Men Still at Work: Professionals Over Sixty and on the Job (6 page)

What is hardest about Bruce’s job are the long hours he must devote to the considerable volume of work in the hospital and outside, as well. “There is a misperception that older people give up lots of things and lighten their load. Actually, I have taken on new responsibilities as I’ve gotten older, while still trying to maintain some of the older interests. True, my workload has changed: I do less administration and less patient care than in the past, and do more advising, consulting, and mentoring.” Bruce may be doing less patient care, but he gives 100 percent to those patients he does see. And when he can report a successful outcome of treatment, he is likely to choke up with emotion. (I have witnessed this myself.)

Here is Bruce’s background. After graduating from Yale University in 1961, Bruce headed for Harvard Medical School. In 1964 he married Davi-Ellen, my friend from high school and one of the women I profiled in
Women Still at Work: Professionals over Sixty and on the Job
. The following year, they both graduated
—
he with an MD from Harvard Medical School and Davi with a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Bruce did his residencies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and they raised two kids. It was during the second residency that he worked in the laboratory of Joe Bertino and was mentored by him as well as by other colleagues. “Joe was a great cancer researcher who became my lifelong friend and golf buddy.”

After the Yale-New Haven residency, the Chabners moved to Maryland where Bruce worked at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) NCI for the next twenty-four years. From the 1970s to the mid-1990s, he held progressively higher positions in cancer pharmacology, culminating as director of the division of cancer treatment at the NCI. During this period, early reports about unusual cases of what came to be known as AIDS caught the attention of Bruce and other top-level NCI administrators. In 1981, they organized and sponsored the first scientific workshop about AIDS that was held in this country. Once AIDS was determined to be an infectious disease and not a malignancy, that is, it was not clearly within the mandate of NCI, another institute within the NIH took the lead in directing the research effort. But Bruce’s division was responsible for the first isolation of the virus (Bob Gallo’s laboratory) and discovery and testing of the first anti-AIDS drugs (Sam Broder).

Having experienced mentoring by some of the top researchers in the field, it was only natural that Bruce would take mentoring seriously. At NIH/NCI he directed fellowship programs in medical, pediatric, radiation, and surgical oncology. One mentee was a doctor from Amsterdam named Bob Pinedo, who came to Bruce’s lab in 1975 and went on to be influential in cancer research in the Netherlands. In gratitude for Bruce’s mentoring and friendship, Bob gave the Chabners a cherry tree to plant near their house in Maryland, telling them that the tree was fruitful year-round, just like Bruce. The tree flourished, as did Bruce’s career. In 1995 he joined the MGH staff as clinical director of its cancer center and chief of hematology and oncology, and not long after also headed up clinical sciences for the partnership among Boston hospitals that became the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

In Boston Bruce has continued to mentor younger staff members of whom he is extremely proud. “I am happy to watch the success of outstanding men and women at MGH and elsewhere in the field. I see them advancing, taking good care of patients. I have known them since their residencies and fellowships, and I have offered them their first faculty positions. It is reassuring to know that such capable young people are coming along to move our field forward.”

Bruce and Davi have achieved a harmonious rhythm to their busy lives in Boston. Davi insists that Bruce stay out of the house from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., so she can concentrate on writing her books on medical terminology. “She has many projects, commitments, and interests. I am always wondering what she will come up with next!” (I cannot help remarking that this observation comes from someone who is totally dedicated to saving as many lives as possible, one patient at a time, one “smart” drug and clinical trial at a time.) He continues, “Davi is busy with her own projects and doesn’t really mind the traveling that I do. She does like to accompany me when we can see friends in other countries.” The couple also has a long list of new places they would like to visit, including, for Davi, Burma, and for both of them, Poland (where their families came from). Above all, they look forward to vacations on Nantucket with their children and five active grandchildren.

What delights Bruce the most
—
after his family
—
are his cocker spaniels, Greta and Owen. “They keep me young by lowering my blood pressure and providing an emotional outlet after a tough day at the hospital. Greta is almost a person to me. She may even be a reincarnation of someone from the past.” Hmmm, is this a scientist speaking?

Sometimes a role model exerts a negative influence on a young man or woman. The role model could be a parent who had followed a path his son or daughter decides
not
to emulate. Andrew Fogelson, who has worked with and for the major film studios since 1970 in film marketing and distribution, knew early on that he was willing to take risks his risk-averse father would never take.

Profile: Andrew Fogelson

Andrew Fogelson has been in film marketing and distribution since 1970, working both
with
and
for
the major film studios, including Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, and United Artists (UA). At Warner he launched the
Superman
film series. A senior manager with whom Andrew worked at that studio knew innovation when he saw it, trusted Andrew, and became a “way paver” when Andrew was persuading the studio to make its first-ever network television buy. At UA he had the misfortune to introduce Timothy Dalton as the next James Bond. He also produced six movies, about which he wisecracks, “Three of them were actually seen.”

His choice of career was somewhat influenced by his dad, who was in retail advertising, but the similarities stop there. His dad was risk averse and remained with the same department store chain for years, berating himself in his later years for not taking chances. In contrast, Andrew has had a new job every two years, except for one four-year stint. “Couldn’t keep a job! When I finally realized that I was the world’s worst employee, I opened my own film consulting business, AFA Co.”

That was in 1988. In the mid-1990s, PolyGram, then the world’s largest record label, wanted to get a foothold in the North American movie business by investing in a lot of movies and building a film library that would make big money for the company. PolyGram hired Andrew to start the business and build it up in North America. After four years as president of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Distribution, Andrew returned to consulting, getting films to movie theaters and promoting them.

More recently, Andrew conceived of a new business model that would enable producers to take advantage of digital production and marketing capabilities. With the advent of social media, he saw that the new technologies were forcing change, not only in how movies are made but also in how they are distributed. “The public can comment on and critique a film almost instantaneously. Opinions spread virally. It’s a game changer that is costing the studios a lot of money, and it has certainly changed my approach to the business as well.” Entrepreneurial as ever, Andrew is three years into his newest venture—
TODPix.com
, a twenty-first-century digital distribution entertainment platform. He and his son, Noah, have built an innovative start-up company that markets and distributes movies predominantly through social media and mobile applications for on-demand film programming in the global theatrical market. Targeted or niche films are new studio and independent titles as well as studio “back catalog” selections.

Andrew’s talent is inventing new and different strategies for changing the entertainment environment. He also knows what he is not very good at doing. “My memory has always been poor,” he admits. “I put stickies on my dashboard, tie strings on my fingers, my wife reminds me . . . and I still forget!” He describes himself as a “good” manager who cares about people who work with and for him. A great manager, though, is detail-oriented, and he is just not.

Andrew’s family has always been the top priority. He and his wife, Susan, have two sons and four grandchildren. All the Fogelsons live in southern California. Susan is one of the women who participated in my survey for
Women Still at Work
and remains a close friend since high school. She is an educational therapist with a thriving private practice. She sees K–12 students and some postsecondary students, assessing and treating their struggles with learning disabilities and other learning challenges, teaching testing skills and study skills, and consulting on individualized education programs. Andrew describes Susan’s work in four words: “She saves kids’ lives.” Susan has co-authored a book on educational therapy, is active in the Association of Educational Therapists, and has no intention of retiring.

Andrew, however, has mixed feelings about retirement. Aside from the satisfaction he gets from the challenges of starting a new business and the opportunity to change the entertainment environment once again, he has another even more pressing reason for continuing to work. Owing to the recession and economic downturn, he and his wife are worried about managing the expense of her rare progressive disease going forward.

Nevertheless, Andrew dreams of not having to work every day and taking time to be by himself, perhaps write a book, and (definitely) play golf. “Just me, with my laptop and golf clubs, driving a Volvo station wagon.” And playing golf for a month in Ireland or Scotland! Like most dreams, however, these are not particularly practical. For one thing, there is his wife’s health. For another, Andrew has gained so much weight since surgery and dropping a smoking habit eleven years ago that he can no longer walk the golf course.

Now that he is seventy, he finds that he thinks about mortality and has become preoccupied with ensuring the quality of his remaining years. “I don’t have a plan per se. Anyway, it’s all subject to the Queen, i.e., my wife! I’d like to move out of Los Angeles, at least part time, but she doesn’t want to budge. Her profession, our family, our roots are here. I understand how important that is to someone who experienced many upheavals in her childhood.”

According to Andrew, retirement is different in the movie business, where people, particularly creative people, do not retire; they
get retired
. Ageism sometimes is part of it, too. Retirement, in his opinion, is “not conceptually valid. Other than in jobs requiring a great deal of physical output, there is simply no need for retirement. Today, with technology, you can reach out and connect with the world. You can easily stay connected to your interests and your colleagues without going to an office. You can earn or attempt to earn a pretty good living, until the time comes that you can’t or don’t want to do any more.” Andrew says he is “monumentally” looking forward to that time.

Meanwhile,
TODPix.com
is reinventing the model once again, and it’s too soon to tell whether it will meet expectations. If it doesn’t, Andrew has his laptop and golf clubs ready.