The Last of His Mind, Second Edition

The second, expanded edition of this acclaimed memoir by an Alzheimers caregiver living with his father during his final year includes a new introduction that illustrates the immense toll of the disease, important lessons from the authors experience, and a readers' guide. Joe Thorndike was managing editor of Life at the height of its popularity immediately following World War II. He was the founder of American Heritage and Horizon magazines, the author of three books, and the editor of a dozen more. But at age ninety-two, 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. Over six 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.