

Tulsa professor shows sides of Bob Dylan in new book Page 14

The latest news and top local stories!

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JUNE 2021

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JUNE 2021

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inside

Serving the Valley in Retina Care Since 1974

Serving the Valley in Retina Care Since 1974 Serving the Valley in Retina Care Since 1974

THIS ISSUE

Serving the Valley since 1974.

Dedicated to the Preservation and Restoration of Vision

8 Treating the Whole Person

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Alan J.M.D. Gordon, M.D.

J. Shepard Bryan, M.D.

Benjamin Bakall,

Henry M. Kwong, Jr. M.D.

Glencroft erases stigma of modern living centers

Rahul K. Reddy, M.D., MHS

J. Shepard Bryan, Stephen A.M. Henry M. Kwong, Jr. Rahul K. Reddy, J. Shepard A.M. Rahul K. Reddy, Henry M. Kwong, Jr. M.D., M.D. Bryan, DeStephen Souza, M.D. MHS M.D.

Benjamin Bakall, M.D., Ph.D.

M.D., Ph.D. Benjamin Bakall, M.D., Ph.D.

Stephen A.M. De Souza, M.D.

M.D.

De Souza, M.D.

Jaime R. Gaitan, M.D. Jaime R. Gaitan, M.D.

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M.D.

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Opinion

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DIAGNOSING & TREATING CONDITIONS SUCH AS:

Ask Gabby Gayle

Features

DIAGNOSING & TREATING CONDITIONS SUCH AS:

DIAGNOSING & TREATING CONDITIONS SUCH AS:

Leibo At Large

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Inspired by Mom

Steve Alfonsi wants others to feel respected in home care

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The Retreat at Alameda Community boasts technological advances

Entertainment

14

Don’t Get Caught Flat-footed with Your Retirement Plan.

The World of Bob Dylan

Tulsa professor shows the troubadour’s sides in new book

Dining

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JUNE 2021

‘Can Do’ is ‘Must Do’

Trattoria D’Amico continues its legacy

Columns

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Hospice Is Hope

Publisher

Steve T. Strickbine

Senior Account Executive

Vice President

Gordon Wood

Executive Editor

Courtney Oldham

Travel Editor

Tonya Mildenberg

Michael Hiatt

Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

Administrator

The Healthy Geezer Oakmont Assisted Living Contributors

Fred Cicetti, Lin Sue Cooney, Alex Gallagher, Gayle Lagman-Creswick, Mark Lawrence, David Leibowitz, Coty Dolores Miranda, Glenn Swain

Graphic Designer

Ed Boitano

An Ageless Attitude Since 1979

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Opinion Leibo At Large

Hunting should work both ways

BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ

www.LovinLife.com

have no affinity for, say, javelina, which tend to destroy things I like, like golf courses and small dogs. I wasn’t traumatized by the murder of Bambi’s mommy as a kid. I’m not afraid of guns, which I’ve fired on many occasions. It’s the beaming pride I don’t get — relishing taking an animal’s life.

Listen to James Vasko, one of those 45,000 applicants, explaining himself to the AP: “I just thought it would be a cool experience,” said the 27-year-old, who works in real estate and farms in Nebraska. “I’m an avid fisher, hunter. Going to the Grand Canyon to hunt bison would be absolutely awesome.”

Would it really? Male bison weigh up to 2,000 pounds and can stand 6 feet tall. They have poor eyesight and run at speeds up to 35 mph. That makes these bulls slightly larger than my parents’ 1972 Volkswagen Beetle, a 50-horsepower behemoth that topped out at about 75 mph. While no one ever riddled that car with bullets, it wouldn’t have been a difficult shot, especially armed with a Browning BAR Mark II Safari rifle featuring the Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System and using belted magnum big game cartridges and a telescopic site.

My hunter friends love to refer to hunting as a sport. They cite rules like “fair chase,” which Game and Fish defines as the “ethical, sportsmanlike and lawful pursuit and taking of free-range wildlife in a manner that does not give a hunter or an angler improper or unfair advantage over such wildlife.”

Personally, I prefer not to sugarcoat things. Just be honest and admit it: You like killing things.

You can try to even up the hunt all you want, but let’s be real: Shooting a 2,000-pound bison will be a sport as soon as the bison can fire back.

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Every so often on Facebook or Instagram, I see that one of my friends has gone hunting, successfully killing this or that forest creature. There are smiles all around as the hunter strikes a pose beside a mule deer, turkey or javelina. All involved — except the animal — seem inordinately proud of the conquest, which always leaves me feeling a bit curious.

As in, why such obvious pride? I mean, isn’t hunting sort of a one-sided competition, given that the predator typically has some sort of weapon, like a high-powered rifle, whereas the best a white-tailed deer can manage for weaponry is a set of antlers?

Then I remind myself what I have known for a long time: Some folks simply enjoy killing things a little bit more than the rest of us.

I was reminded again recently when the National Park Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department offered 12 hunters the chance to cull bison from a herd of 500 that has roamed the North Rim of the Grand Canyon since the early 1900s. The bison apparently have been raising all kinds of hell up there, trampling ancient ruins, contaminating watering holes and leaving Budweiser cans and pork rind bags everywhere.

Kidding about that last part.

But I’m not kidding when I say that more than 45,000 hunters applied online during the 48 hours the agencies were taking digital hunting applications.

As Matt Mallery of Flagstaff told the Associated Press: “It needs to happen for management purposes. And if it’s going to be somebody, it may as well be me.”

Which is exactly the opposite of my own logic when it comes to killing animals: If it’s going to be somebody, it doesn’t have to be me.

I have no moral objection to hunting.

I ate a burger for dinner last night, and I

David Leibowitz has called the Valley home since 1995.

Contact david@leibowitzsolo.com.

JUNE 2021

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Ask Gabby Gayle

Advice column for the over-50 crowd

BY GAYLE LAGMAN-CRESWICK

Q

JULY 3 & 4

Dear Gabby Gayle: The headline on your recent column really caught my attention. “Do I need to go to church?”

I thought I would add my two cents’ worth because I qualify at age 83! Years ago, someone asked me if I were a Christian. Of course, I responded, “I go to church.”

Their answer has stayed with me for well over 50 years! “If you go to your garage, does that make you a car?” You were right to differentiate between spirituality and religion. Yes, we have a choice: We can put our car in the garage (church), safe from the elements, or we can leave it in the driveway, beaten on by the wind and rain, and baked in the sun. Which one do you think would weather the storms of life?

So, you see, AH (whose letter was in a recent column) has been given an invitation to go to the garage, not go by the rules set by man but to find a safe haven until that day. Signed, ML

A

Dear ML: I loved your analogy! I apologize for having to shorten your beautiful letter. I have never thought of church in that way, but I like it!

A place of refuge, of learning, of strengthening, of becoming! Thank you for writing. Signed, GG

Q

CHASE FIELD

Dear Gabby Gayle: Dating sucks!

I am 47.5. I am so sad and lonely. I broke the law when I was 23. I was just a kid, and now I have lost a lot of rights, but none of the dating sites want anything to do with me. Plus, I feel no one would want to date a felon. It has been over 20 years, but I am still paying for it. What do I do?

Signed, VL

A

dbacks.com 6

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JUNE 2021

602.514.8400

Dear VL: I know it is really tough for felons post-prison. I went on Google and found several groups who help people like yourself.

So, that is my first suggestion. Try Google. My second suggestion is to find a singles group that does things you may enjoy, such as biking, hiking, going to events together, dancing, etc. My third suggestion

maybe should have been my first suggestion: Find yourself a church and get involved — feed the poor, help with church events, live this good person that you are.

When your life becomes whole, you will find people who want to date you. Also, there are situations where your rights can be restored. Do a little studying on this issue. Good luck! Signed, GG

Q

Dear Gabby Gayle: I received a beautiful invitation in the mail from my granddaughter, who is getting married for the first time at age 35.

I know there has been some talk among family members that she might be gay, but there was nothing official until I received this invitation with a snapshot of them. I thought I was going to be sick. I only have two grandchildren, and now one of them is pulling this. Maybe I have lived too long?

What do you say? Signed, JJ

A

Dear JJ: You are not going to like what I have to say. I’m going to say you haven’t fully identified your job description. I believe your job as grandmother is to love, accept, understand and set an example. It is not to judge, try to change or to disown. I’m sorry you are missing out on the joy of seeing your granddaughter happy and being who she is meant to be. I wish you a change of heart. An old dog can learn new tricks! Good luck, GG

Q

Dear Gabby Gayle: Our grandson is getting married to a lovely girl. We all love her, but we also know she comes from a family with limited means.

Would it be appropriate for his grandfather and I to offer financial help to them for the wedding festivities? Signed, BR

A

Dear BR: That could be a sticky situation. You don’t want to insult her or her family. It might even upset your grandson’s parents. Perhaps, it might be better to give the couple an early wedding present that they can use however they see fit.

Good luck, GG If you have questions for Gabby Gayle, please send them to Ask Gabby Gayle at lagmancreswick@gmail.com.

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JUNE 2021

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Features

TREATING

the

Whole

Person

Glencroft erases stigma of modern living centers

John Wenzlau, CEO of Glencroft Center for Modern Living, has 40 years of experience in senior living and the housing industry.

(Photo by Pablo Robles)

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BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI When Glencroft Center for Modern Living underwent physical and theoretical facelifts three years ago, CEO John Wenzlau didn’t realize the impact it would have on the senior housing market.

“We did a reinvention,” says Wenzlau, who has worked there for eight years.

“We needed to change of perspective of people who needed the services we provide.”

Even in the late 2010s, the stigma of senior living was negative. Wenzlau and his staff turned it around.

The “modest buy-in community that was struggling” turned into a continuum of care retirement community (CCRC) with amenities needed for an aging community.

The well-rounded Glencroft Center for Modern Living was founded in the early 1960s by Sarah Ruth, a local pastor’s wife.

The Glendale facility offers independent and assisted living, memory and longterm care, along with home health services.

Residents remain in the same 40-acre community as their health care needs evolve. Glencroft Center for Modern Aging is Arizona’s CCRC. “They’re reluctant to move into a senior place for a variety of reasons,” he says. “They think it’s a last stop in their journey. That is not what we are about.

I put together a program with a fellow I hired out of the hospitality industry. We wanted to create a place to come where people can thrive in the end years of their lives.”

Glencroft provides standard services like meals, housekeeping and transportation, but activities are what makes the center.

“Everyone has a modified workout area,” he says. “But we needed to take it a step further and take a holistic approach.”

In 2019, Wenzlau and Vice President of Operations Steve Heller created the faithbased ZoeLife, which helps Glencroft residents maintain a healthy, active lifestyle and achieve and preserve a higher quality of life. Whole-person wellness helps people reshape themselves on multiple levels. Each area is extremely important and plays a key role in overall well-being.

“We use six pillars — spiritual wellness, emotional wellness, physical wellness, social wellness, intellectual wellness and vocational wellness — and we make it a complete approach to being well,” Wenzlau says.

Residents learn about estate planning, coping with grief and anxiety, fall prevention, volunteer opportunities, medical benefits, nutrition, hearing loss, dementia, fitness, prayer and relaxation techniques, communication skills and other areas relevant to their age and personal circumstances.

Amenities include swimming, walking paths, massage and chiropractic services, a fully equipped performance (fitness) center, a smoothie bar, year-round events and activities, pastoral support, healthy food choices and fine dining, as well as opportunities to give back to their community through volunteerism.

The ZoeLife Parkinson’s Immersion Program (PIP) is tailored to maximize individual physical and cognitive capabilities and quality of life.

Stroke survivors may participate in the ZoeLife Stroke Immersion Program (SIP) to supplement physical, cognitive and

Glencroft...continues on page 9 www.LovinLife.com

Glencroft Center for Modern Aging

John Wenzlau wants to change the system for his own family, too, as his mom is 95 but doesn’t want to do senior living.

(Photo by Pablo Robles)

8611 N. 67th Avenue, Glendale 480-231-0959, glencroft.com

Glencroft...continued from page 8 speech rehabilitation efforts.

A team of professionals, including therapists, dieticians, counselors and program administrators, work together to develop tailored programs to meet individual goals and potential.

“We offer fitness classes, worship services and even adult education classes at Glencroft University,” Wenzlau says.

“We have five lectures this spring semester,” he says. “We tackle subjects like depression, which so many 80- and 90-year-olds have.

“ZoeLife and these classes have made a huge difference in perceiving their lifestyle, compared to maybe when they got here. We’re really excited about that. It’s been well received, and people are par-

ticipating and noticing a difference.”

Active in the community Wenzlau is active in the senior living community at large. Fluent in German, French and English, Wenzlau has 40 years’ experience in U.S. senior living and housing industry.

To spread positive words about the industry, he is the co-producer of “Successful Aging,” a Phoenix-based independent radio talk show. He strives to help adults ages 65 and older to maximize their quality of life.

“Successful Aging” airs at 11 a.m. Tuesdays on Independent Talk KFNX 1100 AM. For more information, call 623-847-3047.

“I hope to be a shining light for providing people access around the Valley to

information they need,” he says.

“We’ve been running every Tuesday.

We have guests from all over the country.

Yesterday, we had a professor from Midwestern University talking about Alzheimer’s.

“We stream it live on Facebook every week at the same time. That’s giving back to the community, which we really, really like.”

He is also an adjunct professor at the Keller Graduate School of Management in Phoenix and an adjunct instructor at Mesa Community College.

Wenzlau worked as an executive director and regional director of Brookdale from June 2000 to April 2004. His experience also includes three years as executive director at Emeritus and 10 years at

Agenor Partners LLC as president.

He’s been with Friendship Retirement Corp., which owns Glencroft, since February 2014.

“When I came to Glencroft, I had pentup ideas from 30 years in the for-profit segment,” he says. “It’s been a blessing to be here.

“On the flip side, I’m doing this for my mom and dad. My dad died 20 years ago, and my mom is 95. She’s not interested in moving into a senior place.

“The baby boomers are coming along.

With the center, it gave me the first step at looking at the future. We want complete services for a generation that believes more so in exercise and healthy eating. We want to be attractive to baby boomers.”

Get your copy today! www.LovinLife.com

JUNE 2021

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9

Inspired by Mom Steve Alfonsi wants others to feel respected in home care

BY GLENN SWAIN Steve Alfonsi is on a mission to assure dignity and respect for individuals and families needing care at home, as well as those facing illness, and bring comfort at the end of life.

On the second floor of his Scottsdale office, Alfonsi is CEO of Royal Hospice and Vital Palliative and franchise owner of ComForCare Scottsdale, an in-home care agency.

He spends his days directing his home care services and, at the same time, continues a legacy to his mother’s memory.

In November 2005, Alfonsi’s mother, Shelby, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a fast-moving disease.

Then an executive with Proctor & Gamble in Chicago, Alfonsi had his mother move in with him so he and his wife could provide personal care.

Alfonsi says he went “full bore” into his new caregiving role. Growing up in a small town in central Illinois, Alfonsi learned the importance of one’s family

and the responsibility to provide care and support for the family when needed.

Alfonsi began doing everything from making doctor’s appointments to changing bed sheets.

“I was a corporate executive with the responsibility of millions of dollars and working with a team,” Alfonsi says. “I thought I could figure it out. But I was also in denial. There was much I did not know about, but I quickly learned.”

At the time, Alfonsi wasn’t aware of the available home-care options.

Alfonsi remembers he and his sisters spent the last days and weeks of their mother’s life acting more as caretakers than as a son and daughters.

“Mom just wanted us to be with her and hold her hand,” he says. “Instead, we were doing dishes or taking care of her other needs.”

Shelby died in March 2006.

“I dealt with my mom’s passing by working longer hours and days,” Alfonsi says. “It was a way of processing what had

happened. Over the years, I found out that there was more to life.

I wanted to find a way to honor my mom and leave a legacy for her.”

Following a move to Scottsdale as an executive with Henkel, Alfonsi was determined to leave a legacy for his mom.

He learned the home care industry’s ins and outs, intending to start a company to serve families who find themselves in the same position he was in back in Chicago years before.

Alfonsi’s passion for serving others began when he purchased a ComForCare franchise for Scottsdale in March 2015.

Four years later, Alfonsi started Royal Hospice, which provides compassionate care and supports families, and Vital Palliative, a company offering care for severe and chronic illnesses such as congestive heart failure, cancer, AIDS, kidney failure and Alzheimer’s.

Alfonsi plans to open Royal Hospice and Vital Palliative in Tucson later this year, along with further expansion to the Portland, Oregon, area.

“It’s something I feel passionate about,” Alfonsi says. “We provide respect and dignity for others. We aspire to be perfect.”

Steve Alfonsi opened Royal Hospice and Vital Palliative care in 2019.

After a personal loss, CEO Steve Alfonsi found his mission to provide home care for those in need.

(Photos by Pablo Robles)

Alfonsi advises people who find themselves in a caregiving role for those who are ill or need assistance that help is always just a phone call away.

“Make those last hours, days and weeks a better experience for your loved ones,” Alfonsi says.

“Life is precious; the time goes by so fast. Spend it with loved ones.”

Vital Palliative Care and Royal Hospice Care 14809 N. 73rd Street, Suite 201, Scottsdale 480-626-2303, vitalpalliative.com 480-626-5055, royalhospice.com

Get your copy today!

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JUNE 2021

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Puzzles

ANSWERS ON PAGE 5

EVEN EXCHANGE

by Donna Pettman

ACROSS 1 Met melody 5 “CSI” settings 9 Apply cream 12 Fender bender 13 Gumbo need 14 Mode lead-in 15 Instrument panel 17 Homer’s neighbor 18 Thread holders 19 “Tiny Alice” playwright 21 “Heavens!”

22 Spud 24 Green gem 27 Church seat 28 Ken or Barbie 31 Glamorous Gardner

Each numbered row contains two clues and two answers. The two answers differ from each other by only one letter, which has already been inserted. For example, if you exchange the A from MASTER for an I, you get MISTER. Do not change the order of the letters.

32 Shoe width 33 Teeny 34 Baseball glove 36 British “Inc.” 37 -- B’rith 38 Soil 40 Opposite of nyet 41 “Yippee!”

43 Vile 47 Ghostly greeting 48 Music group at a

New Year’s Eve party 51 Wall St. debut 52 Jacob’s twin 53 Author Ferber 54 “A mouse!”

55 Peel 56 Optimistic

DOWN 1 Tosses in 2 Harvest 3 Not -- many words 4 Not on the road 5 Novelist Anita 6 Alias letters 7 “It’s c-c-cold!”

8 Nasser’s successor 9 “The Da Vinci

Code” author 10 Out of the storm 11 Ordered 16 Journalist Nellie 20 Started 22 Pearly whites 23 Dumbstruck 24 Bread spread

25 Bird (Pref.)

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The Retreat at Alameda Community boasts technological advances

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Senior living and memory care centers are few and far between in the North Valley, so The Retreat at Alameda feels it’s filling a void.

“There’s nothing in the immediate area,” says Toni Grimm, sales director.

“It’s been a good opportunity. There are so many neighborhoods around here.

There are adult children looking for assisted living or memory care for parents.

Most our referrals are all from adult children. We usually have parents looking for themselves, but because technology has changed so much, they leave it up to their kids.

“They let kids do all the research, look at property online and get all the information.”

Owned by Astoria Health Care and managed by Paradigm Senior Living, the recently opened The Retreat at Alameda boasts 72 studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments in assisted living and 32 private care or shared two-bedroom apartments.

Grimm says her community is different from others. A “true” chef who attended culinary school prepares a wide variety of food for the residents.

“Everything he’s doing is scratch-based

ingredients.”

Technology is important to The Retreat at Alameda, too. In most communities, residents wear pendants around their neck to alert staff to come find them.

“With those types of pendants, if, say, Fred falls in the courtyard, the caregivers go to his apartment and, if he’s not there, they spend 20 minutes trying to figure out where he is.

“We have Blue Willow, which they wear on their wrist. It looks like a fit bit with a GPS trackable system in it. It’ll alert the staff immediately that he’s in the courtyard, not the apartment. It has a fall indicator in it. If Fred’s knocked unconscious, it alerts The Retreat at Alameda is owned by Astoria Health Care and managed by Paradigm Senior Living. The new us.” building boasts 72 studios, fresh food, a GPS tracking system to monitor residents and watch for portential falls, The other component of that, and a full activities calendar. (Photos courtesy of The Retreat at Alameda) as with any technology, is the He makes a new soup every day for lunch families can download the tracker in their fresh food,” she says.

“They can still get a burger and fries for and dinner. phone and track where their parents are.

“That’s one of the things that sets us lunch, but others are amazing. He makes Alameda...continues on page 13 a chicken pot pie for dinner. Homemade apart. We don’t use soup every day. Today we have sausage a lot of processed and white bean soup. Yesterday was his food. He’s using small own chili. He’s made French onion soup. vendors to get local

The Retreat at Alameda

1920 W. Alameda Drive, Phoenix 602-320-0437 retreatseniorliving.com facebook.com/RetreatAtAlameda

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Alameda...continued from page 12 “They’ll be able to notice if mom and dad haven’t left the apartment in a few days,” Grimm says. “They can call and say, ‘Dad, you’ve been in your room all day,’ and give them an extra layer of protection.”

The newest building was constructed with the Reme Halo hospital-grade filtration system. It filters 99.9% of the bacteria and mold.

Besides three meals a day and snacks, The Retreat at Alameda offers a full activities calendar.

www.LovinLife.com

“I like to say our community is like a cruise ship on land,” Grimm says. “Obviously, we’re just opening and ramping up those activities. We will eventually have a full activity calendar. We’ll do events and excursions. Singers will come in and entertain. We’ll take residents on the bus to look at Christmas lights.

“We have all kinds of things that keep our residents engaged and to keep them active and healthy. Science proves that helps them live longer. Moving into a building like this, they’ll lead much more productive lives.”

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Entertainment

“The World of Bob Dylan” Available in bookstores now. https://dylan.utulsa.edu/ the-world-of-bob-dylan-book

The World of Bob Dylan Tulsa professor shows the troubadour’s sides in new book

BY ALEX GALLAGHER University of Tulsa professor Sean Latham joined other music lovers to pen “The World of Bob Dylan,” which was released on Dylan’s 80th birthday.

“The book itself brings together 25 different contributors, each of whom is explaining their version of Bob Dylan,” says Latham, who served as editor.

Latham is the first to admit he’s not the biggest Dylan fan, but he does appreciate the legendary musician and the impact he made on music.

“I was fortunate in the sense that Bob Dylan came to me rather than me going to him,” Latham says.

At the University of Tulsa, Latham is a James Joyce expert who edits James Joyce Quarterly. The executive secretary of the Joyce Foundation, Latham was selected to run the Bob Dylan Institute by University of Tulsa President Brad Carson because of — as he describes— his ability to focus on one person.

“We knew we wanted the institute to focus on all of the ways Dylan might matter,” Latham says. “This is, in my view, the most important and most influential artistic figure of the latter half of the 20th century.

“This is, in part, because many other artists talk about what Dylan did for them,” Latham says.

Latham admires how Dylan’s songs did not just impact music, but they changed how the public speaks about the medium.

“His music doesn’t just live in the history of pop; it lives in the history of the civil rights movement,” Latham says. “It lives in conversations about theater, film and performance and ideas relating to justice.”

When it came to creating “The World of Bob Dylan,” Latham knew he could approach it in many ways. However, only one was right.

“We wanted an edited collection like this with a grand title like ‘The World

of Bob Dylan’ to say there is no one Bob Dylan to get your mind around,” Latham says. “He changed too much, he made too much music and his impact is far too broad.”

Latham structured this by delegating chapters to different writers, and some really jumped off the page, he says.

“I conceived each of the chapter titles and then approached people who I thought could write in really interesting, thoughtful and accessible ways about those topics,” Latham says.

Ann Powers, NPR’s music critic, wrote an essay on Dylan’s body and how his body and performance had changed over the course of his career.

“No one has really written their thoughts about the different ways that Dylan has inhabited his body, from being that kind of soft almost puppy dogish folk singer he was at the start of his career through that really angular body that we came to know in the ’60s,” Latham says.

“It’s a really interesting (take) on Dylan’s changing performance of masculinity on stage over the course of his career.”

Latham was also impressed by Devon Powers’ take on Bob Dylan “the brand.”

Powers is formerly of the Village Voice and is a marketing professor at Temple University. He explores how Dylan manipulated his own stardom to produce a branding effect.

“The impetus behind the book was to pull all of these different views and create a fractal view of Dylan,” Latham says.

Latham had a secondary motivation for this book.

“It was essential that this book be conceived, in part, as an introduction to Dylan,” Latham says. “We want this book

to be a way for people to sort of say I understand why Bob Dylan matters to the history of rock.”

“The World of Bob Dylan” fills a niche for fans who have been asking for an extensive book like this.

“There’s been a demand for this kind of book,” Latham says. “This book operates as a hinge. This book and others like it are the ones that are going to pivot us from fandom to trying to take full stock of Dylan for the next 80 years.”

Latham hopes readers come away with an appreciation for Dylan the artist.

“When you teach and you look back over an era, you get three or four people who become the representatives of that era, and that’s probably what we’re going to have for pop music from the second half of the 20th century,” Latham says.

“Dylan is going to be that guy, maybe also Prince and the Beatles, these are going to be the touchstones that we dwell

on when we talk about what happened in music and its relationship to literature and culture from 1960 to 2001.”

While Latham hopes the book will make its way onto the shelves of Dylan’s fans, he encourages teachers and professors to use it as an educational tool.

“This book is written to be used in classrooms as well,” Latham says. “If you’re teaching a literature class, there’s a chapter in here about Dylan and literature that will give you the sense of why you need to know something about Dylan.”

“The World of Bob Dylan” premiered in the United Kingdom first, but Latham ensured the book would be released on an important day.

“We put this out as a kind of birthday present, and it also came out in conjunction with the announcement of the Bob Dylan archive,” Latham says.

“Another thing that makes this book important is that we have access to this material. We’re going to have access to see how the songs got made, who he was exchanging letters with, and we can see and listen to the studio tapes.”

In the meantime, Latham hopes readers will do much more than just read his book.

“I suppose the one thing that we would hope is that people would read the book and go back and listen to the music,” Latham says.

“Even as you read a book like this and get a sense of all the different entangled ways that we can think of Dylan from a marketing standpoint to the way that he was influenced by gospel music and shaped how gospel music could intersect with rock, through it all, you still need to go back and hear the music itself.”

Get your copy today!

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Dining

Claudia D’Amico runs Trattoria D’Amico with her brother Romolo.

(Submitted photo)

‘Can Do’ is ‘Must Do’ Trattoria D’Amico continues its legacy

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA By now, “pandemic pivot” has become a cliché in describing businesses’ efforts to stay afloat during the pandemic and overcome its detrimental impact on their income.

In Ahwatukee, the family owners of Trattoria D’Amico have, by necessity, coined their own unique twist on it: pandemic pizza.

Business was going well for the three D’Amico siblings after they purchased Ahwatukee’s oldest continuously operated restaurant, Ruffino’s Italian Cuisine, adding not only their family name but authentic Italian family recipes as well.

They purchased the then-27-year-old restaurant in January 2016 and proudly placed their name over the door — the same name their mother Vilma had for the restaurant she founded in Rome nearly 50 years ago — and won numerous plaudits for their cuisine.

But then, March 2020 brought the first mandatory COVID-19 shutdown, plunging the world, and certainly business owners, into an abyss of fear and uncertainty.

“We weren’t sure the restaurant would open at all,” says Claudia D’Amico, who runs Trattoria D’Amico with her brother Romolo. Their older brother Mossimo returned to Italy to attend to family matters.

When the restaurant finally reopened, Claudia says they were operating at less than 50% capacity.

Prior to the pandemic closure, Trattoria D’Amico, at 4902 E. Warner Road, had received excellent reviews; Tripadvisor awarded the restaurant four and a half stars for all categories: food, service, value and atmosphere.

The trattoria maintained a loyal clientele that feasted on their family recipes for fresh-made pastas, sauces and breads gleaned from their mother, who had learned them from her mother.

Yet their business never recovered.

“It was a big loss, we were really impacted and not doing well at all,” Claudia says.

“The people who used to come — well, they were afraid to go out. We all were.

We tried reopening as an Italian grocery www.LovinLife.com

store, but we still didn’t have enough business.”

But, as if Fortuna, the Italian goddess of fortune, was looking out for the family who emigrated from Italy to Ahwatukee in 2015, there was already a plan in motion for a new venture: handmade pizza cooked and served from a pizza oven on wheels.

A mobile pizzeria may be the saving lifeline for not only the family business but their ability to remain in the country.

“We came up with the concept before COVID, and by the time the oven was ready, we had imported it from Italy, it was the end of March 2020,” Claudia explains. “We held off for a little while, as we weren’t sure how to go forward, but then we got the license as a food truck.”

And that food truck, an authentic pizza oven on wheels, has become a popular draw at area farmers markets, business events and as an extended lunchtime offering at Honeywell’s 3209 E. Airlane facility.

“We are also doing private parties and are already getting asked to be at graduation parties,” says Claudia, who lives with her husband, Aleffio, and their two daughters, ages 7 and 3. “It’s basically like having a piece of Italy parked outside your door.”

The desert’s summer heat is also cause for change, yet another pivot for the D’Amico’s.

“We plan to go to Payson this summer when it gets too hot here,” Claudia says.

“Besides our own, we’re borrowing a friend’s oven so we can do more.”

She is optimistic that when fall arrives in the Valley of the Sun, signature festivals like Ahwatukee’s FOL Kick-Off and Chandler’s Arizona Harvest Fest, both held in November, will see a resurgence as more residents are vaccinated and feel free to gather once again.

By then, the D’Amico’s road will be a

Trattoria D’Amico

4902 Warner Road, Phoenix 480-893-8544, trattoriadamico.com

different one.

“The restaurant will never reopen. It was already on the plan, (but) we will be at that location for as long as we can,” she says. “The future I see is having a second oven, starting a fleet. Then we can be at several places on the same dates.”

The success of their mobile pizza oven business is crucial to the D’Amico family, who rely on it to maintain their visa — known as a Treaty Investor Visa, or E2. The visa permits foreign investors and their family to live in the country by investing in a commercial enterprise.

One of the advantages of the E2 visa is that it can be extended indefinitely — for as long as the business concerned is viable.

Claudia, her brother Romolo and their families have acclimated to living here

and wish to stay. To ensure that happens requires a focused dedication to their business, Claudia says.

“We have to make it because as long as the business is going, we can be here. As long as the business goes well, we can be here,” she says, her dark eyes emphasizing the passion behind words. “The only chance you have, we have, is to go for it.”

Determination to succeed, despite what life throws at them, is engrained in the D’Amico family. It was proved when they left the comforts of their homes in Italy to immigrate to Arizona, and it bloomed like yeast in dough when the pandemic fallout hit their business.

“It’s an act of courage to leave an old concept and start a new one, but we need to keep moving and improving. I tell people when something bad happens to them, they don’t have to give up, they should do whatever they can to do for that extra push,” she says. “You gotta fly.”

Augmenting the handmade pizzas cooked to order on-site is the selling of grocery items the D’Amico’s import from Italy — extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, tuna, biscotti and more.

Besides the pizza doughs handmade

by Romolo, Claudia’s fresh-baked Italian pastries are also available at their farmers market stops.

The family continues making it a point to take Mondays and Tuesdays off to focus on family, a practice they began before COVID-19.

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Columns

Hospice Is Hope

WWII veteran honored on her 100th birthday

BY LIN SUE COONEY

Director of Community Engagement, Hospice of the Valley

Most of us observe Veterans Day in November, but the celebration came a bit early for a very special veteran turning 100 years old.

Born on April 21, 1921 — exactly five years before Queen Elizabeth II — Sgt. Stella Sgro served as an Army drill sergeant and air raid warden during World War II. As a civilian, she worked in a factory making parts for the military. Yet, the former nurse had never been honored or acknowledged for her service, according to daughter Lynda McLaughlin.

Sgro’s Hospice of the Valley care team wanted to change that for their “spunky” patient. Nurse Shana Hofberger and social worker Jenna Thomas reached out to the DreamCatchers Foundation in

hopes of creating a day to remember.

Student clubs at two Mesa high schools and Grand Canyon University jumped at the chance to honor such a remarkable centenarian.

On Sgro’s 100th birthday, scores of military organizations paraded past her home at Christian Care Nursing Center in Phoenix. Members of the Arizona Patriot Guard Riders, Arizona Military Vehicle Collectors Club and Daughters of American Revolution came out in force.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego proclaimed April 21, 2021, “Stella Sgro Day,” to honor “her life, her service and her legacy of enduring prosperity and longevity.” U.S. Sen. Krysten Sinema sent the “Arizona treasure” best wishes for “a grand

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As they grew older, as we all do, they wanted the American dream, owning a home. That dream for Maria and Diego took hard work.

With a good job, paying the bills, mortgage and of course keeping up with the kids, their house is more than just a home. It is the family they’ve built and the life they have lived. It was worth it all.

Now nearing retirement age, they are looking forward to enjoying what they earned. Maria and Diego couldn’t wait to sit back and relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

But even with all their careful planning, unforeseen events and unexpected expenses diminished the assets they set aside for their retirement. The only realistic option they could see was to sell their retirement home in Sun Lakes.

It felt like an impossible task.

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hard they worked and desired to stay in their home, suggested an alternative; a reverse mortgage.

Maria and Diego’s credit card debt were not a part of their retirement plans, but Sun American Mortgage stepped in to help turn a bad situation into an opportunity for them to stay in their home. With 30 years of experience assisting Arizona seniors in similar situations Sun American Mortgage is a leader in the Reverse Mortgage industry. Instead of selling their precious home they worked so hard for in Sun Lakes, Maria and Diego were able to turn to the equity in their own home to pay off their credit card debt and get back on track to retire better.

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They can make payments on their reverse mortgage if they want to, but also feel safe knowing that in a pinch, no payment is required. They pay their property taxes, homeowners’

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Maria and Diego have options.

They can simply pay the interest, make a full payment every other month, make two payments every month, or never make a payment again for as long as they live in the house. The reverse mortgage gave them the flexibility to live the future they dreamed of, even though their retirement plans didn’t go quite as planned, they can… retire better.

and glorious 100th birthday.”

Sgro petted therapy ponies sporting red, white and blue; accepted a myriad of gifts; and heard a live rendition of “God Bless the USA” She was a little dazzled and a lot grateful. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” she whispered to her daughter.

“Thank you.”

In her younger days, Sgro was a world traveler — she has 32 cruises under her belt. Even after slowing down, she has never lost her joie de vivre. Sgro would always look forward to lunching with her daughter and splitting a beer with her son-in-law.

Then came the pandemic and months and months of isolation.

“It’s really been hard during COVID,” Hofberger says. “Because of the restrictions, I was the only one who could see her. Her daughter couldn’t visit.”

(Above) Guest of honor Stella Sgro celebrated her 100th birthday and her service during World War II at a drive-by parade. (Below) Arizona Patriot Guard Riders couldn’t miss the opportunity to meet and honor former Army Sgt. Stella Sgro on her 100th birthday.

(Photos courtesy of Hospice of the Valley)

That socialization helped nurture Sgro through these many challenging months.

“Because of everyone on her Hospice of the Valley care team, my mom has maintained this year of life,” McLaughlin says. “That’s very poignant.”

Even more touching were all the amazing tributes honoring this remarkable woman. From family and friends to neighbors, fellow veterans, mounted infantry and bikers — it was the celebration of the century.

Lin Sue Cooney is director of community engagement at Hospice of the Valley. For information on services and programs, call 602-530-6900 or visit hov.org.

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The Healthy Geezer

Numerous fiber sources can help with cholesterol

BY FRED CICETTI

Q

Does fiber in your diet reduce cholesterol?

A

There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber is acted upon by the normal bacteria in your intestines. Insoluble fiber is not digested by the body and promotes regularity and softens stools. Wheat bran, whole grain products and vegetables are good sources of insoluble fiber.

Soluble fiber appears to reduce your body’s absorption of cholesterol from the intestines. Oatmeal contains soluble fiber that reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol that can increase your risk of heart attacks and strokes. This type of fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, Brussels sprouts, apples, pears, barley and prunes.

The American Dietetic Association recommends a healthy diet include 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day, including both soluble and insoluble fiber. (Soluble fiber should make up 5 to 10 grams of your fiber intake.) However, Americans only consume about half that amount.

There are other foods that work against cholesterol.

Soy protein, found in such products as tofu, soy nuts, soy milk and soy burgers, can help lower blood levels of LDL cholesterol, particularly when it’s substituted for animal protein. Ingesting 25 to 50 grams of soy protein a day lowers LDL cholesterol by 4% to 8%. That’s a lot of soy. People with the highest cholesterol levels seem to benefit the most from soy protein.

Women with breast cancer or who are at high risk of breast cancer should consult with their doctors before eating soy, because it is not clear how these plant estrogens might affect them.

Studies have shown that walnuts can significantly reduce cholesterol levels in the blood. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts may also help keep blood vessels healthier and elastic.

When walnuts represent 20% of the calories in a cholesterol-lowering diet, they reduce LDL cholesterol by 12%. Almonds appear to have a similar effect. All nuts are www.LovinLife.com

high in calories, so use them as replacements for high-calorie foods with high levels of saturated fats.

Omega-3 fatty acids in fish are noted for lowering triglycerides, another form of fat in your blood. They also benefit the heart in other ways. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon. Other good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include flaxseed, walnuts, canola oil and soybean oil.

Some foods are fortified with plant substances called sterols or stanols, which are similar in structure to cholesterol; this helps them block the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines. Margarines and orange juice that have been fortified with plant sterols can help reduce LDL cholesterol by more than 10%.

The American Heart Association recommends that foods containing plant sterols should be reserved for adults requiring lower total and LDL cholesterol levels because they are at high risk of — or have had — a heart attack.

You may want to try eating more soluble fiber, soy protein, walnuts and fatty fish. The next step would be the addition of foods fortified with plant sterols. Eating a combination of these cholesterol-lowering foods increases the benefit.

Of course, if you’re a geezer and you plan to make a change in your habits that could affect your health, it is recommended that you consult your doctor first.

Pandemic’s end brings hope, appreciation BYMARK LAWRENCE Care Home Manager, Oakmont Assisted Living

During this long pandemic, no one has been affected more than seniors in assisted living facilities. As the manager of Oakmont Assisted Living in Scottsdale, I have seen the burden COVID-19 placed on our staff, our residents and their families, but despite the strain of 2020, we have a lot to look forward to in 2021.

This spring was a very emotional time for us. The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has given us reason to be hopeful about a more traditional 2021. As our residents and their families get vaccinated, we are once again able to enjoy regular visits and plan events again.

Our community is so used to families being involved daily. Our staff got to know them personally, and they get to know us, so having their visits taken away last year was devastating for all. It is an amazing feeling to tell our residents’ families that they are welcome back into our facility. It feels like a rebirth to many of our residents and staff as a steady flow of friends and family begins to come back to our assisted living facility.

The ability of our residents to see their families again is a huge boon on our residents’ physical and mental health. The more frequent visits by family members mean that our residents are eating better and have less anxiety because there is something to look forward to.

Vaccines have also allowed us to bring

back critical therapy professionals and treatments that we were unable to continue due to the high risk of COVID-19 exposure to our residents. We are now able to bring back professionals such as physical and occupational therapists who play a critical role in ensuring our residents can live comfortably.

It makes a big difference for our residents to continue with rehab programs again, like they were doing before the pandemic. Our residents who need these services are already feeling happier and healthier.

We are also excited to begin planning events again after a year of social distancing and the limits of outdoor activities.

We can now have barbecues, live music events, and trips outside of the facility.

There has been a lot of pent-up demand to go out and do activities outside of the home. We are looking forward to being able to take trips to the botanical garden and participating in normal outdoor activities again. These plans are still in the preliminary phases while we wait for the state to ease restrictions on assisted living facilities.

Last year was difficult for everyone involved with assisted living facilities. Residents, staff and their families endured COVID-19 restrictions that nobody liked but that were necessary. I have hope that 2021 will lead to better and brighter things.

JUNE 2021

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