Before I was hired a decade ago by Chaz Ebert to work for her at RogerEbert.com, I had never met anyone as busy as my grandma, Marian Tompson. As a co-founder of the world-renowned breastfeeding organization, La Leche League, Marian had a life far different from those of most women who gave birth to seven children in the 1950s. My grandpa Tom encouraged her to travel the world for La Leche, where she made friends such as Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, while he stayed home to take care of their children.
Growing up, I considered Marian not only my grandma, but one of my dearest friends. She encouraged me to expand my understanding of life beyond what was being taught to me in the classroom and was among the earliest champions of my writing. Sharing my love of watching and discussing cinema, Marian and I would make regular trips to the library—where she found for me numerous editions of Roger Ebert’s annually published review compilations—and the movie theater, where we’d typically take in a double bill.
This made Chaz’s request to interview Marian in the courtyard of her Evanston apartment last August a glorious full circle moment. Chaz was conducting interviews for her directorial debut, a documentary centering on the lives of extraordinary people in their 90s and 100s who are continuing to have a meaningful impact in the world. Among the other subjects Chaz spoke with were the late television trailblazer and cherished Ebertfest guest Norman Lear; Margaret Richardson, mother of The Historymakers founder Julieanna Richardson; and Deborah Szekely, founder of The Golden Door and Mexico’s revered destination spa, Rancho La Puerta.
Last weekend, on October 26th, Chaz presented a 45-minute cut of the movie at the Chicago International Film Festival entitled “The Wellness Warrior.” It centered primarily on the life of 102-year-old Szekely, who was in attendance for the screening, and participated afterward in a Q&A with Chaz moderated by yours truly. Among the high-profile people who attended Deborah’s spa over the past several decades were Oprah Winfrey, Laura Dern, Shelley Duvall, Charlton Heston (the story that Szekely shares about him in the film is hilarious), Diane Ladd, and Johnny “Tarzan” Weissmuller, who was a peer of Marian’s mom when she was in high school.
Chaz was moved to tears when recounting the bond her late husband Roger had with Deborah, and how she nurtured him during his illness. When I asked Deborah what she believes the world is most in need of today, she replied, “Everybody needs at least two friends who if you call them in the middle of the night, and you said, ‘I need help,’ you know they’ll be in the car on the way to help right away.” Chaz asked her if she had a message for the crowd in attendance, and Deborah’s response was, “When you see a thing is needed, and you know that you can help, go and do it. It’s waiting for you. Necessity is the mother of invention.”
There’s no question that the film’s other subjects, my grandma included, would be in agreement with this statement. Seeing footage of Marian, Norman Lear and Margaret Richardson toward the end of the film has me excited for an eventual feature-length version that juxtaposes the achievements, insights and journeys of these amazing lives. “Wellness Warrior Weekend” affirmed for me, above all, how blessed I was during my ten years at the Ebert site to work for someone who tirelessly uses her platform to help make the world a better place. That is what Chaz has done through her role as publisher of the Ebert site; her many philanthropic efforts; her acclaimed work as a producer; her deeply moving book, It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity Through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion and Kindness; and now, her first time in the director’s chair. And in the midst of our suffocatingly toxic national discourse, these are the stories—and people—we need elevated more than ever.