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"Nobody had a job during the Depression, you know, and (Brinkley) put people to work," Gladys said. "He filled that farm with pigs and cattle. When my late husband, Ayscue, didn't have any other work, he helped build those silos.
"Ayscue really liked (Brinkley). He appreciated the work, and he appreciated the money he made," Gladys said.
Brinkley's second wife, Minnie, used to ride her horse to Gladys's house to get guinea eggs, and she brought her little boy, "Johnnie-Boy," to church at Tuckasegee Baptist.
While I've spoken with Gladys several times through the years, I never thought to ask if she knew Dr. Brinkley, who was born at Beta and raised near East LaPorte. Brinkley achieved fame and fortune when he hit on the idea of treating male impotence by implanting goat glands into aging men. He performed hundreds of such surgeries at hospitals he founded in Kansas and Texas.
Brinkley used part of his great wealth to purchase what is known locally as "The Brinkley Farm" on N.C. 107 near Tuckasegee. Rock walls at the entrance spell out "Dr. John R. Brinkley," and the twin silos Gladys's husband helped build are visible from the highway.
I've written about Dr. Brinkley several times, and there's no doubt that Gladys could have filled in several gaps in those accounts.
As I sat with her the other day, though, I was not feeling regret for never asking about Dr. Brinkley - I was feeling grateful for the privilege of knowing Gladys.
When you write for a newspaper, you get to meet wonderful people. Often they invite you to their homes and tell you stories about interesting people and places.
But in this case, it was just the opposite. Gladys and her husband showed up at my doorstep nearly 20 years ago because Ayscue had read about my husband's hydroelectric system in The Sylva Herald.
After Ayscue had looked at Richard's generator, we followed him and Gladys out to their house so Richard could advise Ayscue about the feasibility of installing a similar system there.
The next time I saw Gladys and Ayscue, I was working for The Herald. The 50th anniversary of the 1940 flood was approaching, and I figured they would have some useful information for the story I planned to write.
Gladys remembered that terrible night and described it in great detail; Ayscue, who was working up near the Great Lakes in August 1940, told me how he heard on the radio that the "Tuckaseigee River in Jackson County had gone on a rampage."
Their firsthand accounts of the flood strengthened my story, just as Gladys's account of Dr. Brinkley's good side adds another dimension to recent coverage of a one who's remembered more often as a scoundrel and quack.
Thanks, Gladys, for sharing your memories once again.
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Gladys Hooper of Tuckasegee posed with a portrait of Dr. John Brinkley and his baby son, "Johnnie Boy," during a recent event at City Lights. Hooper, 89, remembers Dr. Brinkley well and says he helped a lot of local people by providing work during the Depression.