Michael Kinsley is a columnist at Vanity Fair, a contributor to The New Yorker, and the founder of Slate. In this bestselling book, Kinsley addresses the Baby Boom Generation (born between 1946-1964) as they enter the last stage of their lives. A large portion of Old Age deals with the movement disordor Parkinson's disease (PD); the journalist was diagnosed with PD in 1993 when he was 42. It wasn't until 2002 that he talked openly about PD and then in 2006 chose to have a brain stimulation procedure in hopes of stabilizing the advance of the disease.
Kinsley calls himself "a scout from my generation" since many of the symptoms of PD resemble those of aging: a trembling hand, a shuffling gait, and difficulty swallowing. The drug levodopa turns into dopamine in the brain and suddenly those with PD feels energized for short period of time. Then, Kinsley reports, he returns to feeling "old, stiff, tired, and gloomy."
Writing about PD gives Kinsley the chance to quote other statistics about Baby Boomers. Of the 79 million American Baby Boomers, around 28 million are expected to develop Alzheimer's disease. Cancer and heart disease will also cut short the lives of many in this age cohort.
After characterizing Baby Boomers as competitive consumers and attached to their reputations, Kinsley challenges them to make their mark upon the future equivalent to the sacrifices their parents in the Greatest Generation did. His idea: a self-imposed tax on the enormous transfer of wealth taking place in our present-day debt culture. This would be one way of eliminating the country's debts and other obligations, a great legacy gift for the next generations.
