A few days before this is written and a few months before you read it, I passed my 75th birthday. It was a fairly quiet day. I worked on a book, took a nap in the afternoon, and had dinner with some close friends. I was very glad to have the occasion and hopeful of having some more.
I am 2 years older than my father was when he died and 21 years younger than my mother at her death. For longevity, I hope to take after my mother.
When I left the American College of Radiology staff at my age 65, I realized that I did not want to stop work. I was mindful of my father-in-law. At the age of 60, he took his gold watch, walked out of the factory where he had worked for 38 years, and never looked back. His pension was modest but guaranteed. He was retired from work for pay. He and his wife bought a house in Florida. Six years later, he died.
I know a radiologist who one day in his mid 60s announced that as of that afternoon, he was finished. He scribbled a resignation to his hospital, handed it to the administrator, told his partners that he was quitting the practice, and left. Now he runs a bookstore in the small town where he grew up. He does not use his title, and few neighbors know he is (or was) a doctor.
As I contemplated my 65th birthday, I began to wonder what I would do after leaving regular gainful employment. So I decided I would try to find work for the next 5 years and see what would happen. What happened to me was that I got busier than ever. I took on the management of the International Society of Radiology on a part-time basis. I put in more time than they can pay for, but I enjoy what I am doing. And I bounce around the world to places I never would have seen otherwise.
My last task at the ACR was to write its history. That led to invitations to write other histories of academic radiology departments. I now have 11 in print and two more in the works. I am committed to one more and feel the need to look for one or more to start next year. These have been pleasant tasks. I like doing the research. I try to put my subjects in the context of the forces that shaped radiology nationally. So I write about radiology in Medicare and the other struggles. I was part of most of them, and I can tell those stories with some assurance and conviction.
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