Local author, Hollywood director work to bring “The Sages of Oak Place” to the screen

SALISBURY, Md. – As of 2024, there were more than 60 million senior citizens in the United States. But one local author believes they’re often forgotten. So, she is working with a Hollywood director and producer to bring the story of a senior community (that is not your grandma’s retirement home) to life on the screen.

A Special Place for Seniors

Dr. Carolyn Stegman is the author of “The Sages of Oak Place”. She is also a retired professor of the psychology of aging, death, dying, and bereavement at Salisbury University, and spent many years working at the MAC Inc. Area Agency on Aging. And Stegman said that, as someone approaching the age of 80 herself, and having grown up closely connected to her grandparents, her novel covers topics that many might find hit close to home.

“You need a place where (seniors) can live their last years and not just curl up and wait to die, and wait for the final curtain call. And, Oak Place is that kind of place,” Stegman said.

From the accessible landscape that Stegman has imagined, filled with gardens, animals, music, and an educational center, to the zany yet heartfelt characters (like an 80-year-old Elvis impersonator and a woman with a lifelong secret), Stegman said her novel is about celebrating seniors.

“A lot of times, people’s worlds get smaller when they get older. There’s a loss in aging. You lose your spouse, your partner, your friends … You don’t have to go to the moon or get a Pulitzer Prize to have an extraordinary life. And, a lot of times, older people go to the grave and take their stories with them,” Stegman said.

Overlooked No More

Hollywood producer and director Jenni Gold said this story was just begging to be turned into a television script.

“(Stegman’s) world is ripe for making a really good series that people will be captivated and entertained by … I think this will hit a demographic that’s been overlooked for a while, and that’s what I look for—I look for stories that are great stories that other people have missed.”

The topic of highlighting an underrepresented community is something that Gold is familiar with herself.

Gold lives with Muscular Dystrophy and has used a wheelchair since the age of seven, according to her website. And, she directed and produced the documentary “CinemAbility”. The film delves into the history of Hollywood’s representation and treatment of people living with disabilities, and was chosen by the US State Department for the American Film Showcase.

“People are overlooking (this population) because they’re not thinking about that genre or that demographic. And, I think that there are a lot of avenues there … People had not even thought about it—not even thought about the history of how disability relates to film,” Gold said.

“Get to know them”

Gold and Stegman agree: the same goes for the fictional sages of Oak Place, who reflect real-world people and experiences.

“Hollywood is ready for that—to take a real, serious look at all the aspects of aging, and to help people look at it (differently). We sometimes are an age-phobic society,” Stegman said.

Whether you read the novel or watch the future television production, Stegman said she wants people to walk away with one mission: ask your elders about who they are, how they got there, and listen carefully.

“The death of an elder is like the burning of a library. Once they’re gone, they’re gone, and the stories go with them. So, it’s really nice if people can get to know them in a very different way,” Stegman said.

Gold said the timeline for the production of the series is in flux, as many things are in Hollywood. Until then, the novel “The Sages of Oak Place” is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Stegman’s website.