cat wallsWhen I was in elementary school, we were only occasionally allowed in the library, could only take out a book or two and were threatened with dire consequences if we damaged or lost them. I remember that some books were very popular and we all waited for our turn to read them. One was a book about Homer Price by Robert McCloskey and the others were science fiction stories by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988).

I continued to read his books throughout his career and yesterday I finished re-reading “The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.” This book deals with a recurring theme in Heinlein’s work that of people, with interesting gene pools, who live a very long, long time. Another theme is that in the future medical science has advanced to the point where the body and mind can be “overhauled” (so to speak) so that long life is achieved if not via genetics then by science.

In our time, even those with the most fortunate genes rarely live to be 120 years old and medical science is pretty good (compared to 100 years ago) but has not gotten to the rejuvenation stage unless face lifts and tummy tucks count.

Next week, I turn 70 and have decided that growing old gracefully is not such a bad decision for these times.

Previous Essays Dealing with Lifespan:

  1. Forget Aging. Let’s All Be Ageless!
  2. Mortality and the 100th Blog
  3. Living Old: What It Really Means
  4. Family Ties

Books by Robert A. Heinlein dealing with topics related somehow to long life or alternative time lines: The Man Who Sold the Moon (1950), The Green Hills of Earth (1951), Revolt in 2100 (1953), Methuselah’s Children (1958), Orphans of the Sky (1963), The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966), The Past Through Tomorrow (1967), Time Enough for Love (1973), The Number of the Beast (1980), The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (1985), To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987).

Children’s Books: Rocket Ship Galileo (1947), Space Cadet (1948), Red Planet (1949), Farmer in the Sky (1950), Between Planets (1951), The Rolling Stones (1952), Starman Jones (1953), The Star Beast (1954), Tunnel in the Sky (1955), Time for the Stars (1956), Citizen of the Galaxy (1957), Have Space Suit—Will Travel (1958).

Join us for a real-time discussion about ideas raised by this essay on Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. See Discussion and SL tabs above for details. Link to the virtual meeting room: http://tinyurl.com/cjfx9ag.