Delightfully interesting. Reading this was like taking a personal tour and I could almost hear our footsteps echo as we passed through the various chambers. Thank you.
Enjoyed the section about Thomas Parr. Reminded me of Joice Heth, the supposed nurse of George Washington. She was displayed by P. T. Barnum in 1835 at the claimed age of 161, 9 years older than poor Mr. Parr. You don't suppose Barnum got the idea from Westminster Abbey? No, Keith Thomas is right that age exaggeration went all the way back to the old testament and beyond, until births were routinely recorded. Interesting piece. Thank you for sharing.
reminds me of Grey's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. So glad my fear of being dead abruptly left me one day when I was doing the ophthalmascopic exam of a routine physical in room 1 at my office. Don't remember the patient at all. I was 29 or 30 years old. The fear has not returned and I will be 87 if I live 2 more months. i have dodged covid but sure do want to go to football and basketball games at UNC this Fall. Have not missed since 1967 except for covid.
You might enjoy my books; "Sex and the 21st Century; AR-W/(P-I) x ATroc = Q" in 3 volumes 5x7 and 16 font for easy reading and serious thinking. Vol l, "God Made Men Too" in 4th edition on sex and sex education; Vol ll, "The Price Of Eggs Is Down" on the economics of falling birth rates; Vol lll, "Every War Is An UnCivil War" on new geopolitics; chapter on Putin's War is pending. Also "How To Be A Happy Former Smoker" and "Pleasure Per Calorie". All on Amazon Kindle/Paperback. Platooning basketball, aphorisms, and inventions yet to be published.
Delightfully interesting. Reading this was like taking a personal tour and I could almost hear our footsteps echo as we passed through the various chambers. Thank you.
Thanks, Henry. This was beautifully written.
Enjoyed the section about Thomas Parr. Reminded me of Joice Heth, the supposed nurse of George Washington. She was displayed by P. T. Barnum in 1835 at the claimed age of 161, 9 years older than poor Mr. Parr. You don't suppose Barnum got the idea from Westminster Abbey? No, Keith Thomas is right that age exaggeration went all the way back to the old testament and beyond, until births were routinely recorded. Interesting piece. Thank you for sharing.
It’s all a bit like authorised graffiti. An excellently well written essay about our vain attempts on immortality.
reminds me of Grey's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. So glad my fear of being dead abruptly left me one day when I was doing the ophthalmascopic exam of a routine physical in room 1 at my office. Don't remember the patient at all. I was 29 or 30 years old. The fear has not returned and I will be 87 if I live 2 more months. i have dodged covid but sure do want to go to football and basketball games at UNC this Fall. Have not missed since 1967 except for covid.
You might enjoy my books; "Sex and the 21st Century; AR-W/(P-I) x ATroc = Q" in 3 volumes 5x7 and 16 font for easy reading and serious thinking. Vol l, "God Made Men Too" in 4th edition on sex and sex education; Vol ll, "The Price Of Eggs Is Down" on the economics of falling birth rates; Vol lll, "Every War Is An UnCivil War" on new geopolitics; chapter on Putin's War is pending. Also "How To Be A Happy Former Smoker" and "Pleasure Per Calorie". All on Amazon Kindle/Paperback. Platooning basketball, aphorisms, and inventions yet to be published.