The Last of His Mind: A Year in the Shadow of Alzheimer's
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.71 (850 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0804011222 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 248 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-05-31 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
A beautiful book about family, caring and self awareness. I live in Athens Ohio, the same town as the author. When I saw a copy in the local bookstore window, the word Alzheimer's caught my eye, along with the very cool retro cover. My father is in a nursing home, suffering from this disease along with the after affects of two major strokes. I've read half a dozen texts on the medical attributes of the disease but this book presented a different viewpoint.I quickly found myself lost in the incredible story of how caring intimately for ones parent can lead you to discover so much about yo. Thinking About John Thorndike Miriam Sagan I first heard of writer John Thorndike years ago in Santa Fe. A friend of mine at the public library called and said--I just read a great novel by a guy who lives hereIt was THE POTATO BARON, which indeed I did love. I just read Thorndike's memoir about moving to Cape Cod to live with his father who is dying of Alzheimer's. I admit I like books about extremis--death on Everest, survival--and books abut disease. So this would have intrigued me in any case. But really the pleasure in THE LAST OF HIS MIND is the writing and sensibili. More than a book about dementia W. R. Pope The Last of His Mind is Thorndike's account of caring for his father during his final year before dying of Alzheimer's. It is much more than a book about dementia, though there is plenty of information about it. It is an examination of his father's life -- he was an author and the editor of Life magazine in its glory years; his parents' inner lives and his own upbringing. When I saw it, I was not inclined to read it, thinking that a book about about Alzheimer's would be depressing and slow going. I picked it up and was immediately
But at age 92, in the space of six months he stopped reading or writing or carrying on detailed conversations. It is the ordeal of Alzheimer’s that draws father and son close, closer than they have been since John was a boy. Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, and like many of them, Joe Thorndike’s one great desire was to remain in his own house. was convinced that the governor of Massachusetts had come to visit and was in the refrigerator. The Last of His Mind is the bittersweet account of a son’s final year with his father, and a candid portrait of an implacable disease. could no longer tell time or make a phone call. He was the founder of American Heritage and Horizon magazines, the author of three books, and the editor of a dozen more. ForeWord Book of the Year Award winner A Publishers Weekly Indie Top 20” The Washington Post: A Best Book of 2009 2010 Ohioana Book Award Finalist Joe Thorndike was managing editor of Life at the height of its popularity immediately following World War II. At the end, when Joe’s heart stops beating, John’s hand is on his chest, and a story of painful decline has become a portrait of deep family ties, caregiving, and love.. For a year, in a house filled with file cabinets, photos, and letters, John explored his father&
Over the following year, Thorndike chronicles his father's growing incapacity, and seeks to learn more about him despite the dying man's lifelong all-but-impenetrable reserve. When his father Joe Thorndike, suffering at age 92 from congestive heart failure and the onset of Alzheimer's disease, can no longer take care of himself, Thorndike offers to live with him. . While much of the book details Thorndike's difficulties caretaking for his father, he heightens the proceedings with family tales, including some from his father's editorial work at the heyday of Life, working with bold named figures like the Luces, Whittaker Chambers, James Thurber and Winston Churchill. A beautiful book, this memoir reveals the painful chaos of Alzheimer's, as well a