Pathways Series - October 2023

William L. (Bill) Randall is Professor Emeritus of Gerontology at St. Thomas University (STU) in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.  After growing up in the village of Harvey Station, New Brunswick, he went on to Harvard University, the University of Toronto, Cambridge University, and Princeton Theological Seminary. 

His first career was as a minister for 11 years with the United Church of Canada, serving parishes in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Ontario. Following doctoral studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, he was invited to St Thomas University to be the first Visiting Chair in Gerontology. Since then, he regularly teaches courses on: Adult Development and Aging; Aging and Health; Narrative Gerontology; Counseling Older Adults; Older Adults as Learners; and Humour, Play and Creativity in Later Life.  In 2010, he was awarded the rank of full professor.

From 2008 to 2012, Bill served as Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Narrative at STU and since 2009, as board member of the Atlantic Institute on Aging. As well as founding co-organizer of the biennial conferences called  Narrative Matters, he is co‑editor, with Elizabeth McKim, of the online peer‑reviewed journal, Narrative Works: Issues, Investigations, Interventions.  

Besides being an Institute Associate with The Taos Institute and an Honorary Research Associate with the University of New Brunswick, he is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Aging Studies and Age, Humanities, and Culture: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
​In 2009, he was co‑recipient - with Ernst Bohlmeijer, Gerben Westerhof, and Thijs Tromp of the Netherlands, plus his STU colleague Gary Kenyon - of an award for “Theoretical Developments in Social Gerontology” from The Gerontological Society of America for a paper on "narrative foreclosure" in later life.

Bill has over 70 publications to his credit on topics related to narrative, reminiscence, and aging.  He has written articles for journals in the fields of gerontology, social work, education, healthcare, and psychology.  These include: The Gerontologist, Journal of Aging Studies, Theory and Psychology, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Journal of General Education, Critical Social Work, Rural Social Work, and Narrative Inquiry. 
He is author, co-author, or co-editor of 10 Books

• The Stories We Are: An Essay on Self-Creation (University of Toronto Press, 1995/2014)
• Restorying Our Lives: Personal Growth Through Autobiographical Reflection (Praeger, 1997)
• Ordinary Wisdom: Biographical Aging and the Journey of Life (Praeger, 2001)
• Reading Our Lives: The Poetics of Growing Old (Oxford University Press, 2008)
• Storying Later Life: Issues, Investigations & Interventions in Narrative Gerontology (Oxford University Press, 2011)
• The Tales that Bind:A Narrative Model of Living & Helping in Rural Communities(University of Toronto Press, 2015)
• The Narrative Complexity of Ordinary Life: Tales from the Coffee Shop (Oxford University Press, 2015)
• In Our Stories Lies Our Strength: Aging, Spirituality, and Narrative (Kindle Direct Publishing, 2019)
• Fairy Tale Wisdom: Stories for the Second Half of Life (ElderPress Books, 2022)
• Things That Matter: Special Objects in Our Stories as We Age (University of Toronto Press, forthcoming)

Bill has given keynote addresses, practitioner workshops, master classes, and scholarly papers at universities and conferences in Canada and the US, but also in the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, England, Iceland, Sweden, Spain, and France.  Among the topics he continues to  return to in his teaching and writing are narrative resilience, narrative environment, spirituality and aging, autobiographical memory, and autobiographical learning.  Concerning the applied side of narrative gerontology, he is committed to furthering awareness of the importance of "narrative care" in a wide range of settings, from hospice to hospital, special care home to nursing home, and churches to communities.

For more info, please visit - https://www.williamlrandall.com/

Dr. Irwin-Kenyon was born in Montreal, Quebec, and completed his early studies at Concordia University. He did his doctoral work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and then became a postdoctoral Fellow at the Andrew Norman Institute for Advanced Studies in Gerontology and Geriatrics, University of Southern California. He was also a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Linkoping, Sweden, and is a frequent visiting scholar in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Dr. Gary Irwin-Kenyon is founding Chair and Professor at the Gerontology Department, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

He is a Fellow of the Andrew Norman Institute for Advanced Studies in Gerontology and Geriatrics, University of Southern California. Gary is listed in Who’s Who in Canada (Grey House Publishing) and the United States (Marquis Biographies Online).

He has authored, co-authored or co-edited six books, including Narrative Gerontology, Storying Later Life, Restorying Your Life, Ordinary Wisdom, and Pathways to Stillness.

Gary is a teacher and practitioner of Tai Chi with more than thirty years of experience. He designed a program, Tai Chi as Narrative Care, which he has been teaching for the past ten years to special groups, including residents in long-term care. He conducts workshops and seminars in Canada, The United States, Europe, and Asia. Gary is also an apprentice barista. He resides in St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick, Canada with his wife Liz, where they operate Seahaven, an organic B&B.

Ashley first became interested in the field of aging when she was providing care to her grandmother at home.

She has fifteen years of experience in community and long-term care. Alongside Person Centred Universe, Ashley is the Executive Director of Loch Lomond Villa in New Brunswick.

Ashley has developed numerous training programs including the use of individualized music therapy, therapeutic activity, and Snoezelen Rooms, among others.

Ashley holds a BA in Gerontology, is a certified educator for the Dementia Understanding the Journey Course, holds a certificate from the NCCDP as a Certified Dementia Practitioner and is certified for Dementia Care Mapping from the trailblazing Bradford University in the UK. She is currently pursuing a Global Executive MBA with a focus in Health & the Life Sciences from the Rotman School of Management

She has previously been a board member of the provincial chapter and national federation of the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.

Daphne has twenty years of experience working in a variety of roles in long-term care in Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

Before recently deciding to focus on providing full -time leadership at Person Centred Universe, Daphne held numerous leadership roles in the Aging Care space, both informal and formal. A highlight of her career has been serving as the long-time Executive Director of Nashwaak Villa Nursing Home in New Brunswick, which she took through a transformation to become an award-winning Planetree Gold Certified organization following the principles of person-centred care.

At Person Centred Universe she provides transformational leadership coaching and other consulting services, develops new programs, and is a sought-after speaker in industry events.

Daphne holds a BA in Gerontology, M.Ed in Adult Education, a diploma in Health Sciences specializing in Therapeutic Recreation, and is certified for Dementia Care Mapping from the trailblazing Bradford University in the UK.

She has previously been a board member of the provincial chapter and national federation of the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.

Rahzeb is the founder of Lifelong Inspiration. Lifelong Inspiration promotes and develops ideas, services and tools to advance a person-centred agenda. In long-term care, Lifelong Inspiration is most well known for True Doors®, decals help that improve the lives of people with dementia. True Doors began as a social art and life story project and is now a respected brand adopted from Tasmania to Vancouver.

Rahzeb has been a London city banker, market analyst, and language technology entrepreneur. He and his family are based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.