The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man

As White and Snow reached the end of their road trip in 1922, a new technology, the radio, was being introduced to much amazement. Soon, many people tuned in as bands played live concerts for the radio. Inspired, Charlie White realized that people loved dance music, like the popular Nighthawks jazz band, and that he could make money if he formed a jazz band. While he had no musical training, he decided to learn the tenor saxophone. White taught himself the instrument by listening to the Nighthawks and trying to play along. Meanwhile, he continued working as a railway scab to pay for his college tuition.

At this time, Kansas City experienced the “best of times and the worst of times” (85). On the one hand, the city was marred by corruption and the influence of the Ku Klux Klan, yet there was also rapid growth in business, entertainment, and the arts. Famous figures like Walt Disney, Joyce Clyde Hall (the founder of Hallmark), and Roy Wilkins (leader of the NAACP) all lived in Kansas City for a time.

Now in university, White found his studies easy and enjoyed the friendships and hooliganism of his fraternity. He also found success with his career as an amateur musician, making money by playing the sax at student dances on Friday and Saturday nights. He was inspired to study medicine by visiting with the medical missionaries who roomed at his mother’s boarding house, and by his brother-in-law, who was a doctor.

White sent in his paperwork to apply for medical training as an upper-level undergraduate, a precursor to medical school at the time. Von Drehle reflects on how much medicine has changed since this era. Doctors in White’s time could do little to help patients beyond setting bones, sewing up cuts, and relieving pain. Most of the terrible diseases which took the lives of Americans, especially children, were poorly understood. To make matters worse, there were charlatans who aggressively marketed fake cures to an uneducated populace, and demonized doctors. Meanwhile, medical students like White learned methods that have long since been discontinued, such as removing the tonsils to cure heart disease or eye diseases, or a cocaine spray for the common cold. In 1927, White earned his undergraduate degree in medicine from the University of Missouri.

Von Drehle quotes White’s mother’s letter to him in which she shares her pride in his achievement, and her hope that he will always take the “high road” in life and at work (96).

White applied to the medical school at Northwestern University in Chicago but was rejected. However, White did not give up: He traveled to Chicago and found the dean’s office, where he pleaded for a seat at the school. White successfully “talked his way in,” and soon began his studies at the school, where he excelled academically (100). Von Drehle admires White’s ability to take initiative and exercise personal agency to change his situation. He connects White’s actions to Stoic philosophy, which advocates for emotional management and persistence in the face of adversity.

Now living in Chicago, White continued to provide for himself by playing the sax, and also worked as an ambulance attendant. That summer, White offered to arrange a dance band to work on a cruise line which sailed from the West Coast to Japan and China. He enjoyed this experience and kept a diary of it, logging notes about the ship’s buffet food, local sights, and peoplewatching. Once he returned to medical school, White completed his internship at Kansas City General Hospital. White treated a vast array of cases and was eager to learn. He even volunteered to have his own tonsils taken out when a surgeon’s patient did not show up for their surgery, so that his fellow students could observe the procedure. When White was finished his internship he was too late to apply to be licensed as a doctor that year. When he asked for an exception, the state board chairman refused, but suggested that he could take his chances and practice unlicensed for a year before he took his test—which he did.

Meanwhile, White married Mildred Christel, a young woman he met in Kansas City, and began working at his brother-in-law’s medical clinic. White and Mildred moved into a small studio apartment, where he advertised his doctor services to other residents in the building. Unfortunately, the Great Depression soon hit, and many families were penniless. This made it difficult for White to find paying clients. He had to think creatively and accept trades with other professionals or accept items instead of money. About 40% of White’s doctor visits went unpaid, but he tolerated it because he saw medicine as a calling, not just a job. Delivering babies was a guaranteed source of income since the federal government paid doctors $25 for every home delivery they attended to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

Working in Prohibition-era Kansas City meant that White treated the victims of gang violence, as gangs vied for control of the black market for alcohol. White recalled visiting a woman with pneumonia. After seeing a man gunned down in the street, he put him in the ambulance instead. White knew that some of his clients were mobsters but treated anyone who called for him.

White had a difficult marriage with his wife, who suffered from mental health problems, which were poorly understood. He did not feel that she was stable enough to raise children and was concerned about her frequent drinking. White had little time to spend with Mildred, as he worked long hours doing house calls and hospital shifts. Working at St Joseph's Hospital, he signed up for the military reserves (doctors who would serve the country during wartime), which would soon be needed.