The Last of His Mind: A Year in the Shadow of Alzheimer's [Hardcover]

NEW EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback ISBN 9780804012362 / Electronic ISBN 9780804041201Joe Thorndike was managing editor ofLifeat the height of its popularity immediately following World War II. He was the founder ofAmerican HeritageandHorizonmagazines, the author of three books, and the editor of a dozen more. But at age 92, in the space of six months he stopped reading or writing or carrying on detailed conversations. He could no longer tell time or make a phone call. He was convinced that the governor of Massachusetts had come to visit and was in the refrigerator. Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimers, and like many of them, Joe Thorndikes one great desire was to remain in his own house. To honor his wish, his son John left his own home and moved into his fathers upstairs bedroom on Cape Cod. For a year, in a house filled with file cabinets, photos, and letters, John explored his fathers mind, his parents divorce, and his mothers secrets. The Last of His Mind is the bittersweet account of a sons final year with his father, and a candid portrait of an implacable disease. Its the ordeal of Alzheimers that draws father and son close, closer than they have been since John was a boy. At the end, when Joes heart stops beating, Johns hand is on his chest, and a story of painful decline has become a portrait of deep family ties, caregiving, and love.

The bittersweet account of a sons final year with his father, former Life magazine managing editor Joe Thorndike, stricken with Alzheimers, and a candid portrait of an implacable disease.

“A brave, moving story of a son’s devotion to his dying father…. Thorndike’s prose is serenely beautiful and his patience in caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is extremely admirable. An affecting work of emotional honesty and forgiveness.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Written in a journal-like style,The Last of Hisl�