By Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Samuel A. Simon is in what he’s called his “fourth age of life” — and loving it.

“It’s what you do after you’ve done everything else and then find out what you were meant to do,” he told the Courier Monday.

The former lawyer and member of Ralph Nader’s first Public Interest Research Group became a playwright in 2000, with a mission to help others make sense of some of life’s biggest challenges, commonly delivered by telling original, autobiographical stories through one-man shows.

Simon brings his latest show, “Dementia Man: An Existential Journey,” to Mount San Antonio Gardens, 900 Harrison Ave., Pomona, at 2 p.m. Tuesday, October 28. Tickets are $10 at agingnext.org.

The program follows Simon as he navigates life in the wake of his 2022 Alzheimer’s diagnosis, a brain disorder that causes progressive cognitive decline.

“It’s an autobiographical advocacy piece,” he said. “I’m not the only one out there like this, but it imagines a meaningful life with this disease.”

“Dementia Man” followed Simon’s debut one-man show, “The Actual Dance,” which premiered in 2013 and ran through 2023. The play showed audiences how Simon coped with his wife Susan’s battle with breast cancer.

During her treatment, Simon enrolled in improvisational courses and was encouraged by his teachers to share his inner plight on stage.

In early 2022, Simon said he began struggling with routine activities such as recalling the show’s lines or driving. He was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s that same year, and ceased “The Actual Dance.” She’s since recovered and passed the two decade cancer free mark in 2025.

After the news, Simon came across “In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss,” a book by Amy Bloom which described the author and her husband Brian’s trip to Switzerland so Brian could go through with assisted suicide.

“The book is about how hard it was for them to go to Switzerland so he could commit accompanied suicide,” Simon said. “She quotes him as saying, ‘I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to become this lesser and lesser person.’”

Simon said the book put the thought of assisted suicide in his head, “And that pissed me off.”

Channeling his emotions, Simon created “Dementia Man,” which premiered the summer of 2023.

Liz Weigand, AgingNext’s philanthropy manager, learned of it last year and reached out to Simon to bring it to locals.

“This disease is often something people hide from and don’t want to talk about, so his honesty and positivity were inspiring, and I felt it could be an interesting opportunity for AgingNext,” Weigand wrote in an email. “… Following his very positive response, I spoke with [AgingNext CEO Abby Pascua] and we were fortunate to have Mt. San Antonio Gardens agree to partner with us, host him, and provide the space on their campus for the show.”

Despite it being his play’s title, the 80-year-old opposes the word dementia.

“I hate the word dementia, even though my play is called ‘Dementia Man,’” he said. “There’s a movement to get rid of it because it’s demeaning. It does not describe a disease. It describes how you look and behave, but it doesn’t tell you what causes your cognitive issue.”

Through “Dementia Man,” Simon hopes to destigmatize Alzheimer’s.

“There is this terrible narrative that with dementia — which is why I want to get rid of the word — that your life isn’t worth living, that it’s a horrible situation and there’s only one way down,” he said. “My message to the world, the reason I’ve written this, is that you can live a meaningful life. You can have a project. I’m writing a f——— play. I’m getting on stage, and I’m going to have a book out next month.”

During the past three years, Simon said he’s become a staunch advocate for Alzheimer’s awareness. Prior to that, he already had an understanding that people with disabilities are not to be downplayed.

“Not only was I on the national stage as a consumer advocate, I also was on the board of directors of a disability rights group called the World Institute on Disability,” he said. “I was on it for 15 years and I saw all sorts of people with disabilities working, making a difference, [and] living well.”

Despite writing for a range of audiences both young and old, the playwright noted all can glean lessons from “Dementia Man.” Simon offered the following about his wife Susan.

“I have learned something profound. Her job and the job of people as caregivers and partners to those of us who have dementia have a task magnitudes of order, different and harder, than what I had to do,” he said. “I had to walk up to the edge of my wife of 34 years dying, and that would have broken my heart. But she was always Susan. She could always talk to me. She could tell me she loved me and I would be with that person I him when we were 16 years old, right? [But] I’m going to change and I won’t be Sam anymore. I’ll be a stranger, but she’s going to stay by me and she’s going to go through this process.”

Tickets are $10 at agingnext.org for “Dementia Man: An Existential Journey,” Simon’s one-man 2 p.m. show at Mount San Antonio Gardens, 900 Harrison Ave., Pomona, Tuesday, October 28.

Photo courtesy/Sam Simon