Page 24 - Southern Exposure - August '24

Page 24, Southern Exposure

booK rEviEw

The Book Of Charlie: Wisdom From The

Remarkable Life Of A 109-Year-Old Man

By Nils A. Shapiro

David Von Drehle was a fluke of genetics and fortune. Still, as I’ve reflected inexperienced operator of the elevator accidentally raised
already a noted writer—a on this remarkable friend, I’ve come to see that he was it and Charlie’s father slipped and fell many floors into
columnist and editor at the more than a living history lesson, and more than just the empty chute and was killed. Charlie’s mother was left
Washington Post and author the winner of a genetic Powerball. He was a case study with five children and no source of income.
of four earlier successful in how to thrive—not just survive but thrive—through One of Charlie’s high school buddies owned a 1917 Model
books—when he decided to any span of years, short or long. People often asked him T Ford touring car with bicycle fenders, Chesterfield seats and
move with his wife and four about the secret of longevity, and Charlie was always a fold-up canopy. Several of the guys decided to set out for
young children to Kansas scrupulously honest: there’s no secret, just luck. But if California after their graduation in May 1922, taking on farm
City, Mo. But he had no he knew no secrets to a long life, he knew plenty about work to pay their way cross country. The description of that
idea when he first met the a happy life. Through tragedy and loss, poverty and trip includes instructions on how to drive that Model T.
elderly neighbor who lived setbacks, missteps and blown chances, he maintained a Charlie volunteered and served in the U.S. Army Air
in the house across the steadiness, an evenness, and a self-reliance that today Force. When anesthesia was discovered as a way to ease
street, who said he was “washing his girlfriend’s car,” might be called resilience. He had a gift for seizing joy, patients’ suffering, he was trained in its application and
that it was a moment that would change his life forever. grabbing opportunities, and holding on to things that became one of the military’s leading anesthesiologists,
For that man was matter. And he had an unusual knack for an even more training many others under his command.
Charlie White, already difficult task: letting go of all the rest.” Charlie was married more than once. Life was not always
102 years of age—a There were many highs and lows in a life as long ideal. In his final years he was interviewed many times by
retired physician who as this. And witnessing them over more than a century the media and asked about his philosophy of life. “I haven’t
had been born before the through Charlie’s eyes is a remarkable experience, given it much thought,” he would reply, except to add that
invention of radio and especially in the words of such a gifted writer. As just a his mother’s advice to “Do the right thing” covers a lot of
lived long enough to use few of many, many examples: situations. But among the items Charlie’s family found when
a smartphone; a man born Dr. Charlie White’s medical career began in the depths he was gone was a single sheet of notepaper on which he had
soon after the first flight of the Great Depression of the early 1930s, when making written a list of 15 definitive rules that serve perfectly as a
of the Wright Brothers house calls was a typical way to treat patients. The guide to a successful life.
who later watched man’s situation sometimes called for the emergency removal of I will list only five here and urge you to read this book to
landing on the moon, a child’s tonsils. At such and similar occasions, parents get the full terrific story … and the other 10 secrets you will
and whose own medical who literally could not afford a nickel in payment instead want to know of Charlie’s well-lived life:
practice began before the invited the doctor for dinner or offered anything he would Savor special moments.
discovery of penicillin, like to take from their cupboard. Cry when you need to.
was limited to comforting Charlie had a tough childhood. His father, whom Feel deeply.
the patient so that the body could heal itself … and he loved dearly, was a pastor. One day, when the man Take a chance.
continued through the discovery of antibiotics and today’s was entering the elevator in an office building the Enjoy wonder.
latest pharmaceutical and surgical advances.
But from the friendship that developed between these
two men, and which prompted this bestselling book, was
the author’s evolving awareness of the extraordinary
wisdom and positive philosophy that had enabled Charlie
to survive all that life had placed in his path those many
years. He had taken to heart the lesson his mother had
taught him from an early age: Do the right thing.
For Von Drehle, this became an opportunity to pass
along to his own children the kinds of lessons he had
always hoped he could provide for them.
The following excerpt makes it clear that everyone
fortunate enough to read this wonderful book can derive
that same benefit:
“Charlie was a man of science. As a physician, he
knew how the human body goes—and how it stops. He
was the first to say that his extraordinary life span was