In her over 300 “Sixty Plus” columns appearing in the Burlington Free Press since 1992 Barbara Leitenberg has been a tireless advocate for seniors in Vermont. Her columns exposed issues with the long term care system in the state, advocated for access to health care and affordable prescription plans for seniors, and confronted myths about the aging. Leitenberg was at her best profiling seniors, putting a human face to the aging process. So it only seems fitting that the last Sixty Plus column takes a look at a woman who was a tireless advocate and life long student. Barbara Leitenberg lost her battle with breast cancer this year, she was 69.

The Champlain Valley Agency on Aging will recognize Leitenberg’s work at it Annual Meeting at the Sheraton on Oct 29. Leitenberg was an incredible force with a thirst for knowledge. According to John Barbour, Executive Director for CVAA, Leitenberg was fascinated by the process of her death. Barbour visited Leitenberg two weeks before she passed and stated “She clearly knew she was dying and she said it was fascinating and interesting.”

Leitenberg’s love of learning and curiosity about the world we live in was demonstrated by the number of stamps on her passport. Leitenberg would often send in columns from around the globe. She traveled to China, Egypt, New Zealand, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, the Galapagos, Fiji and so many other spots around the world.

Leitenberg became involved with the aging community in 1979 when she joined the Vermont Office of Aging holding a variety of management positions effecting policies and procedures. In 1992 Leitenberg left State Employment and returned to her first love, writing. Leitenberg had written for and edited a number of publications over the years including being the managing editor for “The Independent”, a monthly newsletter for older Vermonters and people with disabilities, and an editor the “Rural Health News”a national magazine published by the Federal Government for practitioners and policy makers in the field.

A look back at some of Leitenberg’s Sixty Plus columns show how timeless many of the issues we discuss today are. Leitenberg often wrote about the need for more fuel assistance, the struggle to balance the cost of heating, prescription drugs, and food. Many of the problems and challenges facing seniors today are the same one Leitenberg wrote about over a decade ago. Leitenberg wrote in her Nov 13, 1995 column “As the days grow shorter and colder and the holidays approach, most of us anticipate food and feasting. But some of us anticipate fear of a New Year with less money to spend on food.” With the tightening economy this column could easily of been written today. Leitenberg exposed the frustration of seniors in her Aug 26, 1996 column dealing with fuel assistance challenges noting that “While low-income elderly and disabled Vermonters worry about keeping warm, hundreds of billions of dollars in tax loopholes and special subsidies for corporations have not been cut.” Leitenberg’s decade old piece is topical today with government bailout programs in this news and the rising cost of heating homes this winter.

However Leitenberg was at her best inspiring seniors to be active and to explore their lives, to not be held back by age. Exploring the aging process Leitenberg wrote in June 16, 2008 that “research on aging has identifies positive brain and behavioral changes in the second half of life that set the state for psychological growth and creative expression. These occur not despite aging, but because of aging.”

Ironically Leitenberg’s last column on July 14, 2008 dealt with slow medicine. Slow Medicine is a school of thought that says instead of always aggressively treating medical conditions with expensive and invasive procedures that seniors should talk with the doctors about quality of life issues and determine the best course of action. As Leitenberg wrote “In spite of patient’s complaints about waiting times in doctors’ offices, medical care today is marked by speed…The speed is driven by insurance policies that do not pay for discussion and by the promises of wonder drugs and technology. The problems is that this speed might do more harm than good-especially for older patients who might benefit more from a slower approach emphasizing the quality of daily life over intensive curing regimens."

Leitenberg wrote this column on Slow Medicine when she was gravely ill and her perspective on the medical culture we live in gave the piece much dignity. As Leitenberg wrote that Slow Medicine “Is not a plan for getting ready to die. It is a plan for understanding, caring and living well in the time that is left.”

Barbara Leitenberg was an expert on living well, always remembering what was important was her family, her friends, appreciating the world around her and to advocate for those who did not have a voice. Leitenberg is not someone that can be replaced, just remembered and cherished.

Sarah Lemnah writes on senior issues for the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging. This article originally appeared in the Burlington Free Press.