Shortly after leaving the White House in 1980, Jimmy and Rosalynn established the Carter Center. It is from there that their efforts at “waging peace, fighting disease and building hope” – the center’s mission – have been launched.
Along with his global travels to advance democracies around the world, his projects in global health, and his time building for Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy Carter is also a prolific writer. He’s written twenty-eight books. One of his most recent – A Call to Action, Women, Religion, Violence, and Power – details the discrimination that women and girls face worldwide. Widely recognized for his Christian beliefs and noted as a Sunday school teacher for more than 70 years – Carter challenges those who use religious texts to deny women equality. In a Call to Action, he writes, “Women and girls have been discriminated against too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.”
For the latest Stanford Medicine, a special on issue on pediatric research and care, I spoke with Carter about girls and women’s equality – an issue that he said would receive his highest priority in his final years. But this summer brought disturbing health news, and a different priority has entered his life: treating metastatic cancer that has spread to his brain.
I worked in the Carter White House. Like many others who served there, I wasn't prepared for this news – we viewed Jimmy Carter to be indestructible. Even the word “cancer” in regards to Carter seems oxymoronic when you know firsthand his indomitable spirit and boundless energy.
I spoke with him for this 1:2:1 podcast and Q&A before his diagnosis. Later in the summer, I followed up with an email wishing him well and a speedy recovery, and he responded: "Thanks, Paul. I am at ease, and grateful. Jimmy"
And then late last month, just two days before Carter's 91st birthday, Habitat for Humanity announced that his medical team approved his traveling to Nepal in November to build a home there. (Note from editor: Habitat for Humanity has cancelled the trip due to safety concerns.) Talk about an indomitable spirit and boundless energy.
Previously: Stanford Medicine magazine tells why a healthy childhood matters and Lobbying Congress on bill to stop violence against women
Illustration by Gérard DuBois
