The Last of His Mind

Joe Thorndike, once the Managing Editor of Life and the founder of American Heritage, is losing both memory and language. In The Last of His Mind his son gives an intimate account of dementia caregiving and Joe's final year.

Only recently, Joe was writing essays about his travels and ancestors. Now he can't make sense of what he reads. He can't tell time or make a phone call, and emerges from the bathroom with his underwear pulled up over his pants. At one point he's convinced that Mitt Romney, the governor of Massachusetts, has come to visit and is in the refrigerator. He forgets that his bathroom has a toilet and uses the floor instead.

As Joe's mind unravels, John confronts the complicated history between them: their family's successes and silences, the divorce, the wounds and enduring love. Night and day, father and son are thrown together, and their troubles draw them close. is a bittersweet account of the year they shared, and a candid portrait of an implacable disease. For anyone facing Alzheimer's in their own family, this book is a powerful companion.