Later Life Learning comes calling

Back in February, I received a friendly email from Clare Williams at the Kingston Seniors Centre:

"In September of 2023, the Seniors Association Kingston Region took over the long-running Later Life Learning series. As you may know, Later Life Learning has been an integral part of the Kingston educational landscape for more than 30 years, offering a diverse selection of scholarly lectures on important and/or topical themes.

The series have been very popular at The Centre, with more than 150 older adults attending each lecture. The theme for our Oct/Nov 2026 series is “The Great Kingston Stories Series”. I am hoping you might be interested in doing a presentation on Kingston railways. The lectures take place at the Centre, on Friday mornings from 10am to noon. Generally the talks are 45 – 60 mins, with a break for coffee, followed by questions from the audience. Our presenters have found this to be a very rewarding experience, as our audience members are intelligent, engaged and interested in learning."

Well, that was in February and it's nearly November now. Time to get to work! One Apple Pages presentation, 80 slides, in one day. I've been told to expect 160 attendees and to use nothing smaller than 28 pt on my slides! I am sure that during the Q&A someone will ask me what I think about ALTO. I'm prepared to say that we're here to talk history, not the future. But as we all know, every day we are making history.

I've been to the Seniors Centre only once, for a book sale. But our late neighbour was there many times. Pat was a tireless volunteer and as an increasingly skilled watercolour artist. She taught art classes at the Centre, and took part in yoga classes there. Many years ago, she suggested I come to a Later Life Learning talk by Kingston historian and author Steven Manders. I was not able to get the time off work. As I often say, work gets in the way. Not any more. I will be there with Pat on my mind on the 13th. Life has come full circle. From potential attendee to presenter, I think Pat would be proud.

Just one of many brushes with fate that I have experienced since starting on this Hanley Spur journey!