Her Wikipedia page says Catherine McGregor AM is a transgender writer and activist who served as a member of the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
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But McGregor herself is adamant she has never been or will ever be an activist.
"I live my life and if people get any inspiration from that then fine but I'm not an activist. I never have been," she said.
Though now aged in her early 60s, and having lived a life with her share of challenges, McGregor feels well placed to talk about life and death.
That's why she agreed to speak at the 'What makes a good life and a good death?' event being held in Dapto on April 4.
The first in a series of Enabling Conversations for the community to come together, share and be part of reflective heartfelt conversation, the event at Dapto Ribbonwood Centre is being presented by the Illawarra Centre for Enablement (ICE).
"I'm in my 60s now and I know I'm not here forever so some kind of commitment to a meaningful life and searching for meaning is part of my life. And, I was willing to have a chat about it," McGregor said.
"I also heard about the centre's [ICE] work and it just struck me it was some way to make a bit of a contribution to the university and also to the community."
The 40 years McGregor served in the Australian Defence Force was "amazing" but with hindsight it was "probably the wrong thing for me".
"I know that sounds crazy having spent 40 years in it but I probably would have been better pursuing my legal career much younger...especially post transition," she said.
McGregor has also managed to achieve success playing and coaching cricket.
The long-time cricket writer and commentator also wrote a book about the game she loves in 2012.
Tony Abbott, the then federal Opposition Leader, described An Indian Summer of Cricket, as "the best sort of book about sport" for "those who think that sport can be a metaphor for life".
Born Malcolm Gerard McGregor in Queensland in 1956, nowadays the well-known social commentator is studying law at the Australian National University in the hope of making a late life career transition to practice as a barrister.
But it was the drug and alcohol abuse which almost killed her, that forced McGregor to reevaluate everything in life to "become the person I think I'm meant to be".
"That life-threatening experience is the reason I'm now a believer. I believe in God," she said.
"That was the sort of revelation that came to me in my journey of trying to recover from alcohol and drug abuse. It is now at the centre of my life.
"I do search for meaning and I have probably pursued that portion of my life more than I've pursued material success.
"I've had significant kind of depression and mental health problems right through my life and clearly hitting a rock bottom on alcohol and drugs was the really tough period.
"That was about 30 years ago. I haven't drunk alcohol or taken unprescribed drugs in 30 years. But that was an awful time. I nearly died from that."
The gender transition also presented significant challenges.
"The period of gender dysphoria was incredibly painful and I was suicidal for a long time during that and it was incredibly tough," McGregor said.
"Transition has been hard too. I lost my marriage and my marriage was my happiest time.
"I deeply loved the woman I married and I still love her and that was the highlight of my life, meeting a person who I have loved very deeply and I care very deeply about."
Life has presented its fair share of blows but McGregor is adamant she is no victim.
"I think I've had a very blessed life," she said.
"I've had a lot of travel, a lot of opportunity and I've been able to pursue real passions, especially in writing and commentary. I've been very fortunate.
"I'm not particularly fussed by material achievements any longer. I'm looking for meaningful engagement with people.
"If I get a chance to do things that make a difference to other people's lives, that's great and I know certainly a lot of older trans people have tended to get in touch with me about their own journey.
"I do a fair bit of unpaid community work with people who have struggled with depression or with gender dysphoria."