Dr Gladys McGarey: a 102-year-old shares their life lessons

The Shift with Sam Baker

Sam Baker Ltd

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.8 • 525 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A few months ago I read an article that took my breath away. The author was 102 years old and in it she wrote candidly about losing her partner in life and work after 46 years. Not because he passed away, but because he handed her divorce papers! That would have floored most of us, but despite being sideswiped, Dr Gladys McGarey, picked herself up, started a new medical practice with her daughter before becoming a speaker, author and all-round inspiration. All this at the age of 70. Since then Dr Gladys, who is known as the mother of holistic medicine, has received countless awards including the Humanities Award for Outstanding Service to Mankind. At 85 she travelled to Afghanistan to teach rural women safer birthing practices. At her 90th birthday party she jumped out of her birthday cake. At 102 she became the proud owner of an adult tricycle. Who is this woman? And how does she do it? I HAD to know. Now on the cusp of 103, Dr Gladys joined me from her home in Arizona to tell me her secrets to health and happiness. We discussed ageing into health, femifesting (as opposed to manifesting), how divorce was the remaking of her, finding her voice at 93 and why we should all spend our energy wildly! I know this isn’t the first time I’ve said I found my old bird role model, but seriously. Dr Gladys is IT. If you loved this episode you might also like my conversations with Hilma Wolitzer and Isabel Allende * You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at The Shift bookshop on Bookshop.org, including The Well-Lived Life by Dr Gladys McGarey and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me. * And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter plus loads more content including exclusive transcripts of the podcast, why not join The Shift community, come and have a look around at www.theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com • The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Juliette Nicholls @ Pineapple Audio Production. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Hannah from the Standard Issue podcast. Join us every Wednesday for rated or dated.
0:05.3	Well, we watch a famous or sometimes infamous film to see whether or not it has stood the test of time.
0:11.7	This week, we watched The Birds, Pretty Woman, Flash Dance, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Casablanca, Rosary's Baby.
0:20.5	It's the 18s in a film, isn't it? None of thieves. Casablanca. Rosemary's baby. It's the 18s in a film, isn't it?
0:23.1	None of this makes any sense.
0:26.8	It's like putting on the comfiest pair of pajamas.
0:30.7	She's like, oh, what could that be?
0:32.7	Oh, what do you think it is?
0:33.8	It's loads of birds.
0:35.1	And they naturally live happily ever after.
0:38.0	Do they?
0:39.3	It's quite a feminist parable.
0:41.0	Terribly, terribly dated, but I did have a nice time watching it.
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0:46.1	A triumvirate of rated.
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0:59.7	Spoiler alert, it's a lot.
1:07.8	Hello and welcome to The Shift, the podcast that aims to tell the no hold bar truth about being a woman post 40, created and hosted by me, writer and broadcaster Sam Baker.
1:19.2	A few months ago, I read an article that took my breath away.
1:24.1	The author was 102 years old, and in it she wrote candidly about losing her partner in life and work after 46 years.
	...

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