Good article, Mike. You’re right; it’s no fun being old. Approaching 79, I am automatically spoken to as a deaf fool — dismissed as out of touch. Before participating in a round-table discussion addressing the nation’s current economy, having coffee in the quod of a local Los Angeles university, young people sitting near observed that I seemed to have lost my way home. That drew laughter. I don’t know if any of them were present when I was later called upon to speak, yet those in attendance did mostly listen respectfully. Following my part, a graduate student rose to ask questions and those around him became annoyed with his dismissive tone. My comment here is not a lament to growing old. We all die eventually. Some die while...