If you asked me about medical bioethics, HPV, right-to-die court cases I would have said I know nothing. If you’d asked me for a list of Calgary’s oldest retailers, I’ve had said The Bay and Riley & McCormick. More about that later …
There is no such thing as a short resume for this woman: schooled in Calgary (Sacred Heart, St. Martin’s, Bishop Carroll, BA at Yale, BA & MA at Oxford, Ph.D at U of T, articled on Bay Street at Tory’s. Along the way, she met, fell in love with and married a professor from Belgium – so there was time teaching Theory of Law at the University of Brussels, children – and a return to Canada to raise their children here. Her husband was considering jobs in Victoria and Calgary. Juliet’s Calgary roots and family perhaps swayed the choice. And the U of C found a place for Juliet. Lucky us.
Let me back up and set the stage for this …
It isn’t every day that phenomenal opportunities sit down next to you at a rubber chicken luncheon. I was at one not long ago – and the lady to my right intrigued me. Between salad-speech-dessert-windup interludes, our conversation was like a tease, an appetizer – and I wanted more.
I requested this interview – which she quickly and graciously granted I might add – and this allows me to introduce to my readers and friends, a most interesting Calgarian, Dr. Juliet Guichon from the University of Calgary Medical School.
Now you might expect a doctor from a medical school, one who teaches and advises, to have a black bag in her trunk and a stethoscope in her handbag. Think again …
Her Doctorate is in Law, her education is quite the pedigree – yet her roots are long and deep in Calgary’s Catholic community and retail business scene. And she’s animated. And brilliant, approachable and funny. Not a bad get for me from a rubber-chicken luncheon.
Moral of this story … if someone you don’t know sits down next to you at a luncheon, ask questions – then sit back and listen. It helps to take notes. I don’t know if I should say thanks Doc, or thanks Juliet. Thanks, so much for your time and openness.
I asked, what contributed most to your success? “My parents. I was really lucky. They took the happiest and compassionate view. A wonderful teacher – Bill Dever. Yale. Oxford. And, I upset people.”
What has held you back? “Not wanting to upset people – but I’m over it! Timing. There is lots more I’d like to do …”
Back to the HPV battle – she told me it wasn’t difficult to square her own Catholicism with her opposition to Bishop Henry’s position: “My interest in the issue began when a friend died of cervical cancer. The vaccine would have prevented that. I didn’t understand the resistance. I don’t think that’s Catholic.”
There was so much more that won’t fit in this piece. In short, I was entranced - entertained, educated and engaged by this incredibly interesting woman who is, it seems, just getting started. Wow, what a life, and what a difference she is making.
Some interviews are hard to get. This one was easy. I asked. The answer was yes, an appointment made, I showed up. I spent the whole afternoon …
We did this interview during Hallowe’en week. Juliet said we should return to its roots – to use that event to talk about death, about dying. Laughter. Interruptions. While we met in the lobby of her office building we were at a crossroads – and colleagues kept coming by, for a hug, a chat, to congratulate her on her work, on her medal win and to discuss new projects. Each time, I was graciously introduced and included in the conversation. I had a wonderful time.
Her parting gift to me – a book; hers. The Right To Know One’s Origins. Then her phone rang – a kid wondering when they would be picked up by the mom-van. She had to go. It was an afternoon well spent, one I won’t soon forget …