Anthony Brooks

Hey, Aisha.

Nice to talk to you.

I think there's always a bit of that going on with me.

But I think where this really started for me was about 16 years ago.

I had a bit of a health scare, which thankfully I recovered from.

I was also mourning the loss of my dad.

And I guess you could say that I was coming to terms with this idea that there's a lot more of my life behind me

then ahead of me and I'm thinking for the first time, what do I really wanna do with the time that remains?

And I became intrigued with stories of people who found ways to reinvent themselves late in life in interesting and inspirational ways.

And just when I was dialing into this idea, Catherine Seeley of the New York Times reported a great story about a man who began this third act journey in a really fascinating way.

And that story really helped launch this project.

Yeah, so his name is Tom Andrew, and he worked a full career as a doctor, including 20 years as the chief medical examiner for New Hampshire, which is where I live.

Tom saw it all up close, Aisha.

You know, the grim toll of car accidents, of gunshot wounds, poisonings, assaults, and suicides.

You name it, he saw it.

He said it was a job that gave him a particular appreciation for the fragility of life,

And he remained committed to his work until the opioid crisis hit New Hampshire hard.

And he told me that he watched too many kids, too many young people die, and that he didn't feel that the state was taking the epidemic seriously enough.

And eventually, Tom just had enough.

And in 2017, at the age of 61, he quit.