GREENWICH — Ten years ago, Bill Baker’s uncle Tiny, who was in his 90s and lived alone in Arizona, asked him to be his guardian. His wife had recently died, and he had been like a second father to Baker.
This experience began a journey into the world of old age for Baker, who is director of the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Public Policy & Education at Fordham University and former president of WNET-Thirteen in New York.
“He was alone and wanted to stay in his house. Although he was an engineer, he did not have a lot of money, but he was quite healthy and totally together mentally,” Baker recalled. “It helped me realize there’s a lot you have to do to deal with aging. Most people don’t even have time to think about it, and then it’s too late.”
His uncle Tiny, and Baker’s personal experience of growing old, inspired him to begin a project on aging that evolved into a major production for PBS — “FAST-FORWARD: A Look Into Your Future,” which is a reality documentary where “families travel through time to meet their future selves.”
Produced by Twin Cities PBS and Next Avenue, the documentary, which premieres March 24 at 10 p.m., “accelerates the aging process for Millennials and Baby Boomers and encourages families to begin conversations about what it takes to age well together.”
Baker, a member of the Parish of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Agnes, is executive producer of FAST-FORWARD, which was produced and directed by Michael Eric Hurtig and his production company, FLX Entertainment.
FAST-FORWARD, which is narrated by actress Rosario Dawson, encourages viewers to engage in a dialogue about aging and life planning with their family members and loved ones, Baker said. The documentary “follows four families as they face the physical, social and economic realities of aging and learn what it takes to age with empathy, dignity and support.” For more information, visit: https://fastforwardmovie.com/
“We ‘age’ four families from around the country to let them experience some of this stuff while having experts watch what happens and comment on the experience,” Baker said. During the documentary, the participants learn first-hand what it feels like to age through the use of MIT’s AGNES suit, which accelerates the aging process up to 30 years.
“Eric, who works with me at Fordham, came up with the idea of doing a reality film, which is taking younger people and their parents and aging them and asking the question, ‘If you knew today in your early 40s what you’ll know when you’re 80, what would you do differently?’”
Next Avenue, which is public media’s national journalism service on aging issues, created resources that families can use to help guide their decisions when dealing with aging loved ones. For more information, visit https://www.nextavenue.org/fast-forward/.
“From what I’ve seen depicted in movies, aging has generally been seen as a lousy experience,” said Baker, who is in his 70s. “That’s why everybody abhors it or tries to hide or run away from it. But aging need not be that bad, and research shows that older people are generally happier than young people — and I can attest to that.”
Running the Center for Media, Public Policy and Education has been a special opportunity for him because, he said, “I am surrounded by younger people who really get it and are our future. They give me great pleasure.”
He finds himself in an unusual situation because he is still working, while most people his age are not employed full-time. However, he points out that he’s been working full-time for 60 years since he was 16.
“I know how hard work can be, and I know what life is because I’ve led a long life, and now I’m in old age,” he said. “I would have never guessed I’d have gotten as far as president of Westinghouse Television back when I was making coffee for people in the radio studios in Cleveland and trying to fight my way through the world of television.”
At this point, he wants to commit his life in the media to important projects that enrich and educate, while bringing along some of the creative people he has encountered.
“My professional goal is mentoring younger people whom I consider brilliant and have values and can be the leaders of the future,” he says. “There is tremendous pleasure in seeing somebody succeed who worked for me — like Eric, who came up with this idea and made an incredible film. I am happy to be associated with it as executive producer.”
Baker was also executive producer of the award-winning PBS film SACRED.
He and his wife Jeannemarie, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, have been married 52 years and have two daughters, Christiane and Angela. Jeannemarie, who is one of the founders of the Parish Partners Ministry at St. Catherine’s, was a professor at the Columbia University School of Nursing and for many years ran St. Paul’s Center for the homeless mentally ill.
She also helped Bill navigate the years he served as guardian for his uncle Tiny.
“I took him all the way to his death, and I was with him when he died at 96,” Bill recalls. “He couldn’t talk and we couldn’t communicate, but I knew about the end of life because Jeannemarie works with the elderly and my daughter Angela is a Hospice nurse. I knew that even though he couldn’t communicate, he could hear me, so I decided to pray the rosary out loud, and by the time I got to the fifth decade, he died. It was just such a touching, powerful way to go.”
