I'm Not Done Yet: Keeping at It, Remaining Relevant, and Having the Time Of My Life - Softcover

Koch, Edward I; Paisner, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062321595 ISBN 13: 9780062321596

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2014

Synopsis

A funny, candid, insightful, and unflinchingly honest memoir from one of New York City's most spirited and outspoken mayors

Ed Koch—the bold, colorful, forthright, and impassioned three-term mayor of the city of New York—lived his eighty-eight years to the fullest. In I'm Not Done Yet Koch reflects on life after politics, taking readers through his various career turns since losing the Democratic mayoral primary to David Dinkins in 1989, during which time he worked as a radio talk-show host, a newspaper columnist, a college instructor, a SlimFast spokesman, and an arbitrator on the television show The People's Court. With occasional looks back at his childhood in the Bronx and his political experiences, Koch speaks openly about the ups and downs of what he calls "the third act" of his storied career, offering a frank account of his health and medical challenges, and considering what it has meant to live a life without a partner or children.

I'm Not Done Yet is a fearless account of an extraordinary man's under-standing of what it means to reach one's autumn years, and offers proof that the healthiest outlook on advancing age is to keep active at the work you love.

About this title

Review:

At 75 years old, former New York City mayor Ed Koch is as busy as ever. "I currently have nine jobs," he exults in I'm Not Done Yet! "I've had more, and one day, no doubt, I'll have fewer. But I believe the turns in my professional life reveal an important point: Your career is what you make of it, not what it makes of you." Since leaving city hall, Koch has worked as (among other things) a radio talk-show host, a newspaper columnist, a college instructor, a SlimFast spokesman, and an arbitrator for TV's People's Court. To this day, the city's leaders turn to him for counsel. "I am still relevant," Koch notes. "My opinions count. Even my political adversaries seek my advice, and appear to consider it carefully, and this is enormously gratifying to me--with each passing year, even more so." But the most important thing, in his mind, is that he's kept active doing things he loves to do--an opportunity that he insists is available to everyone as they grow older.

It hasn't been all roses, though: Koch writes with perfect candor about the health problems that have plagued him in his later years, including an enlarged prostate (which leads to some potentially embarrassing revelations that Koch turns into humorous anecdotes) and a heart attack. He also talks about the potential costs in the future of his lifelong bachelorhood--no children and no life partner to comfort him in his final years (and no desire to seek a partner out: "I don't believe it was meant to be, and I'm not seeking for it to happen"). Even that bit of gloom, though, can't stop I'm Not Done Yet! from being one of the most cheerful accounts of "life after politics" a public figure has to offer.

About the Author:

Edward Irving Koch (1924-2013) served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. He was a lawyer, professor, public speaker, newspaper columnist, syndicated movie reviewer, television and radio personality, and author of twelve books.

Daniel Paisner is a New York Times best-selling author who has written numerous books.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0062321595
• ISBN 13: 9780062321596
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208