383 Jill G Hall: Shaped by her Past: Creativity Unleashed

383 Jill G Hall: Shaped by her Past: Creativity Unleashed

Author: Gail Zelitzky and Catherine Marienau June 3, 2026 Duration: 27:50

Author and artist Jill G. Hall, 71, joins us with her luminous new novel On a Sundown Sea, inspired by the mysteries surrounding the visionary woman who built Lomaland—a utopian community near the home Jill grew up in. Fascinated since childhood by the stories whispered throughout her neighborhood, for more than a century, Hall spent five years researching the extraordinary life of Katherine Tingley, tracing her journey from Massachusetts roots to her profound spiritual and artistic influence on the West Coast.

When Jill began writing after a twenty-year career as an educator, she never imagined she would become a novelist. Joining a prompt-writing group, she initially thought she might write children’s books or a memoir about teaching. Instead, unexpected characters began appearing on the page. Jill kept writing, and ten years later, when she was sixty, her debut novel, The Black Velvet Coat, was published. Two more novels completed the Anne McFarland Series with The Silver Shoes and The Green Lace Corset.

Jill has always been creative. Along the way, she’d been shaped by a series of mentors: her grandmother, a beloved fifth-grade teacher who nurtured her love of the humanities, and later, poets who helped refine her voice. Beyond writing, she’s also a visual artist whose mixed-media collages and mosaics blend found objects—especially silver trays transformed into wall-hung artworks—with words, tiles, and small artifacts. She studies modern dance, practices yoga, and takes long walks, all of which continue to enrich her life and work.

Now working on a collection of her nature-inspired poetry, Jill embraces aging with joy and curiosity.

“I feel like I am aging backwards!” - Jill G. Hall

Anne McFarland Series: The Black Velvet Coat, The Silver Shoes & The Green Lace Corset

Biographical Historical Novel: On A Sundown Sea

Website: www.jillghall.com

https://substack.com/@jillghall

https://www.facebook.com/JillGHallAuthor/#

https://www.instagram.com/jillg.hall/

Shining the Light on Age-Wise Collective—Women Over 70 is proud to be part of the Age-Wise Collective, a group of women podcasters championing pro-aging voices. We highlight Beverley Glazer, a transition coach and strategic thinking partner whose podcast-AgingwithPurposeandPassion.com –showcases the raw, empowering stories of high-achieving women who have navigated the most extreme life transitions with unshakeable resilience.


Hosted by Gail Zelitzky and Catherine Marienau, Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined turns the page on a well-worn cultural script. This is not a series about decline, but a collection of dialogues focused squarely on expansion. You’ll hear from women who are starting businesses, deepening their creative practices, forging new relationships, and confronting societal expectations with a refreshing blend of honesty and humor. These conversations, rooted in personal journals and lived expertise, delve into the practical and the profound-from the science of longevity to the personal journeys of resilience that define this chapter. The podcast moves beyond inspiration to offer tangible insight, framing the later decades as a time of active reinvention. Tune in for stories that replace stereotypes with specificity, and discover a community redefining what it means to grow older with purpose and curiosity.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined
Podcast Episodes
360 Deb Krier: Trying Not to Die [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:08
Like most people, when Deb Krier was told she had metastatic breast cancer in 2015, she went into a tailspin. She previously worked for an oncologist and later, the American Cancer society and still was not prepared. Wha…
357 Lynn Hazan: A Passion for Performance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:46
From the moment you hear Lynn Hazan, 70, speak, one thing is unmistakable: performance isn’t just something she does — it’s the lens through which she experiences the world.Born and raised in Canada, Lynn moves comfortab…
356 Darlene Norman: Belief in Your Own Advocacy Starts with Faith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:46
Long a member of the Apostolic Church of God in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, Darlene’s faith has been a constant even as she experiences the inevitable ups and downs of life. At 71, Darlene’s serene manner shine…
355 Laurel Baer: Caregiving Offers a Deep Sense of Purpose [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:00
When Laurel married in her late 50s, she never imagined she’d become her husband’s full-time caregiver just five years later. Now, twenty years into that journey, she calls it a blessing: “He is so easy to care for…. I h…
354 Jody Wilhelm: From Rural Recluse to Global Filmmaker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:20
Jody’s life reads like a movie—one she ultimately wrote and directed herself. Growing up in isolation and surviving severe trauma, she moved through poverty, rape, separation from siblings, and profound loss—the deaths o…
353 Sophy Burnam: The Inner Experience of Being Old [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:28
Sophy Burnham has lived many creative lives—and she’s still expanding. Known as a deeply imaginative and award-winning author, Sophy has written 17 books across genres: novels and nonfiction, children’s stories, poetry,…