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Transcript/ScriptJIMMY CARTER 99TH BIRTHDAY
HEADLINE: Seven Months After Entering Hospice, Jimmy Carter to Celebrate 99th Birthday
PUBLISHED: 9/28/2023 at 2:08p
BYLINE: Kane Farabaugh
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Atlanta, Georgia
VIDEOGRAPHER: Kane Farabaugh
PRODUCER: Kane Farabaugh
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, Sharon Shahid
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Carter Center, AP, WALB, ABC, X
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 3:00
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRODUCTION))
Former President Jimmy Carter is set to mark his 99th birthday on October 1st while in hospice care. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports on an outpouring of admiration and well-wishes for the onetime peanut farmer and Georgia governor who spent years after leaving the White House promoting peace and combating neglected tropical diseases.
((NARRATOR))
Seven months after announcing he was entering end-of-life hospice care, former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, made a rare appearance ((Courtesy: X/@erikka2ks08))
during a peanut festival in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. ((end courtesy))
((NATURAL SOUND))
((NARRATOR))
Their ride in the parade started a week of celebrations for Jimmy Carter’s 99th birthday on October 1st — a milestone few, including Reed Elliotte, expected the longest-living U.S. president to reach.
((Reed Elliotte, Kentucky Resident)) ((Courtesy WALB))
“It was amazing considering that he is in hospice care, and he is tough enough to come out here. In my opinion, he is one of the toughest ((courtesy The Carter Center)) men that's ever served as president.”
((Jonathan Alter, Author))
“I think there is a misunderstanding about hospice, that it’s ((end courtesy)) only for people who are days away from death. That’s not what the hospice movement says.”
((NARRATOR))
Author Jonathan Alter, who wrote the Jimmy Carter biography “His Very Best,” says the Carters are spending the end of their lives in much the same way as the rest of it.
((Jonathan Alter, Author))
“Do as much as you can for as many as you can for as long as you can.”
((NARRATOR))
Alter says by announcing Carter’s transition to hospice and Rosalynn Carter’s struggle with dementia, the couple created an opportunity to teach others.
((Jonathan Alter, Author))
“It was very intentional on their part to do some good for the world by sending a message that you don’t have to shrink from these end-of-life decisions, and there are other options for people who are ready to let go.”
((NARRATOR))
While they have let go of the daily operations of the global nonprofit they founded in 1982, Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander says ((Courtesy: The Carter Center)) thousands of employees and volunteers around the world continue the Carters’ work — promoting peace and combating neglected tropical diseases — without interruption. ((end courtesy))
((Paige Alexander, Carter Center CEO)) ((Skype))
“The last time we talked, he didn’t ask me about politics. He didn’t ask me about anything except Guinea worm numbers.”
((NARRATOR))
In a 2015 press conference announcing he was facing life-threatening cancer, which he successfully recovered from, Carter expressed his greatest wish before his death.
((Former President Jimmy Carter, 2015))
“I want the last Guinea worm to die before I do.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: The Carter Center))
When the Carter Center began Guinea worm prevention efforts in the 1980s, there were 3.5 million cases in 21 countries. Alexander says the eradication of the neglected tropical disease is closer than ever. ((end courtesy))
((Paige Alexander, Carter Center CEO)) ((Skype))
“We’re down to six human cases in two countries, so we're pretty close”
((NARRATOR))
In Alexander’s phone conversations with Carter …
((Paige Alexander, Carter Center CEO))
“When I spoke to him last to wish him a happy birthday early, he said, ‘I’m not quite sure how happy it is to be turning 99.’”
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy x/@Cartercenter)
… she says he is aware of the continued outpouring of support and admiration.
((Paige Alexander, Carter Center CEO)) ((Skype))
“I think it might be the special sauce of what keeps him going right now. That and peanut butter ice cream.”
((NARRATOR))
A special dessert Alexander says the Carters enjoy together, sometimes surrounded by family, in the small community they have called home since the 1920s.
((Paige Alexander, Carter Center CEO)) ((Skype))
“They are exactly where they want to be — together … in their hometown of Plains, Georgia.”
((NARRATOR))
Kane Farabaugh,
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Atlanta, Georgia
Embargo DateSeptember 28, 2023 16:54 EDT
Byline
Kane Farabaugh, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
