A new vision of aging

By Evan Dawson,

Published March 17, 2026 at 4:36 PM EDT

Five people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a woman front left has short brown hair and is wearing glasses, a green sweater, green scarf, green pants and brown shoes: a woman front right has shoulder-length brown hair and is wearing an orange sweater with two white stripes across the chest and arms and two black ribbon bows on the chest, brown pants and brown boots; a woman back left has short grey hair and is wearing glasses and a sweater with a black-and-white diamond pattern over a white button-down shirt; a woman back right has short grey hair and is wearing a gold puffy vest over a black turtleneck sweater; a man at center has very short dark hair and is wearing a light bluee quilted sweatshirt and blue jeans. — (foreground) Margaret M. Joynt and Mary Rose McBride, (background) Kitty Wise and Pat Ward-Baker with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, March 17, 2026

"They all have an inner voice, and they listen to it." That's what a local woman said she learned from people in their 90s who are still professionally active.

Pat Ward-Baker earned her Ph.D. when she was 75. Her dissertation, "The Remarkable Oldest Old: A New Vision of Aging," still informs her work and her life today.

Ward-Baker is now in her 90s and continues to combat ageism.

We sit down with her and her colleagues to talk about their vision of aging. This conversation is part of WXXI's celebration of Women's History Month.

In studio:

Pat Ward-Baker, Ph.D., former financial advisor
Margaret M. Joynt, former attorney
Kitty Wise, former program coordinator for Friends of the Rochester Public Library and long-time community volunteer for supporting the arts in Rochester
Mary Rose McBride, vice president of marketing and communications for Lifespan

For information on Lifespan's "Celebration of Aging" event, click here.