Olympic Features with Unique Senior Citizen
Perspective Provided by Suzanne Roberts
Tomorrow she features the Golden Eight, a legendary
rowing team now all over 60
Aug.
13, 2008 Senior citizens who enjoy the Olympics may thoroughly enjoy
coverage from a seniors perspective. The television show Seeking
Solutions with Suzanne, helmed by Emmy Award winner, Suzanne Roberts,
86, has unique features for seniors on the Comcast and CNN television
show targeting older Americans. Tomorrow (Aug. 14) Suzanne introduces
the Golden Eight rowers all over age 60.
The US won the gold medal in the men's eight at
every Olympiad from 1920 until 1956. Requiring pure strength, endurance,
harmony, and teamwork unlike any other sport, the "Golden Eight" seem to
epitomize such qualities -- eight men in one boat, working in unison to
overcome their competition. Not your typical rowing team, the members of
the Eight are all over the age of 60, with the average age 77 - yet
they've won 14 gold medals, more than any other boat.
Since 1985 the Golden Eight have seen 42 men on the
team who all are renowned rowers, including legends like Sid Salomon. He
is famous for scaling the cliffs of Normandy on D-Day and featured in
the book by Stephen Ambrose entitled "D-Day," and portrayed as a
fictional Captain by Tom Hanks in the movie Saving Private Ryan.
Another is Harold Finigan, who rowed more miles on
the Schuylkill River than any other person -- around 500 and 1,000 miles
for 64 years before passing away in 2005.
In 2006, the crew of the Golden Eight rowed for
one last time at the 2006 FISA world masters championship in Princeton,
New Jersey.
Only two members of the original eight remain: Jack
Scholl and Dave Challinor
On August 17,
Suzanne visits with Ironman, Robert Baker. Initially the conglomeration
of three of Hawaii's toughest races: the 2.4-mile Waikiki Roughwater
Swim, the 112-mile Around-Oahu Bike Race, and the 26.2-mile Honolulu
Marathon, the original group of 12 out of 15 who completed the course
determined that "whoever finishes first we'll call the Ironman." The
lucky inaugural winner was Gordon Haller. Today, some of the fittest
athletes in the world crumble under the extreme duress of the grueling
three-event race. Dr. Robert Baker first tried his hand at Ironman at
the ripe age of 59 and is still out there going strong at 65. Suzanne
catches up with him to chat about how his interest in the event began,
how he got started running and how he intends to keep on competing.
On August 18,
New York Marathon record-holder Ginette Bedard talks with Suzanne about
her running career. Bedard won the 2004 USA Track & Field Masters Long
Distance Running Award, and has won her age category in 14 of 15 races
in 2004. In 2005, she ran the New York Marathon in an astonishing three
hours and 46 minutes, setting a record for her age group and also
participated in a race up the stairs of the Empire State Building, in
which she climbed 1,600 steps in just 22 minutes! She has competed in
four marathons, runs between 16 and 18 miles daily, and has never joined
a gym. As if that's not enough, Ginette is 72 years old! Stay tuned as
Suzanne sits down with this inspirational woman to discuss what keeps
her running.
On August 19,
Suzanne meets Leo Kelly and Nancy Norris, to talk about the epitome of
"personal best" quests - conquering Mt. Everest. Norris, 61 and a
grandmother of 4 is a business owner -- Nancy Norris Fitness Company -
where she is an aerobic coordinator, teacher and personal trainer.
A certified skydiver
and scuba diver, she became interested in rock climbing in the late
'90s, and after completing a week of "snow school" and a climb in
Colorado in 1998, continued to climb several mountains a year. In 2001,
she attempted "the ultimate climb"--Mt. Everest, with a goal of reaching
all seven summits of the world. If she makes it to the summit of
Everest, she will be the oldest North American to do so.
Leo Kelly is a
53-year-old chartered accountant and father of four who started climbing
over 30 years ago. His son Deryl began climbing with him at age 6, and
they've been climbing partners ever since.
A veteran of climbs
including Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina in 1997, an un-roped climb of Mt.
Lefroy in the Canadian Rockies in 1998 and Mt. Victoria the next day,
Kelly made his first Everest climb in 2001, as part of the "Emerald
Odyssey Mt. Everest 2001" team. While he didn't make it to the summit,
he did get to celebrate his 50th birthday on Mt. Everest, and hopes to
make the journey again soon.
Suzanne Roberts
Show Schedule
The show is broadcast to more than 20 million
viewers with five minute segments airing three times daily on CNN
Headline News and a weekly half-hour on CN8 and Comcast Cable systems
across the country. It isone of the first nationally-televised daily and
weekly programs for seniors with a senior host.
Seeking Solutions with Suzanne can be seen in its
half-hour format at 6 pm, Sundays, on CN8 and on Comcast systems (check
local listings). The 5-minute version airs three times daily on CNN
Headline News in its new time schedule - 11:55am, 1:55pm and 3:55pm.
Seeking Solutions can also be viewed via live web
streaming of its weekly, half-hour episodes for the first time, on
Sunday evenings at 6pm ET on
www.CN8.tv.
A top Olympic show was provided by Suzanne on
August 11, when she visited with Grandma Luge - Anne Abernathy, who has
overcome cancer, broken bones, 12 knee surgeries and a serious head
injury to get where she is today. Currently training for her 6th time
competing in the Olympics, this dynamic athlete is in the Guinness Book
of World Records as the oldest woman ever to compete in the Winter
Games!
One of the oldest Olympic sports, Anne first got
interested in the luge while skiing in Lake Placid, NY, and although
only 40 at the time, she was nicknamed "Grandma Luge" in 1993 as
recognition that she was "competing in a sport once thought to be
reserved for the young."
Her story took a dramatic turn when she was
seriously injured in January 2001, crashing during the World Cup Race in
Altenberg, Germany, which resulted in the loss of three years of memory,
as well as seizures and black-outs. Told she would likely never fully
recover, she was determined to get well to compete in the Salt Lake City
Olympics, which were less than a year away. In true Olympic style, she
found a therapy that worked, and just three weeks prior to the Olympics,
she qualified to go.
A two-time Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winner, Suzanne
Roberts is a visionary pioneer who, recognizing the dearth of quality
television programming for the over 50 audience, created Seeking
Solutions in 2000 - and a brand new career for herself at the age of 80.
Since its inception, the show has helped to change the landscape of
informational television with a landmark product that gives the 50+
population the kind of innovative programming they need and want, which
prior to its launch didn't exist on a national scope anywhere else on
the small screen. Aiming to both enlighten and entertain, the show
provides ideas, information, tips and insight on topics that impact the
older adult audience -- from facelifts to prostate cancer,
intergenerational conflict to finance, breaking the rules of aging to
weight training - all within the context of an adventurous guide map to
making the most out of life, regardless of age.
For more information on Suzanne Roberts and Seeking
Solutions with Suzanne, call Stage 3 Productions at 215.985.2700 or
visit
www.suzanne.tv. For information on the programming schedule or for
press interview opportunities, please call Nina Zucker Associates at
610.667.0706 or
nzapr@aol.com.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Aug.
13, 2008 Senior citizens who enjoy the Olympics may thoroughly enjoy
coverage from a seniors perspective. The television show Seeking
Solutions with Suzanne, helmed by Emmy Award winner, Suzanne Roberts,
86, has unique features for seniors on the Comcast and CNN television
show targeting older Americans. Tomorrow (Aug. 14) Suzanne introduces
the Golden Eight rowers all over age 60.