Working for Mrs. Rosalynn Carter and President Carter, during a stint I had at the Carter Center, was one of the highlights of my career. I came to know Mrs. Carter quite well given her focus on improving mental health care through her Carter Center Mental Health Program. She was a wise, modest and kind person who treated everyone with respect, dignity and compassion regardless of their station in life. I had never known a celebrity before, and she impressed me greatly with her warmth and authenticity. She was a genuinely graceful person. But it should be mentioned that she combined her natural warmth with a steely resolve to do the right thing. This special amalgamation of qualities earned her the nickname, “the steel magnolia”. And I can attest to her determination to make life better for those suffering from illness and poverty and discrimination.

Mrs. Carter had so many accomplishments that made the world a better place. She and President Carter were of one mind in this respect. In this era, when so many enterprises are transactional and profit and power driven, the Carters exemplified something radically different. It seems to me their motto was–“Everything fits when we all work together for each other”. And just being at the Carter Center campus somehow filled the atmosphere with this philosophy. I’ve taken this lesson with me from my time there working with Mrs. Carter and it has guided my efforts at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Benson-Henry Institute here.

I am sorry that she no longer walks on this planet with us, but I join the multitude of people who are thankful for the life she led. She sure has earned her eternal peace.

– BHI Director Gregory L. Fricchione, MD