MichiganRadio

New book tells story of a father and Alzheimer's ATHENS, OH (WOUB) - An Athens author recollects his experiences with his dying father in his new book --"The Last of His Mind: A Year in the Shadow of Alzheimer's."

John Thorndike writes about how he helped take care of his father during his battle against the illness and how this affected him personally.

He says his father asked not to be put in a nursing home after seeing a friend who was suffering from dementia in an assisted living home.

His father succumbed to Alzheimer's after a year, at the age of 92.

"I had my hand on his chest and I actually felt his heart stop beating," he says. "And it was just a remarkable experience and I was so glad to be able to be there with him. It's something you can't quite put into words."

John Thorndike has two other novels - "Anna Delaney's Child" and "The Potato Baron."

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