Ageing
Letters: Let the King choose the Archbishop of Canterbury
Supreme idea Sir: My colleague Fergus Butler-Gallie is right about the deficiencies of the Church of England’s system for filling…
The slow delights of an OAP coach tour
Early on Monday mornings, in service stations across the country, armies of the elderly are mustering. These are the OAPs…
Beware taking up running in your fifties
Over a hotel breakfast in Brisbane, I showed Sir Alan Hollinghurst my injuries. We’d met the previous week at the…
The secret to great friendships
A few years back, a friend from Newcastle was down in London and I was giving him a tour of…
At 61, it’s official: I’m ‘young old’
I read with some disappointment recently that the Encyclopaedia Britannica considers 61 – the age I am now – to…
The end is in sight
Plan 75 is a dystopian Japanese drama about a government-sponsored euthanasia programme introduced to address Japan’s ageing society. Aged 75…
Cutting corners
The NHS is letting down patients in small, crucial ways
The whine of the Ancient Mariner
I was a bit irritated by all the millennials saying the Superbowl half-time show made them feel old. The 15-minute…
Older voters are killing British democracy
There is an idea of the state that argues that the role of government is to act as a benevolent…
High life
New York Orthodox Easter Sunday came late in May this year, and I spent it at an old friend’s Fifth…
Time to dust off my old records
In the introduction to an anthology of his jazz record reviews, the poet Philip Larkin imagines his readers. They’re not…
The upsides of dementia: Forgetfulness can be a blessing
My 91-year-old father-in-law has always had a terror of hospitals. This dates from his time as a Royal Marine when,…
How the ancients kept their minds young
In her cover story last week, Camilla Cavendish argued that we could keep mentally fit in old age through ‘physical…
Train your brain: How to keep your mind young
‘Beep!’ This is one of the most maddening computer games I’ve ever played. I’m tracking a flock of birds, and…
I love life – and girls – too much to act my age
New York A little Austrian count was born to my daughter last week in Salzburg, early in the morning of…
You deserve a prize if you manage to finish Jim Crace’s latest novel
This remorselessly slow-moving, hazily allegorical drama about ageing and xenophobia is Jim Crace’s 12th book, and the first to appear…
Low life
‘Have you ever thought of having some colour put in, love?’ said Julian as he shaved my neck with a…
Down – if not out – in Paris
Virginie Despentes remains best known in this country for her 1993 debut novel, Baise-Moi, about two abused young women who…
The death of the funeral
I mourn for the traditional ceremony
Live fast, die not too old
At 77, it is clear to me that increased longevity can be a curse rather than a blessing
Confessions of a Saga lout
Baby boomers like me aren’t giving up irresponsible hedonism as we age. We’re just getting worse at it
Bring back the bungalow!
We’re not building the right houses for our ageing population
Diary
During our annual odyssey around the Scottish Highlands, I read Tears of the Rajas, Ferdinand Mount’s eloquent indictment of imperial…
Fat chance
Why I am not dieting. Ever
Dear Mary
Q. I was not brought up in England and don’t appear in Who’s Who. This means that there is no…
