55+ Life is dedicated to celebrating this time in our lives, a time when we can explore new ideas, people, and places with a sense of curiosity and enthusiasm. Our writers are passionate storytellers, seasoned professionals, and curious explorers who share a common goal: helping readers live their best life—whether that means discovering new adventures, embracing wellness, mastering finances, or finding joy in everyday moments.
Meet the 55+ Life Team of Writers – the voices behind the stories that speak to your lifestyle, your goals, and your next great chapter.
Alison Michael
Owner & Publisher of 55+ Life
Alison was born and raised in New Jersey, and spent many years in Manhattan, NY before moving to the NY Capital Region 20 years ago. After moving into NYC at 23, Alison began her career in the fashion industry upon graduating the Fashion Institute of Technology, selling woven Italian textiles to women’s apparel manufacturers. Fast forward 20 years, with an entrepreneurial spirit, she had the opportunity to purchase a “senior” magazine that she has since rebranded to “55+ Life”. While not a trained writer, she shares her vision on aging, life, retiring, health, travel etc. in her publisher note in each issue of 55+ Life. She is passionate about this time in our lives and embraces making it the best of what it can be. Aging is living and she is an example and inspiration of that.
Alison lives with her husband and teenage son, and her beloved English Labrador retriever, Lola, and two tabby rescues, Sunny & Skidmore. She enjoys exercising, cooking, listening to various genres of music, attending concerts, comedy shows, traveling, reading and entertaining friends. She eats organically when possible, loves farmer markets and most foods that are farm fresh. She is often plotting her next travel adventure, usually in Europe, and is embracing this time in her life fully. Values her old friends and looks forward to creating new ones as she continues on her journey through her life. She is inspired by all of you, learning together how we can navigate aging to life our best lives.
LinkedIn: alison-michael-769ab74
Facebook: alison.loeffelmichael
Janet Reynolds
Janet Reynolds is an award-winning journalist, editor and content strategist with deep roots in alternative journalism, and arts and culture magazines. Janet’s work has appeared in print and online in local, regional and national publications. She has written everything from long-form investigative pieces and magazine articles to profiles and articles for alumni magazines for both private schools and colleges as well as blogs and articles for company websites. In her free time, you can find her reading, knitting and playing music in various orchestras and ensembles.
LinkedIn: JanetFReynolds
Instagram: @jreynolds1018
Blog: www.janetfreynolds.com
Caitlin Manner
Caitlin Manner is a freelance writer, artist, and social media strategist. She believes that “living your best life” means working on the never-ending pursuit of better mental health, attempting to quench one’s thirst for lifetime learning, and helping people in their journeys to do the same. When Imposter Syndrome threatens her sense of accomplishment, she reminds herself that she’s spent almost the last two decades as an Air Force Spouse, which necessitated uprooting her life at a moment’s notice and reinventing the wheel at every turn. Now that her husband is retired from active duty, she looks forward to putting down deep roots and enjoying a new sense of stability.
When she’s not writing or attempting to manage the chaos that her three sons manifest, Caitlin enjoys fostering rescue animals, crafting, gardening, reading, and occasionally running at a fairly slow pace.
Blue Sky: @cdmanner.bsky.social
Linked In: caitlin-manner
Portfolio: caitlindmanner.com
Tom & Jerry Caraccioli
Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli are identical twin brothers and three-time authors, (Ice Breakers; BOYCOTT: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games and regional bestseller STRIKING SILVER: The Untold Story of America’s Forgotten Hockey Team). The brothers also served as editors and advisors for the memoir of broadcasting pioneer and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lesley Visser, Sometimes You Have to Cross When it Says Don’t Walk. Each has been working in some capacity in sports communications for more than 35 years.
Among his career highlights, Tom’s position at NBC Sports/USA Network involved working some of the most prestigious events in sports television (Olympic Summer Games, Masters®, Ryder Cup, U.S. Open Tennis Championships, French Open Tennis Championships and more).
Among his career highlights, Jerry worked for CBS Sports on some of the biggest events in sports including the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, eight Super Bowls, 24 American Football Conference Championships, multiple NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships and Final Fours, as well as U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the Masters® and PGA Championship.
LinkedIn: (Tom) @tomcaraccioli
LinkedIn: (Jerry) @jerry-caraccioli
Facebook: (Tom) tom.caraccioli
X (Twiter): (Tom) @tomcaraccioli
Sheryl Nance-Nash
Sheryl Nance-Nash is a freelance writer specializing in travel, personal finance, and business. She loves showing people how to manage their finances and writing about the intersection of travel, history, wellness, art, and culture.
Travel feeds her adventurous spirit, whether it’s jumping off a cliff into a cenote in Mexico, soaring in a hot air balloon in the Arizona desert or parasailing in Maui. Her travel features have appeared on CNTraveler.com, Afar, Fodors, Lonely Planet, The Daily Beast, TravelAwaits, Global Traveler Magazine, Lonely Planet, The Knot, among others. Her business/personal finance articles have appeared in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal’s Buy Side, Business Insider, Newsday and others.
She is enjoying the 55+ life, the marvelous, the good, the bad and the ugly. She calls Houston and Jamaica home.
Instagram: @snntravels
X (Twitter): @NanceNash
Anthony Pioppi
The Executive Director of the Seth Raynor Society, Pioppi lives in Middletown, Connecticut. He is a golf writer, historian, consultant and archeologist. Much of his research focuses on the work of golf course architect Seth Raynor and his protégé Charles Banks, as well as their mentor, Charles Blair Macdonald.
Pioppi has authored four books, including The Fines Nines, the first book in world golf literature dedicated solely to nine-hole courses, and coauthored another. Others are The Finest Nines, North America’s Best 9-Hole Golf Courses, The History of the Minikahda Club Golf Course, and Shoreacres: The First 100 Years. He’s coauthor of Haunted Golf.
As a longtime daily newspaper reporter, Pioppi covered sports for the majority of his career before switching to the police beat. His work has appeared in newspapers such as the Hartford Courant, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune, and magazines like Links, Golf Course Architecture, MassGolfer and New Jersey Golf.
Instagram: anthonypioppi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-pioppi-817461b
Joanne Cleaver
For over 40 years, Joanne Cleaver has covered travel, concentrating in multigenerational, wellness, and heritage trends. She is a widely published business journalist and author of seven books, including three on family travel destinations. She lives in central New Hampshire.
Facebook: realmrscleaver
Instagram: @jycleaver
Portfolio: www.jycleaver.com
Cari Scribner
Cari Scribner of upstate NY has been a journalist and freelance feature writer for more than 20 years. With topics ranging from travel to trends and from breaking news to family life, her work has been published in many dailies including The Daily Gazette, The Albany Times Union, the Saratogian, 55+ Life and a long list of magazines. Her short/flash fiction has appeared in 16 lit mags including Fiction Southeast, Corium and Nottingham Review. Her story “Things to do While Waiting for Snow” was awarded best short fiction in 2020 by Glimmer Train, and “Avalanche” won best short fiction in 2019 at Brilliant Flash Fiction.
Cari lives with two impossibly cute small dogs, Lucy and Daisy. She enjoys biking, fire pits, badminton and word games. Her favorite foods are chocolate and shrimp, but never chocolate shrimp. Cari keeps her Christmas tree up year-round, decorating it for each holiday. Her friends mock her for this.
Instagram: cariscribnerauthor
Facebook: cari.scribner
Website: https://cariscribner.com/
Books: On Amazon
Mary Ellen Fillo
A veteran and award-winning, retired reporter, MaryEllen from Hartford Courant in Connecticut. She began there in 1971 as a beat reporter covering towns and breaking news. In 2006 she was tapped as a columnist for its “Java” column, covering major events, celebrities, politics, area media and nonprofits in Connecticut. Writing for 55+ Life is empowering for me as I am a widow, a senior citizen, and navigating life as part of my new chapter. This stage of life is very relevant to me and other “boomers” who are living longer, doing more and want to stay engaged.
A self-professed “foodie”, Mary Ellen also does some press work for a few Connecticut restaurants and a little travel writing as she attempts to knock a few adventures off her bucket list! A mom to three kiddos and “Nana” to six grandchildren, Sheryl likes to do a little (bad) golfing and gardening, and reading and writing in her spare time.
LinkedIn: mary-ellen-fillo-503a0018
Instagram: melfillo
Robin Catalano
A native New Englander now living in the upper Hudson Valley, Robin Catalano is an award-winning freelance travel, conservation/preservation, and food and beverage journalist. When she’s not telling vivid stories about quirky places, coastal experiences, hidden histories, and human cultures, she can be found sipping cider and plying the upstate’s waters in her inflatable kayak. Robin’s work has appeared in the New York Times, National Geographic, BBC, Travel + Leisure, Washington Post, Smithsonian, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR, TIME, Robb Report, US News & World Report, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Fodor’s, and many more.
This year, she was a double award winner in both the Society of American Travel Writers and the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual writing awards.
Featured in the New York Times, National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, Washington Post, TIME, Smithsonian, Conde Nast Traveler, BBC, Robb Report, AFAR, Hemispheres, US News & World Report, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Fodor’s, Roadtrippers, Thrillist, AAA, ROVA, Seattle Times, Albany Times Union, and more.
Facebook: @robin.catalano17
Instagram: oncemoretotheshore
LinkedIn: @robincatalano
Travel Blog: Once More to the Shore
Jan Tormay
Jan Tormay is passionate about telling stories through photography and the written word. She currently writes feature articles for numerous magazines and newspapers. “I am honored to contribute to 55+ Life – a magazine tailored to a large portion of society that is often overlooked.” In addition to voicing commercials, she performed as Bobbie in Neil Simon’s play, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, at the Milford Community Dinner Theatre in Connecticut. Jan has also worked in broadcasting as a radio talk show co-host, traffic reporter, news anchor and stringer. She enjoys shining a light on health issues, as well as artists, individuals from all walks of life, organizations and programs that make a difference in people’s lives. Jan currently lives with her female rescue cat, Mika. She is collecting stories about miracles, divine intervention and near-death experiences. Her interest grew out of her own personal experiences. Email your personal encounters with contact information to her email: jantormay@comcast.net.
Website: www.jantormay.com
Brianna Snyder
Brianna Snyder is a Brooklyn-based reader—I mean writer—who lives in Brooklyn with her arrogant cat Margaret. A journalist for nearly 20 years, Brianna loves iving into stories about arts, culture, and everything that makes our communities tick. These days, she loves showcasing how diverse and vibrant the Capital Region really is. It’s a place where everyone can find their corner, their community, their home—and that’s exactly what makes it special.
LinkedIn: briannasnyder
Susan Brady Konig
Susan Brady Konig has made a career out of finding humor in chaos. She is the author of three books on motherhood: Why Animals Sleep So Close to the Road (and Other Lies I Tell My Children), I Wear the Maternity Pants in This Family, and Teenagers & Toddlers Are Trying to Kill Me! Her soon to-be-published memoir, Irish Death Cleaning in Paris, is due out in the fall.
Susan has been a staff writer for The Washington Post Style section, an editor at Seventeen magazine, and a columnist for the New York Post and Catholic Digest. Her articles have appeared in Ladies’ Home Journal, Travel + Leisure, First for Women, Reader’s Digest and Parade.
When not writing, Susan runs the independent publishing imprint Willow Street Press and is an adjunct assistant professor of writing at the City University of New York.She survived raising her kids in the Hudson Valley and now lives in New York City with her cat Picklez. [Note: yes with a z.]
Facebook: @susan.konig
Instagram: susankonig
LinkedIn: @susankonig
Website: Willow Street Press
Substack: Life in the 60s
Katie Navarra Bradley
Katie Navarra Bradley loves to tell stories for publications, corporate brands and business leaders through reported stories, content strategy and marketing, and executive thought leadership, including ghostwriting books. She works across numerous industries from the horse industry to agriculture/food, landscape, retail, education, human resources and more. Her work has been featured in local, regional, and national trade and consumer publications and within corporate projects of all sizes.
She finds inspiration for her work and creativity in the barn with her horses. In addition to writing, she is a keynote speaker and leadership coach who leverages powerful lessons from natural horse herd behavior to help people better understand themselves, their communication styles, and how they show up as leaders.
Whether she’s writing, speaking, or working alongside horses, Katie’s focus is the same: helping people see more clearly, lead more intentionally, and tell better stories.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-navarra/
Website: katienavarra.com and katiethecoach.com
Podcast: leadingwithinstinct.com
Books: Shoeing the Modern Horse
Janice Costa
Janice Costa is a national award-winning writer, editor and author who loves sharing stories about dogs, design and technology for the 55+ audience. She has authored two books in the home design arena and is currently at work on a new dog book, Your Dog’s Best Life.
Janice’s writing has appeared in publications ranging from House Beautiful and Business Insider to The Bark, and she can often be found fighting her dog Kaylee for computer time since her Belgian Malinois began writing her Kaylee Uncrated: The Kaylee Chroniclesblog. When she’s not at her computer, Janice enjoys spending time swimming, hiking, working as a therapy dog evaluator, road tripping with her two dogs and planning fun dog activities for her dog-and-human vacation business, Canine Camp Getaway.
LinkedIn: @janiceannecosta
Blog: The Kaylee Chronicles
Website: caninecampgetaway.com
Jill Robbins
Writing is Jill’s “second act.” She spent 25 years in the United States Air Force and has lived in four countries outside the United States, which has fueled her love of travel and exploration of different cultures. She began writing news stories and personal essays for the Walt Disney Company‘s former parenting website, Babble, after retiring from the military and currently freelances for a variety of different publications.
Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Fodor’s Travel, Southern Living, Business Insider, AAA and more. She lives outside of San Antonio with her husband and two teenage sons but she’s usually somewhere else.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jill_goes
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jill_goes
Websites: www.jillgoes.com and www.jillrobbinswrites.com
Shelby Deering
Shelby Deering is a freelance lifestyle writer and has been contributing to national publications for over 20 years. Specializing in lifestyle topics like home design, vintage decor, health and wellness, travel, pets and gardening, Shelby has contributed to national websites and print magazines that include Good Housekeeping, AARP the Magazine, USA Today, Real Simple, and more. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her running nearby trails, shopping thrift stores and flea markets and cozying up to her husband and dog, a corgi named Dolly.
Website: shelbydeering.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/shelbydeeringwriter/
