Helen Schneyer is a great example -- 78 years young (or is it 79?) and still performing, singing as passionately as ever. You can hear her singing on her CD (produced when she was a mere child of 73). It's called "Somber, Sacred, and Silly," and is distributed by both Folk Legacy and Camsco. She lives in Plainfield, VT.

Plainfield, Vermont also is home to Barbara Carns, who's in her 70s and a wonderful blues singer/guitar player. She peforms here and there, and until recently hosted a folk music radio show out of Goddard College.

Marlboro, Vermont, is where you'll find Margaret MacArthur, also in her 70s, still recording, performing all over the country, and singing at festivals. She, like Helen and Barbara, is a true treasure. She has many CDs, and my understanding is that she's about to release another. You'll find here occasionally here on the Mudcat.

New England must be good for graceful aging. Bob McQuillen, composer of more than 1,000 wonderful contradance tunes and waltzes, lives and plays in New Hampshire, and has just released two new CDs: "Hand It Down," and "Old New England." Bob's well into his 70s.

Also from New Hampshire is fiddler Allan Block (in his 70s and recently honored for his continuing contributions to folk music at the Champlain Valley Festival). I believe that Dudley Laufman, one of the founding fathers of New England contradancing in its popular form, also is from N.H.

And then, of course, there are Sandy and Caroline Paton. Sandy recently turned over the big Seven-Oh on the odometer and wears an "Old Fart" baseball cap to festivals where he and Caroline perform. Caroline isn't quite there yet, but if anyone embodies the "aging gracefully" concept, it's these two. You'll find Sandy hanging around the 'Cat when he's not performing. They live in Sharon, Connecticut, where they also run Folk-Legacy records.

That ought to get you started... Kathy