Thank you for joining us for episode 515 of Live Happy Now.

This week, we're going to introduce you to a happy activist who offers a different way to look at devastating health diagnoses.

I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and today I'm joined by Sam Simon, who spent his career as a high-profile

consumer advocate. Sam discovered the power of theater later in life, and when his wife was

diagnosed with breast cancer, he wrote and performed an award-winning play called The Actual Dance,

which takes audiences through his experiences as a caregiver. Then, in 2022, Sam was diagnosed with dementia and turned that into a theatrical experience as well.

Today, his one-man play, Dementia Man, an existential journey, recounts his experience and

reshapes the narrative around cognitive decline. In this episode, he shares how he is using playwriting as a form of happy activism and what he's

learned along the way.

Let's have a listen.

Sam, thank you so much for joining me on Live Happy Now.

I'm so happy to be in here.

It's going to make me be happy today.

Well, oh my gosh, I was so touched by your story because

you are the essence of what we call a happy activist. And we are going to get to your current

story in a moment, but you've really done some amazing things. You've written a play about your

wife's breast cancer journey, but tell me a little bit about your life before that, before you became a

playwright, because you had an incredible career as well. I'm to describe it as I was a troublemaker

most of my life. That's a great thing to be. I hope good trouble. How did that career

morph into you becoming an author and a playwright. You wrote a play about your wife's

breast cancer journey. Was that the first time you had written a play? Well, a couple of things

happen. I had done a little community theater. And I had become connected with a fellow.

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