Many know Gladys Taylor McGarey, M.D., M.D.(H), as the "mother of holistic medicine" because of her pioneering work in holistic medicine and natural birthing. Patients, friends and acquaintances alike call her Dr. Gladys, but Analea McGarey just calls her Mom. This moving biography, written by Analea McGarey, tells the fascinating and often humorous story of Dr. Gladys' life.
Click here for a photo gallery of Dr. Gladys' recent adventures.
Dr. Gladys' story begins with her remarkable parents, John and Beth Taylor, physician missionaries living in India "a world fragrant with incense and the heavy scent of jasmine and roses, underscored and overlaid with the stench of garbage and rotting things of all kinds." Into this complex mixture of fresh beauty and rich decay Gladys Taylor was born in 1920. Her mother went into labor as she gazed on the Taj Mahal.
From her mischievous and magical childhood years in India to her dedicated and remarkable years as a wife, parent and physician, Gladys Taylor McGarey has lived boldly and energetically, with a contagious love of life and sanity-saving sense of humor. Gladys knew, even before she could articulate it, not that she "wanted to be" a doctor, but that she was a doctor. She also intuitively understood that being a doctor meant being a facilitator of a divinely guided process. Working with other like-minded healers, and in the face of derision and discourtesy from traditional physicians, she developed an inclusive approach to guide patients toward wellbeing -- and in the glow of these friendships, in the heat of these arguments, in the warmth of these healing hands, holistic medicine was born.
The story of Gladys Taylor McGarey is one of beauty, fun, imagination, passion and courage. It is inspirational without being daunting. It is hopeful and affectionate without being sentimental. In other words, it is the real story of a real person. It beautifully reveals the potent union of ordinary and extraordinary in this particular life and in the greater world.
For more information about Dr. Gladys' life work and current activities, visit the website of the nonprofit Gladys Taylor McGarey Medical Foundation.
You can read a sample chapter of the book, describing an incident in 1929 featuring Gladys, her parents John and Elizabeth Taylor, an elephant, pythons and man-eating crocodiles.
Born to Heal is available for only $26.00 hardback or $19.50 paperback, plus $4 shipping/handling ($2 for each additional book). You can order it online (via a secure transaction through PayPal.com) by clicking the button below. Using PayPal, you can pay directly from your bank account, or with Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.
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