NEW EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback ISBN 978–0804012362 / Electronic ISBN 978–0804041201
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 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 Alzheimer’s, and like many of them, Joe Thorndike’s 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 father’s upstairs bedroom on Cape Cod. For a year, in a house filled with file cabinets, photos, and letters, John explored his father’s mind, his parents’ divorce, and his mother’s secrets. 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.
It’s the ordeal of Alzheimer’s that draws father and son close, closer than they have been since John was a boy. 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.
“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 His Mind is an
insightful, forthright and open-hearted dive into the ravages of
rapid onset dementia…. One of the shining glories of this moving
father-son portrait is that it squashes the fear conjured by
Alzheimer’s and shows us how the debilitating process suffered by a
loved one can be accepted and embraced.”
*The Longest Chapter*
“The first few pages of The Last of His Mind are dynamite, in their
quiet way. They open up a world that, if you've known it and lived
in it, conks you on the head, bashes your memory, brings it all
back in a rush…. This memoir is far too elegantly written to ever
state it directly, but the reader is made aware of the high honor
involved: The author honors his father in the most profound way and
is blessed, in turn, by participating in the most taxing event in
his father’s life.”
*Washington Post Book World*
“A beautiful book, this memoir reveals the painful chaos of
Alzheimer’s, as well as the strength, faith and unexpected joys
that come with caring for a loved one in his last days.”
*Publishers Weekly*
“(O)ne has to admire the honesty of the author who sets forth all
his feelings, whatever light they may shine on his character…. One
comes away from this book impressed by the author’s devotion to his
father, and the art he displays in organizing and writing this
poignant memoir.”
*Ohioana Quarterly*
“Thorndike combines an elegant, expressive prose line with an
unsparing honesty and a willingness to plumb the depths of his
experiences—even those that are frightening or ugly.”
*Westword*
“What's unusual about this memoir is that it is written by a man
describing his experience caring for his father. It’s also
exceptionally well-written, making it stand out from the pack of
memoirs that often are written as part of a personal process of
healing by a caregiver.”
*Growth House*
“John Thorndike’s wrenching, detailed and affecting memoir
chronicling the year he cared for his Alzheimer’s-beset father is
at its core a story about touch…. Readers will respond to the touch
of his daring, deft embrace.”
*America: The National Catholic Weekly*
“Time and again, the author proves to us that he possesses the
rarest and most readable of qualities, true empathy.”
*Stone’s Throw Magazine*
“John Thorndike’s memoir is a wonderfully detailed episodic account
of his father’s ordeal with Alzheimer’s…. an honest and powerful
portrayal of the effects of the combination of old age and
Alzheimer’s disease and the love between a son and his father.”
*ForeWord Reviews*
“The value of this book is in its engagement with the demon,
bringing it to recognizable size and letting us know how one man
met his father’s diminishing abilities. The fact that his father
had abilities of considerable strength is important. The loss is
not trivial, and the contrast between then and now is immense.”
*Cincinnati CityBeat*
“(A) harrowing, quietly moving account of the last year of Joe
Thorndike’s life, and the discoveries of his son.”
*The Athens News*
“(Thorndike‘s) journey is recounted with great descriptive power
and compassion.”
*Cape Cod Times*
“One would not think a book about Alzheimer’s disease could be so
lovely and inspiring, heart-warming even, but John Thorndike’s The
Last of His Mind somehow manages to be all that…. The Last of His
Mind proves an enlightening, profound, beautifully written book
about an ugly subject.”
*Mansfield News Journal*
“The frankness of this haunting memoir is totally disarming.
Thorndike addresses the banalities and small tragedies that attend
the great event of a lifetime with an unblinking eye. Told in his
luminously clear prose, the plain story of the unraveling of a mind
and a life find its way into the heart like our own blood. An
important, beautiful book.”
*author of The Lost City*
“The Last of His Mind is a Baedeker for a generation who, as people
live longer and longer, find themselves on a journey they never
dreamed of and so never prepared for, caring for elderly parents
with deteriorating health and dwindling mental faculties. Not only
has Thorndike performed this task with admirable composure,
delineating honestly the feelings of conflict and affection
aroused, but he has written about the process with humility and
grace.”
*author of A Dynamic God: Living an Unconventional Catholic
Faith*
“What could have been a sad journey down a cul-de-sac becomes, in
John Thorndike's hands, a gorgeous, expansive book about
families—particularly fathers and sons—about marriage, and about
the influences that form us and against which we rebel. As
Thorndike is a sensualist, The Last of His Mind is also about
touch, a little-considered side of those relationships. I found
myself thinking about my own father and son throughout, but most of
all I found myself unexpectedly caring a lot about old Joe
Thorndike, and grateful for the words of the son as the father’s
slipped away.”
*author of Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and Coyotes*
“This book tells a hard story, the relentless decline of a father's
memory and self-awareness. John Thorndike writes a beautiful
sentence, a beautiful page, and describes his father's last year
with piercing clarity, but also great warmth. He opens a world we
will all have to face.”
*Writing Down the Bones*
“In The Last of his Mind, John Thorndike has given us far more than
a book on dealing with Alzheimer’s. This taut, clear-eyed memoir of
a son caring for his father in his final days is an act of
consummate literary bravery, allowing us to witness the final dance
between two flawed and admirable men.”
*author of Daddy Needs a Drink and Tales from the Teachers’
Lounge*
“Here in detail is a story we fear for our loved ones, a story we
fear for ourselves. Yet Thorndike also conveys the humor and joy,
the contemplation and compassion, and the reconciliation and
healing that were part of this journey. The result: The Last of His
Mind is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming.”
*author of After Sorrow: An American Among the Vietnamese*
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