Freelance Writer, Ghostwriter for business, finance, technology

freelance writer, finance writer, ghostwriter, copyeditor, freelance editor Sharon Rockey is a freelance writer/ghostwriter for print and on-line media. She writes and edits for business, finance, technology, lifestyle and the arts. Visit her on-line portfolio and contact her for your next project.

    -- For those who think the fast lane of cyberspace is still dominated by rich young guys and green-haired geeks with pierced body parts, you'd better adjust your rear view mirror. The silver-haired seasoned set is fast approaching. --

    by Sharon Rockey

    Reprinted from: North Bay Multimedia Association's "Multimedia Reporter" -- June, 2000 (Original inks to referenced websites have been removed and are no longer active.)

    You just never know what Life's got tucked up its sleeve. Take last Sunday, for instance. One minute I'm reading Douglas Rushkoff's Media Squat and the next minute I'm stumbling into the amazing world of Rosaleen, Cyberqueen.

    Let me explain.

    This latest edition of Rushkoff's emailing was about the advertising industry and how it's pushing our youth into a personality branding/identity crisis - a crisis that causes teenage boys to stare glassy-eyed at a wall of athletic shoes and wonder "Which one is me?"

    Rushkoff's columns always elicit lively responses, but there was something about the style of the one reprinted below that really grabbed my attention:

      "One day I went down town to buy a pair of sneakers. My friends don't call them sneakers; they use one brand name or another. Everyone said I should have some of those big white and bright striped, thick soled, cushioned, laced, sporty, bulky so-called shoes, and when 'everyone' says something, I guess I should heed, specially when the 'everyone' includes some of my brilliant sons and daughters.

      "The shoe salesman in the store that specializes in big white and bright striped, thick soled, cushioned, laced, sporty, bulky so-called shoes didn't want to measure my foot until I told him whether I was going to walk, run, play tennis, or what? I told him 'all of the above, plus probably also stand, climb, maybe occasionally jump, and possibly dance.'

      "There is no shoe to suit a person like me. You have to either walk, OR run, OR play tennis. For anything else you have to go to a different store. Brand names had nothing to do with it; the name of that game is elitism. So I went home, pulled my old sneakers off the closet floor, bought new laces and that's it. My feet are totally comfortable no matter what I'm doing and I'll never in this lifetime wear any of those big white and bright striped, thick soled, cushioned, laced, sporty, bulky so-called shoes.

      "I know that's not world-shaking, but I thought you'd be interested."

      Cheers,
      Rosaleen

    I immediately knew I wanted to meet Rosaleen, whoever she was. I emailed her to find out more and boy, did I find out more!

    For those who think the fast lane of cyberspace is still dominated by rich young guys and green-haired geeks with pierced body parts, you'd better adjust your rear view mirror. The silver-haired seasoned set is fast approaching.

    Now, it's not polite to give-away a lady's age, but by her own admission, Rosaleen Dickson's first introduction to technology included the buttonhook!

    Today she is a great-granny Webmistress who has created and maintains about half a dozen Websites that focus on everything from journalism, to promoting new books, to building community, to offering useful information about health and many other topics.

    Rosaleen lives in Ottawa, Canada, but as luck would have it, she had been invited to present at a major Health on the Internet conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Bingo! We connected and over lunch, Rosaleen told me a story that brought new meaning to the term, "reinventing yourself". Besides having been a publisher, journalist, disc jockey, TV producer, councilwoman, and a drummer in the local band, Rosaleen was the book editor for the newspaper of Parliament in Ottawa, has taught computer classes to seniors, and co-authored three Internet-related books.

    When Canada's National Capital Freenet was still in it's infancy, Rosaleen was a director and moderated among others, "Ask the Doctors", a text-based free flowing exchange of health-related topics between users and participating physicians.

    Her first two books were devoted to Freenets and to getting people connected. But just to make sure folks were getting the message, she started a Senior SIG for hands-on training. Then she met a 19 year old student who taught her how to create a simple Website. Together they co-wrote "HTML: The Basic Book" which became the primer in local high schools and pointed Rosaleen in yet another new direction -- as Webmistress.

    "Ask the Doctors" is now on the Web with physicians from 29 countries contributing. "Old Folks at Home" is a rich resource of wisdom about seniors and how they see themselves and the Internet. It would behoove anyone who develops for the online world, to check out this site and broaden their perspective.

    "Good Companions" is a site which acts as a virtual Webquarters for a variety of services, events and programs for seniors in the Ottawa area.

    But my favorite site is "Ask the Great Granny" where people across all generations write for answers to life's thorny little questions - such as the one sent by a woman troubled by her husband's visits to porn sites. Rosaleen's answers are practical and wise, and often humorous. In this case the answer was basically, " Welcome to the Internet age. Give the guy a break. Time to get with it, sister!"

    Rosaleen's Website design is very simple, scaled-down and straight forward, which might explain her momentary hesitation at my dubbing her "Cyberqueen". But we're not talking Webby Awards here -- we're talking community and content, courage and commitment.

    Near the end of our meeting, Rosaleen said something that struck a chord. "I'm tired of this 'senior' stuff", she sighed, "it's getting boring". I asked what that meant and she replied, "I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm so great just because I'm old!" I got the message.

    As I sit writing this, Rosaleen is preparing to give her "Ask the Doctor" presentation to an audience of physicians and health practitioners who will look to her for guidance on how to make the most of their experience on the Internet.

    So, break a leg and G-O-O-O Rosaleen!


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