{"product_id":"103-speaks-reflections-on-longevity-9798246974452","title":"103 Speaks: Reflections on Longevity","description":"At 103 years old, Babette Hughes has outlived her eyesight, her husbands, and, heartbreakingly, her two sons, but she has never outlived her vision. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e103 Speaks: Reflections on Longevity\u003c\/i\u003e is an unflinchingly honest memoir that shatters the myth of aging\u003c\/b\u003e as quiet decline. Instead, Hughes reveals a life driven by reinvention, resilience, and astonishing late-blooming creativity, including writing nine books after the age of eighty. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHer story unfolds through a series of unforgettable turning points, beginning with the childhood mystery of her father, a bootlegger murdered by the Mafia on her second birthday, and stretching across a century of American life. From the hidden world of Prohibition-era crime to the glamorous yet hollow \"fake self\" of high-fashion modeling during The Great Depression, Hughes recounts the experiences that shaped her with sharp insight and fearless candor. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDictated to her caregiver who became a trusted collaborator, this memoir captures her role as a behind-the-scenes force in Hubert Humphrey's presidential campaign, her awakening through psychoanalysis, and the courage it gave her to leave a suffocating marriage at a time when women were expected to endure in silence. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMore than a life story, \u003ci\u003e103 Speaks\u003c\/i\u003e is a manifesto for what Hughes calls a new stage of opportunity in later life. She writes of hospice not as an ending, but as a system that allowed her to \"graduate\" back into living, writing, and even weightlifting. Told with what she calls centennial clarity, blending hard-won wisdom with biting humor, this book is a powerful testament to the human spirit and a bold invitation to stay fully awake to life at any age.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Independently Published","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52160188645650,"sku":"9798246974452","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3a89b689-06c4-4ff9-89f5-a7bea161dd12.jpg?v=1775039927","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/103-speaks-reflections-on-longevity-9798246974452","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}