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country, stand by someone, and be
part of something so transformative
is incredible,” Kalin said. “And then,
when it didn’t work out, to pack up
two children and have the courage to
walk away—wow.”
Following that intense journey in
Costa Rica, MacGuire transitioned
to a happy landing and a calmer life
in Alabama. She returned to the
United States in 1952 and moved to
Montgomery with her two children.
She became active in local politics
and began doing social activism for
women’s labor rights. She married
the surgeon Hugh C. MacGuire, who
was known for his efforts to radically
change hospital construction; he
died in 2001.
MacGuire herself continued
to break ground. She owned a
magazine,
Montgomery Living
(now
River Region Living
), but sold it; she
still lives in Montgomery and writes
a column for the magazine each
month.
At age 96 (she will turn 97 on
May 6), MacGuire is vivacious and
energetic and has a youthful sense
of humor. And she still carries a
passion for studying different topics
and learning.
“Everywhere I’ve lived in
the world, I’ve taken classes
somewhere,” she said.
MacGuire’s Birmingham and
Birmingham-Southern ties add
flavor to the documentary. While at
the college, she enjoyed her studies
of old English literature, especially
Beowulf; she majored in English.
“I studied a lot of Shakespeare’s
plays with [professor of English] Dr.
James Saxon Childers,” she said.
“He was a fabulous teacher and had
a way with words.”
She was also a student writer for
The Hilltop News and discovered her
knack for learning languages, taking
French and German courses for a
brief time. Spanish—she is fluent—
came later.
She still keeps up with politics
and life in Costa Rica through her