Judy Foreman Author & Journalist

Suddenly, it seemed as if that old “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” TV ad had sprung to life. Louise Macnair, a widow who is now 93, crashed to the floor in the living room of her Cambridge home and thought, “This is the occasion. I’ve got to push that button.” She did, and…

Last summer, a record-setting, five-day heat wave scorched Chicago, making headlines nationwide not just because of the sizzling temperatures — as high as 106 degrees Farenheit — but because older people died by the hundreds. By the time the heat wave was over, there had been more than 700 “extra” deaths, numbers so shocking that…

After 33 years in the rough and tumble of Cambridge politics, including several stints as mayor, Walter Sullivan, 73, has developed a new — albeit unwanted — preoccupation during retirement: eye troubles. In fact, there are four major vision problems that often plague older people — cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy — and…

Catherine Wright, 61, a retired telephone operator from Quincy who cheerfully admits she wore “fancy high heels” for years, sat propped up, admiring her podiatrist’s handiwork. On her right foot, where a mish-mash of hammertoes and a nasty bunion had been, Wright had a long incision and a string of neat, black stitches from her…