Chris Hoy practiced medicine for nearly fifty years before retiring last August. His specialty was nephrology, diagnosing and managing kidney disease, and treating patients on dialysis. Chris lives in the southern Adirondack town of Queensbury. Disheartened by the fact that so many of his patients are voting for Trump, he joined Third Act to devote himself to doing something about the climate crisis.
Chris was apprehensive as he approached retirement. As a doctor, he had always been on call, working 24/7. Retirement was a daunting prospect after such a long, demanding, and satisfying career. He tried a number of things but realized that the most meaningful part of his life had been working with patients. Now that was gone, and with it his identity and self-esteem. Coping with loss, he told us, is one of the challenges of aging he had to learn how to deal with. He knew he needed something that gave meaning to his life. When he joined Third Act, he felt he had found a home. “Third Act is good at inspiring people to contribute and get involved,” Chris says.
Chris grew up in San Francisco in the sixties in a household inspired by faith and progressive values. His father and stepmother were Episcopal ministers committed to social justice. Both were trained in nonviolent civil disobedience. His father marched in civil rights demonstrations in the South. His stepmother was arrested for protesting the war in Vietnam and for standing up for abortion rights. Their influence looms large.
Chris enrolled in Harvard in 1966, a heady time to be in college when civil rights protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam war were raging. In 1968, while still in college, he joined a Harvard program to teach in Ethiopia, and spent the year taking care of street kids in Addis Ababa. The experience was profound: he abandoned his plan to become a lawyer after seeing firsthand extreme poverty and the absence of the most basic healthcare among the children he worked with. He decided to become a doctor.
After finishing college and medical school, he began practicing medicine in New York City, where many of his patients had HIV. While President Ronald Reagan was ignoring the gay health crisis, HIV activists began doing research of their own and pressuring the government to do something. “My patients,” Chris says, “taught me the power of activism. Their slogan caught my attention: Ignorance=Fear; Silence=Death.”
He and his family moved to the Adirondacks in 1991, where he immersed himself in his medical practice. The change in the demographic make-up of his new community was dramatic: some 60% of his patients have voted for Trump, and Elise Stefanik is his representative in Congress.
As a Third Actor, he believes that actions such as mobilizing voters and challenging Citibank are good ways to raise awareness and effect change. “It’s the big banks who are continuing to invest in fossil fuel. For the banks, it’s business as usual.” He got involved in the Summer of Heat protests, participating in 4 demonstrations at Citibank. He felt energized by the experience of connecting with fellow Third Actors in person united in a common goal. “It was great to meet people from all over. Very invigorating.” Chris chose not to be arrested, but he’s ready to take that step next time. “I’m finally comfortable with getting arrested,” he told us. “Young activists deserve our support. I’ve got August 27th, the next Summer of Heat demonstration, marked on my calendar.”