Old Man Country

We live in a time of change, an era where old men can be celebrated as elders who are valued but who are not demeaned if they become ill and dependent. Where we aim to maintain health but find dignity in frailty. Old Man Country helps readers see and imagine this change for themselves. The book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom, as he narrates encounters with twelve distinguished American men over 80 -- including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world's most famous heart surgeon. In these and other intimate conversations, the book explores and honors the particular way that each man faces four challenges of living a good old age: Am I Still a Man? Do I Still Matter? What is the Meaning of My Life? Am I Loved? Readers will come to see how each man -- even the most famous -- faces challenges that are every man's challenges. Personal yet universal stories about work, love, sexuality, and hope mingle with stories about illness, loss and death. These stories will strengthen each of us as we anticipate and navigate our way through the passages of old age.

Thomas R. Cole is the McGovern Chair and Director of the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Cole graduated from Yale University (B.A., 1971), Wesleyan University (M.A., 1975) and the University of Rochester (Ph.D., 1981). His work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, Voice of America, PBS, and at the United Nations. He has served as a consultant to the President's Council on Bioethics, as an advisor to and speaker for the United Nations NGO Committee on Ageing, the Union for Reform Judaism, and various editorial and foundation boards.
Cole has published many articles and several books on the history of aging and humanistic gerontology. His book The Journey of Life: A Cultural History of Aging in America (Cambridge, 1992) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Among other books, he edited The Oxford Book of Aging, which was noted by the New Yorker as one of the most memorable books of the year. Cole's
interest in the life stories of older people has taken him into biography and film-making. His book No Color Is My Kind: the Life of Eldrewey Stearns and the Desegregation of Houston (1997) was adapted into the film, The Strange Demise of Jim Crow, which was broadcast nationally on over 60 PBS stations and internationally by the State Department. Cole's film Still Life: The Humanity of Anatomy, was an official selection at the Doubletake Documentary Film festival in 2002. In 2007, he co-produced Stroke: Conversations and Explanations, a prize-winning film about the invisible world of stroke survivors.

Chapter One: What My Fathers Couldn't Find
Chapter Two: Setting Out on Life's Journey
PART ONE: AM I STILL A MAN?
Chapter Three: George Vaillant and American Manhood
Chapter Four: Red Duke, the Cowboy Surgeon
Chapter Five: Sherwin Nuland: The Old Man Who Was Young and Strong
PART TWO: DO I STILL MATTER?
Chapter Six: The Moral World of Paul Volcker
Chapter Seven: Denton Cooley and the Legacy of 100,000 Hearts
Chapter Eight: John Harper Gets by with a little Help from his Friends
PART THREE: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MY LIFE?
Chapter Nine: Hugh Downs: TV Broadcaster as Modern Day Cicero
Chapter Ten: Sam Karff and the Power of Stories
Chapter Eleven: James Forbes: Old Man by the Riverside
PART FOUR: AM I LOVED?
Chapter Twelve: Dan Callahan: Love in the Old Age of Ethics
Chapter Thirteen: Walter Wink: Nonviolent Resistance and Dementia
Chapter Fourteen: Ram Dass and Me
INTERLUDE: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Chapter Fifteen: Gleanings for the Path Ahead
References