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Saturday, 1/19: Host Connie Corley talks with Irma Beserra Núñez & Don Juan/Johnny D. González and Dr. Harry “Rick” Moody
Irma Beserra Núñez was honored as 2012 Pioneer Women of the Year representing Council District CD13 as part of the annual celebration organized by the L.A. Commission on the Status of Women. Irma is also a recipient of the 2012 CALCO Excellence In Teaching Award from CCAE (California Council for Adult Education). Irma received her California Life Teaching Credential in 1975. Throughout the years, she has worked as an instructor through the Los Angeles Unified School District teaching students of all ages, including active older adults. Since 2007, Irma and her 200+ Active Older Adult Students have worked closely with Councilmember Eric Garcetti and his staff at the Glassell Park Community & Senior Citizen Center. As part of a citywide coalition, Eric, his staff, Irma and her students served as staunch advocates and played a critical role in rallying support and helping save Adult Education and Programs for Older Adults by empowering students, parents, grandparents and community groups to have a greater voice and role in the decision making process.
In 1992-2007, Irma and her partner Don Juan aka Johnny D. González (internationally acclaimed Chicano artist and muralist) launched their statewide New Barrio Lifestyle Campaign™ Cultural Arts Educational Program which received major media recognition and support. In the L.A. City Hall Rotunda, Irma and Juan/Johnny kicked off their program as curators of a 300 piece Chicano/Mexicano/Latino & Multicultural Traveling Art Gallery™ Collection that traveled throughout California with their live stage production, titled The Birth of Our Art,™ and was seen by ten of thousands at schools, colleges, universities, government agencies, corporations, professional conferences, etc.
Artist Don Juan/Johnny D. González is an innovator of the 1970s East Los Angeles Chicano Mural Movement and Cultural Arts Renaissance. Juan/Johnny’s 27 Hour Oral History Interview documents his life story and legacy that transcends various genres as an innovator of 1960s East L.A. Chicano Rock & Roll, 1970s Chicano Art and 1979 Chicano Motion Pictures as well as his partnership with Irma as innovators of 1980s Hispanic Marketing, 1990s Chicano/Mexicano/Latino Fine Art Print Distribution, and 1990s Multi-Ethnic Cultural Arts Education. The audio tapes and transcripts of Juan/Johnny and Irma’s Oral History will eventually be housed at the UCLA Main Library Oral History Resource Center and UCLA CSRC and will be made available for scholars, educators, students and the public on the World Wide Web.
Dr. Harry “Rick” Moody is the head of the office of Academic Affairs at AARP and one of the lead figures in Positive Aging. Dr. Moody is the author of over 100 scholarly articles and book chapters, as well as a number of books including: Abundance of Life: Human Development Policies for an Aging Society (Columbia University Press, 1988); Ethics in an Aging Society (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992); and Aging: Concepts and Controversies, a gerontology textbook now in its 3rd edition. His most recent book, The Five Stages of the Soul, was published by Doubleday Anchor Books (1997) and has been translated into seven languages worldwide.
A graduate of Yale (1967) and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University (1973), Dr. Moody taught philosophy at Columbia, Hunter College, New York University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. From 1999 to 2001 he served as National Program Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Faith in Action and, from 1992 to 1999, was Executive Director of the Brookdale Center at Hunter College. Before coming to Hunter, he served as Administrator of Continuing Education Programs for the Citicorp Foundation and later as Co-Director of the National Aging Policy Center of the National Council on Aging in Washington, DC.
Harry Moody is known nationally for his work in older adult education and recently stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Elderhostel. He has also been active in the field of biomedical ethics and holds appointment as an Adjunct Associate of the Hastings Center. He’ll be talking about the upcoming 6th International Conference on Positive Aging, Feb. 10 – 12 in Los Angeles. Click here to learn more about Dr. Moody.
“Worth Repeating” is a weekly feature on the EngAGE Blog that will bring you previous posts that we think are still timely, interesting, or just plain fun! From 1/16/12:
“The recession and its aftermath have hit older workers especially hard. People 55 to 64 — an age range when many start to dream of kicking back — are having a particularly hard time finding new jobs. For a vast majority of this cohort, being thrown out of work means months of fruitless searching and soul-crushing rejection.”
Actors James Earl Jones, left, and Angela Lansbury discuss their rolls in the play “Driving Miss Daisy” in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. Jones and Lansbury, in Australia to star in a touring production of Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play “Driving Miss Daisy,” credit the thrill of performing with their seemingly endless supply of energy, which has propelled them throughout their decades-long careers. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Read more 
