Living and Writing Through History: Babette Hughes at 101

In this captivating episode of "Conversations with Rich Bennett," hosts Rich Bennett and Wendy Beck sit down with the remarkable Babette Hughes, a 101-year-old author with a lifetime of stories and wisdom. Babette shares her incredible journey, reflecting on her family's dramatic history, including her father's murder during a mafia turf war, and how these experiences have influenced her novels. With over eight published books, she started her writing career in her seventies, proving it's never too late to follow your passions.

Babette discusses the value of aging, the insights gained from life's challenges, and her perspective on historical events. She also talks about her latest work, "Lessons of Evil," which delves into the emotional impact of the Nazi period. Babette's indomitable spirit and zest for life serve as an inspiration, as she continues to write and adapt to new technologies despite her macular degeneration.

This episode is proudly sponsored by Freedom Federal Credit Union, a financial cooperative dedicated to serving Harford and Baltimore Counties with competitive rates, exceptional service, and a strong commitment to community support.

Tune in for an enriching conversation that highlights resilience, creativity, and the power of storytelling.

For more information about our sponsor, visit Freedom Federal Credit Union.

Author Babette Hughes Website (babettehughesbooks.com)

Sponsor Message:

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Transcript

Rich Bennett 0:00
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm your host, Rich Bennett, joined by my lovely co-host, Wendy Beck. And today we are thrilled to welcome Babette Hughes, an accomplished author known for her captivating novels that delve into themes of gangsters. Prohibition, sin and societal challenges. Her works, including the Hat, the Red Scarf and the Necklace, are inspired by her family's dramatic history and her father's murder during a mafia turf war and 101 years young. But Beck continues to write with remarkable vigor. So this is I spoke with her briefly before we started. And let me tell you something. All of you listening. I told Babette when when I met her that she is my new mentor because my goal and people have heard me say this a lot, my goal is to make it to at least 100 and still be podcast. And here she is, 101. And she's going to continue writing when she gets this computer. So she's in everything she's been through. It's just fascinating. So first of all, welcome to the show, Babette. How are you doing? 

Babette Hughes 1:22
I'm doing well, I am doing well. And 

again, I'm an exception. I'm afraid of men and women who get older and give up. And I'm a broken record. I find that. We have so much more wisdom. We have so much more insight. We have so much more love because in life we are tested. And when we are tested and we work through whatever problems there are, we learn. We learn something. 

Rich Bennett 2:05
I mean. 

Babette Hughes 2:06
And that's why being older is such a 

good thing. Personally and for society and I don't know about other countries, but I know that this country does not value age people. So, you know, again, I, I try when I get a chance to remind people this these are the rewards of living and sometimes living with difficulties. 

Rich Bennett 2:45
Yeah. 

Babette Hughes 2:45
So. 

Yeah. Good for you. You're already. What is good for you and society. Rich. 

Rich Bennett 2:55
Oh, I am. I'm going to make it to at least 100. I'll be podcast and I'll probably still be playing Santa Claus up. I'll be doing a lot, you know. Wendy was so busy giving me a hard time. 

Wendy Beck 3:07
Well, maybe not by then. 

Rich Bennett 3:12
So, you know, and the one part you mentioned about especially about this country, how they really don't want. Expect a lot of a lot of the elderly people, but younger people in general. How often do you get a chance to talk to them? Because I think especially, I want to say millennials on down to whatever generation we're at now can learn so much from you. So do you, as you get a chance to talk to any of them. 

Babette Hughes 3:42
Yeah, I can. I have my children and their friends and grandchildren. But again, your message, the urgency of the message will accomplish what you just thought about that The idea of a young generation. But if we have older people giving this age a good, you know, slant, that it isn't over, that is, you know, creative and productive and 

more of a yes. You mentioned mentoring. We have so much to do and we're not given the opportunity. So, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 4:34
Actually with because being 101 and you're nowadays we see a lot with I want to say histories trying to be rewritten in a way. 

Have you seen anything where. I'm sure you have 

where they met you, something you know, history wise, whether it be even from the Civil War to the Vietnam War or even to, you know, the Gulf War. But you see things being change. And it wasn't the way it was. It happened. Have you seen that a lot with, you know, especially during your lifetime, where it's like they've been trying to rewrite history and not get it right. 

Babette Hughes 5:23
That's a very good question, a very complicated question. 

Sure we we learn and in hindsight, we find that horrendous mistakes were made by our leaders. Which is shocking. It's shocking that, you know, these things are bad enough without the states. And we all know the Vietnam War was a tragic mistake. And even leaders have come forward and acknowledged their mistake, which is remarkable. 

Rich Bennett 6:12
Right. 

Babette Hughes 6:13
One of the things I look, I think I learn from history is it was never predictable. The. It should. Was that predictable? It was a shock. World War Two was loud, predictable. We were neutral and determined to save the war so that, you know, we were we're held hostage in a way by the 

events that we are living through and that we have already lived through. You know, that's why as we age, we have so much to give. I'll tell you what else I learn. I ask people along the way if they would like to be young again and everyone said no. 

It's hard. I mean, career wise, financial wise, personal, relationship wise, it's hard. And it's not true that. 

Young age is desirable. It's not. It was it's hard for everyone. And again these years when your children are no longer, you know, young and needy, you're on their way, their adult. You have your have all your but you're going to let them be what they're going to be, you know? As they go through their own lives and their own problems. And problems are part of life. We all have. We all have them. And that's when we learned stuff when we attacked. 

Rich Bennett 8:15
Right. 

It is. Speaking of problems, because your books, your novels, I should say, draw from your family's dramatic history, particularly the murder of your father during a mafia turf war. 

Babette Hughes 8:29
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 8:30
So how has that personal history actually influenced your storytelling and characters in your novels? 

Babette Hughes 8:39
That's an excellent question because it each shaped my entire life. It shaped the lives of my family. 

It's so traumatic. It's so horrible. 

You never get rid of it. But I have learned to use it in my writing. It's given me a lot of. 

Energy. You know that kind of energy when you're writing your. Can't wait to get to the page and all that. It it was awful. But again, it was good, isn't it? It was good. 

Wendy Beck 9:30
Now. 

Babette Hughes 9:31
It informed all my. 

Wendy Beck 9:32
I'm sorry. 

Babette Hughes 9:34
Oh, sure. 

Wendy Beck 9:36
Oh, I 

Babette Hughes 9:36
Go 

Wendy Beck 9:36
was 

Babette Hughes 9:36
ahead. 

Wendy Beck 9:36
just going to ask, are your books based on historical fiction or are they actually memoirs? Like, I I'm not super familiar, but I notice that they all have like a the hat would you said the hat, the scarf and the necklace. 

Rich Bennett 9:53
The red scar. 

Wendy Beck 9:53
A red scarf. 

Babette Hughes 9:55
That's a fiction, a three volume trilogy. 

Wendy Beck 10:01
Oh, okay. 

Babette Hughes 10:05
So ask me again. What? What did you ask me? 

Wendy Beck 10:11
Are these? 

Rich Bennett 10:11
Who? Me or Wendy. 

Wendy Beck 10:13
Me, I think. 

Babette Hughes 10:14
What? 

Wendy Beck 10:16
Are they? 

Babette Hughes 10:16
Yeah. Wendy, you. 

Wendy Beck 10:18
Are they stored? 

Babette Hughes 10:19
Oh. 

Wendy Beck 10:19
Fiction. Is this accounts of your real life or is it more fiction? 

Babette Hughes 10:26
Each. All of the above. This last book. Is very much about my emotional life. And I don't know how you feel about your work, but I try to find the emotion in my work because it's. Well, it's the glue. I think, you know, it's 

Wendy Beck 10:53
Yeah, 

Babette Hughes 10:53
the. 

Wendy Beck 10:54
I. I agree with that completely. I feel like when you can put your emotion behind it and your personal experience, you can't. It's not wrong. There's no one that can. 

Babette Hughes 11:05
No. 

Wendy Beck 11:06
What you're writing because it's truly coming from the heart. 

Babette Hughes 11:11
Yes. And it has a real effect. And the reader. The writer's emotions affect the reader. I can't get a very good way in this last book, Lessons of the Evil is about the Nazi period, and I was not in the Holocaust, but I identified strongly with it because it was my generation of Jews who were murdered. It was there for the grace of God goes, me goes. So in for this last book, 

it's in that kind of emotional energy it did 

have. Have you read the book? 

Rich Bennett 12:06
No. No, actually, because I thought your last book was 97 Speaks. 

Babette Hughes 12:12
No. 

Rich Bennett 12:13
I realize the lessons. Geneva is so because 97 speaks. You were when you were 97. When did it show lessons in evil? When did you write that? That just because that was just released? What I'm looking at January, right. 

Babette Hughes 12:28
Yes, 

Rich Bennett 12:29
January. 

Babette Hughes 12:29
it. 

Rich Bennett 12:30
You're. 

Babette Hughes 12:31
Yes. Yes. It was a work. It's only in the village. It's not as long as it now. It's short. 

Rich Bennett 12:41
Right. 

Babette Hughes 12:42
I spent years on this. And it's I believe it's my best work. 

Rich Bennett 12:49
So that's one. That's another one I definitely have to get at now. All right. So, Babette, because you haven't written since lessons in Evil, because you're waiting for that computer. 

Babette Hughes 13:03
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 13:03
What's the next book? What's the next book going to be? 

Babette Hughes 13:09
It's going to be short stories, and I'd like to try poetry. 

Rich Bennett 13:15
Oh, nice. 

Babette Hughes 13:16
I'm an optimist. Yes. But I'm not that optimistic to start a novel at the age of one. 

No, I'm just going to say, if I share a love, I want to be able to finish it. So I'm I'm going back to the shirt story in my writing. 

Rich Bennett 13:40
But. 

Wendy Beck 13:42
What? When did you start writing? Can I ask, how old were you when you started writing? 

Babette Hughes 13:49
I was probably in my seventies. 

Wendy Beck 13:52
Oh, that's amazing. That's so inspirational. And I just pulled up your website because I just wanted to see how many books have you written that are published? 

Babette Hughes 14:03
Nine. 

Rich Bennett 14:04
Now, right? 

Wendy Beck 14:05
Nine. 

Rich Bennett 14:05
Not. 

Babette Hughes 14:08
Nine. 

Rich Bennett 14:08
I, Henry. I keep missing books. 

Babette Hughes 14:13
I think this is the ninth lesson, that evil. 

Wendy Beck 14:17
And you didn't. 

Babette Hughes 14:18
But there weren't. 

Wendy Beck 14:21
Until 

Babette Hughes 14:21
What? 

Wendy Beck 14:21
you were in your you didn't start until you were in your seventies. What did you do prior to that? Like, what was your was your job? Were you just a mom? Did you retire and decide to do it? Like, what brought you into this next journey in your life as becoming an author? 

Babette Hughes 14:41
Well, I. I always wanted to write a ten year old. I wrote a story about a girl and her dog. 

But I because of the turmoil on my legs, I hadn't been able to write until my marriage to J.D., when I was able to write full time. Before that, I would my children were small. I was a stay at home mom, and during the years of my youth and middle age 

as a young person, I worked as a model and as a. 

Rich Bennett 15:32
Wow. 

Babette Hughes 15:33
Yeah. And this is also a piece of history. When I was 17, I worked at a department store in the heart department, if you can believe the department and I was 17 or 18 and. You sit a customer at a like a ability with the mirror and the actual big deep drawers, and you pick one out and you stand behind her and you put her out her head to see if she likes it. And that goes along and I'm whispering her, That's and that's what I did. And, you know, that's ancient history. 

Wendy Beck 16:22
Yeah the trends yes the for the fashion and probably has changed so much where everything was so much more formal to now where we don't dress the same at all. And I mean just the evolution of so many things from technology to gosh, even cars. I mean, everything is changed in your lifetime. And I can't even imagine that anybody else in the future is ever going to see the amount of change that you have seen and that your generation has seen, because you have seen it from like zero lights, you know, or to to this technology that is just completely something that you probably couldn't even have imagined. From the typewriter to the computer to all of it. 

Rich Bennett 17:10
Even space travel. 

Babette Hughes 17:12
Yes, of course. 

Rich Bennett 17:14
I mean. Yeah. 

Babette Hughes 17:16
When you that was that was so well said. That is absolutely true. And I don't know if 

change will be accelerating in the future years the way they have been in the past. Probably they. Probably. Don't you see, with technology? 

Wendy Beck 17:39
I think it's. 

Babette Hughes 17:40
Becoming more of. 

Wendy Beck 17:42
I can't imagine the advancement of technology beyond what we have today. But I think that, you know, there's always going to be a level of catching up for four generations, you know, like me, for instance, like trying to use a computer versus, you know, my daughter using a computer. I mean, their brains and their mind, they just they learn differently now because of it. But when you were going from, you know, the typewriter to the computer that I can't imagine how much different it would go into the future unless we're thinking it and it types on the scale. You know, maybe that would be great. And you said now you're going to have some type of new device that's going to help you because you were having trouble typing and seeing. Can you tell us a little bit about what that's going to be like for you? Have you tried it? 

Babette Hughes 18:36
I just learned about it yesterday. 

Wendy Beck 18:39
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 18:40
Wow. 

Wendy Beck 18:40
Okay. So you have a little learning curve to go before you can explain it to us. 

Babette Hughes 18:46
Oh, totally. Wow, This is so fun talking about all this. 

Because you're writers and because you have the 

understanding of these revolutionary changes in our lives. And. 

Wendy Beck 19:09
Yes. 

Babette Hughes 19:09
How do you how do you do? Much better or worse. Some things about my memories are better. Even the depression was different in a good way because. 

Wendy Beck 19:25
It has more to do with. 

Babette Hughes 19:28
What? 

Wendy Beck 19:29
Values has. Do you see how family values have changed? Is that part of what you're meaning about better? I'm curious. 

Babette Hughes 19:38
No, I think of it as better because our society was supporting each each 

Rich Bennett 19:49
Other. 

Babette Hughes 19:49
individual's lives. This was in the Depression. We were all in the same boat. And that's dynamic. There were no haves and have nots. There were just people sharing their lives and trying to survive. It was I was only ten years old, but my mother worked for the city of Cleveland. They were too broke to pay their employees. 

Wendy Beck 20:21
Wow. 

Babette Hughes 20:21
So they. They put my mother in like the lovely money. And when she wanted to buy groceries, she put me in the car and she would send me into grocery stores. In those days, there were no, you know, big supermarkets. They were little grocery stores. And I would run in and say, Do you take a script? And usually they said no. And then we'd go to the next store, in the next store, until someone says yes, they'll take a script. And then my mother would go in and buy groceries. 

Rich Bennett 20:57
Wow. 

Babette Hughes 20:58
It was so good now. 

Rich Bennett 21:02
Did you say, Cleveland? Is that where you're 

Babette Hughes 21:04
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 21:04
from? Cleveland. 

Babette Hughes 21:05
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 21:07
Really? Okay. Well, I want to go back a little bit because talking about your father in the mafia, was that Italian mafia or Irish mafia? 

Babette Hughes 21:18
It's Italian. 

Rich Bennett 21:20
Pretty okay because I know both are pretty big in Cleveland. 

Babette Hughes 21:24
They were. And everyone knew who killed my father. 

Rich Bennett 21:29
Oh, wow. 

Babette Hughes 21:30
Everyone knew who it was because it was a well-known turf war. And I don't know if you knew that. My uncle was murdered with my father. He was innocent. He was an innocent bystander. 

So. 

Rich Bennett 21:48
You say, Cleveland? Now, I got a lot more going on in my head here, but I bet you I got a ton of questions now because my father, a father's from Cleveland. 

Babette Hughes 21:59
Oh, really? 

Rich Bennett 22:01
Yes. Yes. 

Babette Hughes 22:03
What? 

Rich Bennett 22:04
She tells stories of my great grandfather, 

who supposedly supposedly was in the Irish Mafia 

Babette Hughes 22:13
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 22:14
and. 

Babette Hughes 22:14
yes. 

Rich Bennett 22:15
Yes. And owned a whole block of houses in speakeasies in Cleveland. 

Babette Hughes 22:23
Three. 

Rich Bennett 22:23
Apparently so, yeah. And apparently some famous house there, too. But of course, actually, you might be able to shed light on this because. My father remembers going to my great grandfather's house all the time. And my he my father was always put on a leash in the yard because his mother would drop him off there. My great grandfather would watch him. But you put him on a leash in the yard. 

Whenever my grandmother came to pick my father up, my my father always told her he would see people go in the house but never come back out. And they all when he come back out. 

Several decades later, the state, I guess, purchased the house and they found secret passageways and skeleton remains and all that in the house. 

Babette Hughes 23:14
Oh, my gosh. 

Rich Bennett 23:16
And but there's no trace of my great grandfather earning this. And one of the things that I've heard this that a lot of the guys in the Mafia would never put anything in their own name. 

They were they were hiding a lot of things they didn't want to. But you may have heard of this house. It's called now. It's called the Franklin Castle. 

Babette Hughes 23:43
No. What year was 

Rich Bennett 23:45
Now. 

Babette Hughes 23:45
your. 

Rich Bennett 23:46
Okay. 

That would have been back in the thirties, I guess. 

Babette Hughes 23:54
Well, I was born in the twenties, so I. Ten years old. 

Rich Bennett 24:02
Yeah. My father would have been actually 90, I believe, this year or 91. 

Babette Hughes 24:09
Is she gone? 

Rich Bennett 24:09
Yeah. Just. Yes. Yes. I'm for. Yeah. Him and my mother, my older brother up there with trying to get the story straight with my great grandfather. 

Babette Hughes 24:21
Yeah. You. 

Rich Bennett 24:21
Find out. 

Babette Hughes 24:24
Do you have some fallout to from those years? 

Rich Bennett 24:28
Me. 

I never lived there. I grew up wi my father. My father, because when he was in the Navy, he met my mother and then somehow or another stayed here in Maryland. So I've been been here all my life. I can't get out. 

Wendy Beck 24:45
It's not a bad place to be. Yeah, it's either. Where. Where are you living now? Where do you. Where do you reside? 

Babette Hughes 24:53
Austin, Texas. 

Wendy Beck 24:55
Oh. Okay. 

Rich Bennett 24:58
That's a big switch. 

Babette Hughes 25:00
Normal. I had never set foot in Texas. Until we moved here. That was my husband's work. And he needed to be close to Houston, where the oil business is. So that's why I lost him five years ago. And 

Wendy Beck 25:22
Sorry. 

Babette Hughes 25:23
here I am in. 

Wendy Beck 25:27
And you're still right. 

Babette Hughes 25:27
One of the. 

Wendy Beck 25:29
Is your family close by? 

Babette Hughes 25:32
No, no. They're scattered all over, which is, you know, a phenomenon about family life. Did you when do you refer to that? People are not staying in one place. They're scattered. And in those days, in the old days, people didn't change jobs. And here it's common to change jobs. 

Rich Bennett 26:00
Oh, especially now. 

Babette Hughes 26:02
Especially. 

Rich Bennett 26:03
Especially now. Oh, yeah. I mean, growing up, we were always told that, you know, you keep a job as long as possible. Put that on your resume because if you go to apply for a job and the. Business is long. Okay. You've been six months here. Six months? They are six months here. You know, it doesn't look good because you're a jumper, a job jumper now. I mean, there are businesses that will pay you by the day. We'll literally pay you for each day you work. It's like, okay, I'm just going to need a job here for a day, get paid and go, Leave it. I wanted the job. Work ethics have changed big time. 

Babette Hughes 26:48
Totally. Totally. 

Rich Bennett 26:50
Big time. And there are for the good and and for the worse. The ones that are for the worst, I think are the ones that the ones that are constantly changing jobs are the ones that I want to say don't like authority. 

Babette Hughes 27:07
Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 27:08
The ones that are staying in their jobs and working longer. Couple of things. They remember that it's not a job. It's a career. To make a career doing it. The other ones and this is something my father always told me. They're having fun. My father. Job. 

Babette Hughes 27:28
What was his job? 

Rich Bennett 27:29
Probably one of the worst. He was a crane operator at Bethlehem Steel. 

Babette Hughes 27:33
My goodness. 

Rich Bennett 27:34
Not a good job, Stuart, but he loved doing what he did because he always told me, if your job is no longer fun, it's time to find a new job. But he. 

Babette Hughes 27:44
That was unusual advice, 

Wendy Beck 27:48
That 

Babette Hughes 27:48
wasn't 

Wendy Beck 27:48
was progressive. 

Babette Hughes 27:48
it? 

Rich Bennett 27:49
Oh, yeah. 

Babette Hughes 27:49
I want. 

Wendy Beck 27:49
Aggressive. I think it was very progressive. Because now that's more of a mindset where it wasn't there. You were a company man, and you stayed where you were. Could provide for your family. And now people are re-evaluating that whole mindset, and now they're looking for that internal, I guess, satisfaction in being able to, like, do what they love. Because a lot of times people will have a career for, you know, 30 years and they never loved it. 

Babette Hughes 28:24
I remember during the women's movement, which revolutionized. 

Rich Bennett 28:29
Oh, wow. 

Babette Hughes 28:30
Society. And I remember at the time somebody told me that the women's movement was going to change life forever. And I thought, Oh, that's ridiculous. How could that be? Because, you know, lots of thoughts, like women were not given the the respect as opportunities, as men were. But but the change came when women went to work. When they came home there, they were exhausted. Their children were, you know, we need their mother. And so McDonald's was born. And that another revolution. And even today, we see women in jobs that were. 

Available to them, 

like television reporting and anchors and all of that, which I in not that long ago, one of the famous men anchors was furious when Barbara Walters was saying a couple 

other a couple. It was the first woman that was ever given that job. So, you know, they're breathtaking. They're breathtaking. And it changes. 

Rich Bennett 30:13
Yeah. 

Wendy Beck 30:14
I mean, and for the good as well. I mean, I know that there's some changes that probably don't always, you know, end well, but I feel like the women's movement probably was. Do you think that that was the biggest change in your lifetime? 

Babette Hughes 30:31
You know, it probably was, although the war was a huge change. 

New York during the war was like a village. There were no cars. Cars were made. 

All those auto manufacturers made war materials like trucks and. 

Rich Bennett 30:58
Yeah. 

Babette Hughes 30:59
Guns and they start making cars. So you had very few cars on the road. You never saw a man. And if you did, you were suspicious. Why aren't you in the war? Young man. You know, because people were suffering because of the war. They're worried about their sons. So, yeah, it was another remarkable experience. I was just wondering if we would have the same huge age revolutionary changes as we go forward. As as you too, are over the age where you will be dealing with these changes. I don't know. I think I think it may, you know, double up like a gambler's Chips did. Every time they you when you you get 

more chips. If you put more chips on the number, if you can follow me. 

Yeah. There's a thing in maybe physics that did. Things change and change brings change. 

Rich Bennett 32:26
Yeah. I mean, just in my lifetime alone, I think the biggest change I see was with computers. Because back in school, you know, computer, it was punch cards. That was computer class. Then where we live in Maryland, we had the first supercomputer at Aberdeen Proving Ground, which basically took up a whole building. Now you're I mean, you have phones, our computer. 

Babette Hughes 32:56
Mm hmm. 

Rich Bennett 32:57
Your little phones are computer now. It's just amazing. Just the computer. That's probably the biggest change I've seen in automobiles. 

Babette Hughes 33:06
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 33:07
Because we got away from the muscle cars, which I loved. Then they got smaller. Now we're going electric now. Now, the other thing they're working on is the Oh, God, I forget. It's like hydrogen. 

Babette Hughes 33:22
The what? 

Rich Bennett 33:23
There's already a couple of cars. The hydrogen. 

Hydrogen. I remember like the old Stanley, like the old Stanley Steamers. So now there's a couple of car lines. Have these cars that are. It's not powered by electric is not power by gas is hydrogen hot 

Babette Hughes 33:41
Right. 

Rich Bennett 33:42
hydrogen. And I think that's what it is. Hydrogen. Pretty sure. I don't know. 

Babette Hughes 33:47
So. 

Rich Bennett 33:48
I dropped out of high. 

Babette Hughes 33:50
So if these events pile up in the future, like the past. 

You know. Who knows? It can be anything. Anything. You know, with incomes good and bad. 

Rich Bennett 34:12
And I think what no matter what it is, you always got to look at the positive part of it. Obviously, it's happening for something good. It's sometimes, yeah, it could be worse and good. But for example, right now a lot of people are scared of A.I., even though it's been around since, I believe the fifties. Maybe you. A lot of people are afraid of it now because now you can have like chatty beauty on your computer and it can basically write a book for you or whatever. My thing is learn it because it's it's just like a computer. It's going to remember what you put in. All it does is browse the Internet. You know, just accept it and work with it. And, you know, just look at all the positive things that. 

Babette Hughes 35:01
Well, that that's what you're doing. But there is usually fear involved in changed or chiseling. 

Rich Bennett 35:09
There is. Yes. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. 

Babette Hughes 35:14
It's the unknown. 

Rich Bennett 35:16
Yeah, I because another thing, when I was in the Marine Corps, then when I got out. 911 happened. Well, I got out way before 911. But the military had changed. And when 911 happened, you know, we went to war with a lot of people. The military said they didn't sign up for that. They signed up because they wanted like the GI Bill and all that. They wanted to get an education. Military. You're going to learn a lot, but you got to be ready to go. You know, go to war when your country needs you. And a lot of people in the military are upset about that. When I went in, we were we were anxious. We you know, we were ready to go. 

Babette Hughes 35:59
Hmm. 

Rich Bennett 36:00
And I think yeah, I think you see that now since after 911, a lot of people that are going in again, it's, you know, they're ready. They they love the country that much because. No, let's face it. And you've seen it with Pearl Harbor. You've seen it with 911. Never want to see battles here on our own, you know, on our own soil. 

Babette Hughes 36:27
Right. 

Rich Bennett 36:28
If that makes. 

Babette Hughes 36:29
We've been pretty lucky. 

Rich Bennett 36:32
Yes, we have. Actually, I want to ask you about another book. 

Babette Hughes 36:36
I will remember your request, and maybe I'll. Maybe I'll do it a. 

Rich Bennett 36:43
Well, I know you're going to write another one, but can you tell everybody about the one book you wrote in Search of Happiness because you are happy? 

Babette Hughes 36:53
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 36:53
So what is this search of happiness about? 

Babette Hughes 36:59
You're asking me a question. I don't really remember the specifics, but it goes back to what you learn when these learn. And I've learned that our happiness is our own responsibility. No one could do it for us. There's no such thing as Prince Charming or the perfect spouse. It is each person's job to be responsible for their happiness. And that's a new idea. Just as the idea of aging your life is over is wrong. And there's so much in the culture that's just flat out wrong. And it's powerful. Our culture is very powerful. We don't even know when we're following it. 

So so the other thing is to be conscious as much as you can. 

Consciousness, you know. 

Be aware of your thoughts. Being conscious of your life is very enlightening, very enlightening, or your life or your work. I'd love to hear what you two of you write. 

Rich Bennett 38:31
Well, I never published anything yet, but Wendy has. And Wendy needs to write another book. 

Wendy Beck 38:37
Well, now I have to. 

Babette Hughes 38:38
Do you hear that rumbling? 

Wendy Beck 38:39
Babette didn't. He was 70. So now I feel a little bit of the pressure off of me because I think that you are so correct in terms of timing and and also, you know, when the time is right, it will happen. And also with the pursuit of happiness that you were just mentioning. I love that because I feel like so many people get stuck in their own feelings. And when things are wrong, they. They're not happy. But I feel like when we go through hard stuff and I've been through some hard stuff, everybody's been through hard stuff. We're still able what determines our success is whether we can still find joy. And when we can find joy in the little things, even when things are bad, that's when we have healed and we can move forward. So, you know, we're not stuck anymore. And it might not be this perfect situation every single day. But when we can find joy in the little things, we know that we have kind of got over the hump and we're healing from the things that may not look like the perfect life. That's my that's my perspective on that. 

Babette Hughes 39:57
Well, I find that 

Rich Bennett 39:58
Wow. 

Babette Hughes 39:58
very insightful. 

Wendy Beck 40:01
Yes. 

Babette Hughes 40:03
One of the things that I've learned is that 

we don't learn anything from an easy life. We don't. And if we are if we're so-called, quote unquote, lucky and we are not confronted, it was difficult problems. We don't have the tools when we are confronted by problems. We don't have them unless we working them through 

problems. So problems are. 

Wendy Beck 40:43
In. 

Babette Hughes 40:45
Yes. 

Wendy Beck 40:45
Making that decision to not get stuck in that, because a lot of people don't realize that you don't have to stay in that unhappy place and you can make the decision to be happy. And whether it's, you know, as simple as sharing a meal or a conversation with someone, you know, pursuing your dream, you know who who's you know, who's happier, you. There's no gage. It's all personal. 

Babette Hughes 41:10
Mm hmm. That's true. It's so true. And these are disciplines for the mind that will make our lives work in a much better way. It just will. And you of that insight. 

Wendy Beck 41:32
Well, you got to go through it to get to the other side, and then you can look back and say, okay, you know, I made it. And but it's going to shape me and it's not going to take me down. That's the difference. 

Babette Hughes 41:47
And it's there for us. We own it. We own it. 

Rich Bennett 41:52
Yeah. 

Babette Hughes 41:54
We can't get it from any other place or person. It's ours. And it is in the same way that happiness is ours to find. No one can do it for her. And, you know, again, we're not. 

Rich Bennett 42:12
That, but that for, you know, 

for aspiring writers or writers that have a good story, the right but are just like sitting in limbo waiting. What did Vice? 

What did? Yes. Wendy, I'm calling you out. What advice would you give them? 

Babette Hughes 42:37
I would give them the advice that they have to sit at their computer or wherever they create day after day, hour after hour. 

They will throw out 

maybe 90% of what they're working. 

And there are no shortcuts. There are no shortcuts. And the quest for writing and writing and writing is because the unconscious has all the good stuff for fiction and the only way we can contact our unconscious is through this writing. Like, for example, have you ever looked at a sentence or a paragraph and you said to yourself, Whoa, that's pretty good. Where did that come from? You don't know where it came. 

Wendy Beck 43:41
Yes, actually, I have. I have. I do a lot of research. 

Babette Hughes 43:45
But. 

Wendy Beck 43:45
And the flow. And the more you flow, the better you get. 

Babette Hughes 43:52
Yes. Yes. And when you don't know where something came from, it came from your unconscious. And that's the quest. That's what you always reach for. And the only way you can get there is by writing and writing and writing. 

Rich Bennett 44:11
I've got to get back to writing. 

Babette Hughes 44:14
Yeah, that's. 

Rich Bennett 44:15
Let me rephrase that. I've got to get back to working on my manuscript so I can get it published into a book. 

Wendy Beck 44:21
There you go. You got time. Sit there your computer and put in the work. 

Rich Bennett 44:29
I'm doing the work right now. See you. See all Yeah. I could be writing a book about all my wonderful guests that I've had on. 

Wendy Beck 44:37
Perhaps you. 

Babette Hughes 44:40
Well, you're a great interviewer, and so are you. And. 

Wendy Beck 44:45
Yeah. I think you. 

Rich Bennett 44:46
Well, thank you. I actually bet because if it wasn't for another young lady that I've had on on the show three times, you and I wouldn't have met. And that was Terry Brown, because she said that you were on her show as well. 

Babette Hughes 45:02
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 45:02
How. How many are you doing? Have you been doing podcasts a lot, being a guest on them or is this something. 

Babette Hughes 45:11
And it's new energy. Old 

Rich Bennett 45:13
Really? 

Babette Hughes 45:14
and the new. 

I've been doing maybe one a week or so for the last few 

Rich Bennett 45:22
Wow. 

Babette Hughes 45:22
weeks. 

Rich Bennett 45:26
That's 

Babette Hughes 45:26
I'm not. 

Rich Bennett 45:26
amazing. 

Babette Hughes 45:28
Yes. And I learned a lot. I've learned a 

Rich Bennett 45:33
Well. 

Babette Hughes 45:33
lot. 

Rich Bennett 45:35
And the thing is, the reason I ask that, because you get some some people that. You know, they look at age and they think, well, no, I can't do that. I've always said age is just a number and you're proof of that. You know, 101 years old, Here you are. You're doing podcasts every week. And there are one of the things that all kind of always tell authors you need to get on more podcasts. You know, and and talk about, you know, would you would you have out there. The amazing thing about you is just you allow your story sells your I believe sells your books because it's you already said a lot of what you went through your history. And I believe a lot of people, once they you know, they hear you talk more and hear your story, they're going to get actually. For those of you listening, make sure you go to Babette Hugh's book scam, because that's Ben's website. And you can find her books on there. And then once you purchase them, because I know you're going to purchase them, leave a full review own whether it be Amazon Good reads or whatever, because it's just going to drive the algorithms up and help her some more. But in all honesty, I do believe that once people learn more about you, it's not the books on the books, it's it's you. They learn about you. And that's what's going to sell the books because you're an amazing person. Seriously, you are. I mean, most. God, I wish there were more people like you that are just more than willing to get on to a podcast. We talked about technology, the changes you've seen. Podcasting is something new and you you've accepted it and you're doing it. God, I love that. 

Babette Hughes 47:42
I love that, too. I love what you just. 

Wendy Beck 47:47
Well before. 

Babette Hughes 47:49
Again, I am not that unusual. Others, if they think 

independently of the culture, can do the same. It's a whole different way to age. 

Wendy Beck 48:05
And having said that before, before we go, can you give us some tips about what has given you the quality of life that you've had and to create this longevity? I mean, 101. And that's you know, that's a that's a big accomplishment. And when is your birthday? When will you be 102? 

Babette Hughes 48:27
A November 14. 

Wendy Beck 48:30
No, that was my. 

Rich Bennett 48:31
No. 

Wendy Beck 48:32
Grandfather's bird. That was my grandfather's birth. 

Babette Hughes 48:36
Well, Scorpio. 

Wendy Beck 48:38
But what? Yes. For what? What have you done 

to, you know, to keep your mind and your body active? And do you have any any advice to anyone? 

Babette Hughes 48:53
I do, Of course. Do it. 

Again, Ignore the culture. Make yourself conscious of what the culture says. It's wrong because it's powerful and it lies to you. It lies to our people that there is a choice in aging of having your life be good in terms of what you want. Everyone is different. Everyone ages different. But this opens up choices. It opens up choices if you acknowledge that. The other thing I've learned is that we get insight and strengths from dealing with our life problems. That's the only way we get them. And it makes us stronger. It gives us the choice of how to reach for happiness. And it works. You know, the other thing that people talk about that's true is the idea of love. You know, when we share what we've learned, it's love, when when we care about. I mean, when you talk to people like me, it it's love. It is because it's a it's a giving. And all of those things are nurturing. That's what we need to reach for because they are nurturing for any age. 

Rich Bennett 50:37
Yeah. 

Then. 

I think if you take in notes, Wendy, I was talking to her before and I had got all that. 

Wendy Beck 50:49
Love is all we need. Is all we need. Yep. But I was also. 

Babette Hughes 50:54
Yeah, well. 

Wendy Beck 50:55
No. Well, but I was thinking more like, you know, your diet or were you how did you exercise in your life? Like, you know, I feel like those types of things are what we need for longevity. I mean, do you do you eat vegetables? Do you take walks? Were you a swimmer? You know, like those types of things? Or is there anything that you can point to that you feel has contributed to where you are today? 

Babette Hughes 51:23
I work two days a week with a trailer. 

Wendy Beck 51:28
Okay. 

Babette Hughes 51:28
I do. I do. He he gets me doing things I never would have believed I could do. £10 weights up and down off a chair. I can do that. I've been going. 

Rich Bennett 51:45
I can even do that. 

Babette Hughes 51:48
Been going for seven years, twice a week, and he comes to my house and tortures me. 

And it. 

Wendy Beck 52:00
But I'm sure that's part of what keeps you strong. 

Babette Hughes 52:05
Absolutely. I had double pneumonia and I was told that by exercise, 

Rich Bennett 52:11
Oh. 

Babette Hughes 52:11
exercising probably saved my life. 

So, 

Wendy Beck 52:16
The power 

Babette Hughes 52:17
yes, 

Wendy Beck 52:17
of movement. 

Babette Hughes 52:17
that's a 

Wendy Beck 52:18
What about 

Babette Hughes 52:18
wow. 

Wendy Beck 52:18
what about diet like. How is your diet like over the years? Like, can you contribute, you know, your healthy lifestyle? Because, you know, did you drink alcohol? Did you eat vegetables or did you eat seafood? Like, how would you how would you tell us about that? I'm interested. 

Rich Bennett 52:37
All the above. 

Babette Hughes 52:39
Well, for one thing, everyone knows what they should eat and not eat its carbon. It shouldn't. You know, in the world vocabulary. 

Years ago I was not enlightened. We were not enlightened and we ate differently. And this is one of the good changes that we lived through. We all learned about how important diet is. It was not the case in previous decades. It was. Now it is. So that key point. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 53:26
I was just going to say, because you think about it over a hundred years, how much diet has changed? Eggs are good for you. Eggs are bad for you. Eggs are good for you. Red meat is good for your image. Bad for you. Yeah. People. Ground beef. Eaten raw ground beef. Yeah, it was. Was. Okay now. Oh, God, no. You got cookies at, what, 125 at least? Yeah. 

Babette Hughes 53:50
Honestly, I was just going to say that I hate that raw meat. 

Rich Bennett 53:56
Oh, my father loved it. 

Babette Hughes 53:59
That was what it 

Rich Bennett 54:00
There. 

Babette Hughes 54:00
was. 

So. 

Rich Bennett 54:04
My father. My. 

Babette Hughes 54:08
I was just going to say that people are living longer because they know better about. 

Rich Bennett 54:15
I think it's because they're happier, too. And something we mentioned before we started, the bet you and I were talking, they're 

aligning themselves with positivity and getting away from the negativity. He a big part of it as well? 

Wendy Beck 54:30
Well, And that's a choice. That's a choice. And that's learned 

Rich Bennett 54:33
Well. 

Wendy Beck 54:33
that's learned behavior. And not everybody's there yet. But when you are enlightened, like you said, Babbitt, you know, that starts to become part of your lifestyle. And I think that that is the overall success in who you are is when you can find that happiness. 

Rich Bennett 54:53
Yeah, 

Babette Hughes 54:53
Love them. Well, 

Rich Bennett 54:55
well. 

Babette Hughes 54:55
I'll shed. We are here live to learn. 

Wendy Beck 55:02
Yes. 

Babette Hughes 55:02
Share. 

Rich Bennett 55:03
Absolutely. 

Wendy Beck 55:04
I believe that, too. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 55:09
That's why I do this. So I can learn more and more. And I every person I've had on, I've learned something from. 

Babette Hughes 55:16
Isn't that what? 

Rich Bennett 55:17
When he's always been something. 

Wendy Beck 55:21
My life experience. That's all. 

Babette Hughes 55:26
Your. 

Rich Bennett 55:27
But we learned. 

Babette Hughes 55:29
You're both wonderful interviewers. You get me talking about things I didn't know I knew. 

Rich Bennett 55:41
Well, one of the things I would love to do is once you get this computer and you start writing again, I would love. On again to learn more. Cause. Oh, God. Yeah. 

Wendy Beck 55:53
Yeah, we're interested. We want to know how. 

Rich Bennett 55:56
Actually. 

Wendy Beck 55:56
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 55:57
Actually, Babette, if you don't mind, because I don't think you mentioned you mentioned it before we started recording, but I don't think you've mentioned it since you started recording. Explain to everybody why you need this computer to right now. 

Babette Hughes 56:11
Because I have no st. I have macular degeneration and I have no sight to read or write. And it was a huge loss for me. 

Rich Bennett 56:25
Mm hmm. 

Babette Hughes 56:25
And my you know, my daughter reminded me of my lectures to her, and that helped me. And then this. 

Rich Bennett 56:36
Right. 

Babette Hughes 56:37
Computer appeared as a possibility for me. And it can I can write that. I can read books on it all the things I couldn't do. 

So, you know, that's like magic for me. Magic. It's magical.