The five years under review, covering my ages 70-75, have been good ones.
Semi-retirement means I get to do the work I enjoy (writing primarily) while avoiding the chores that burdened me down (administration, fundraising, etc.) for many decades. The career has been established, the money made, the children have become interesting and independent. While the body creaks some, it functions well enough to do all I want. The mind gets a bit forgetful but I churned out a new book (Israel Victory: How Zionists Win Acceptance and Palestinians Get Liberated) and plenty of articles and interviews. One article, published on the day of my 75th birthday, "At 75, Staying Healthy Is My New Career," outlines my current focus. That new career? "extending my health-span."
If all is well privately, the world at large is enervating and off-putting. I once fit into the Republican Party as a conventional conservative but left the party in 2016 upon the nomination of Donald Trump. As one friend eloquently expressed it, I wake up and say "Trump is an ignorant and repellant human being." I go to bed saying "Thank God he's president." I truly am an Independent, agreeing with Democrats about half as often as Republicans.
Which brings me to Harvard, so prominently in the news as I write this (in September 2025). The Trump Administration is crude, clumsy, and setting terrible precedents. That said, I take solace in the fact that left-wing foolishness at Harvard (my favorite: the atheist chaplain serving as chief university chaplain) has met its match.
I have written endlessly about Harvard in recent years, always critically. My proudest article reprises the "Counter Teach-In" of March 1971. My most surprising: unearthing that Nathan Pusey had foreseen the troubles ahead for higher education. Other articles of potential interest: remembering the events of April 1969 (for anyone wishing to relive them, I posted some 400 original pictures here) and the profusion of named professorial chairs.
I attended the belated 50th alumni event and enjoyed the renewed interactions thoroughly, grateful that Harvard made it possible. The contrast between the political leftism but personal-life conservatism among my classmates struck me favorably.
