Posted on 01/01/2015 12:46:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
In 1977, William McPherson earned the top honor in the writing world when he was honored with a Pulitzer Prize.
But nearly four decades later, the former Washington Post critic now hovers on the brink of poverty thanks to a failing pension and a bit of bad luck on the stock market.
In a heartbreaking essay for The Hedgehog Review, McPherson describes what it's like to become poor in old age-as part of a overlooked group who are neither middle or lower class.
Former teachers and even lawyers who can't pay their bills but aren't on the streets begging for change.
Surprisingly, he says the experience has been educational and that he still considers himself privileged due to his race.........
...in 1986,when McPherson was in the middle of a leave of absence,the Post asked him to either come back to work or take an early retirement.
'I was fifty-three at the time. I chose retirement because I was under the illusion—perhaps delusion is the more accurate word—that I could make a living as a writer and the Post offered to keep me on their medical insurance program,which at the time was very good and very cheap,'McPherson wrote.
However, that choice proved costly since by the time his pension kicked in at age 65, the money he had saved on the Post's 401(k) plan was half it's worth since it is not adjusted for inflation.
While McPherson's $11,670 income puts him above the poverty line (which last year was a close $11,490), he still considers himself poor'by any rational standard'.
He is forced to live in subsidized housing, with neighbors including a great-grandson of Leo Tolstoy, former lawyers, academics and fellow writers.
The District of Columbia is also subsidizing his medical insurance payments,after a major heart attack left him with astronomical bills.
However, he doesn't blame his misfortune on the economy...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I read that you can get some nice Section 8 housing in Las Vegas, since it was so over-built in the real estate bubble. But the writer couldn’t be a Beltway guy, with a Tolstoy descendant for a neighbor it he moved west. It’s not just that he’s broke, he is sad not to be as cool as he used to be.
Of course, if he had a loving wife and children, and a spiritual life and faith community, he’d be in better shape, but that’s not especially cool, either.
Ha! Good one.
These over educated, under preforming, pretentious leaches NEED socialism to get by.
So, WE MUST ALL succumb.
He probably had to get rid of his little gay kick-dog too.
Section 8 housing is widely available in Grand Rapids MI as well (and in pretty much all cities, probably), and if one can stand the neighbors, a lot of it is not bad. He’d be better served to move to a cheaper town, since he clearly isn’t doing anything productive with his time, despite living within reasonable walking distance (or train, the subway system is pretty posh, and reaches out into the surround states) of some of the best museums in the world, as well as the Library of Congress.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. This man did not understand this, but lives in a world built by those who do, which does indeed make him fortunate. I guess it’s lucky for him that enough tweedy old guys are rich and have wives who regularly cull their closets so that he can get by on donations without looking out of place. Fashion choices for the personal trainer wouldn’t be nearly so forgiving, but thats cultural. Rich black people don’t tend to walk around looking like refugees from Goodwill. If you stop dressing the way you used to you take yourself out of context for people who used to know you, which is the principle behind wearing a disguise.
The thing that keeps me up at night is that millennials are building a world optimized for sprinting rather than marathoning (which is to say, not a working long term strategy). Where mistakes are never forgotten leading to a world where resilience to setbacks counts for nothing because the rug gets yanked out from under you on the first setback. Either that or this will instead encourage dishonesty and vibrant business opportunities for people adept at scrubbing the web and databases of boo-boos. Kinda sounds like China. In any event this guy and Tolstoy’s grandchild would likely be up a creek without a paddle in such a world.
The wikipedia entry notes that he went to three different universities, didn’t finish at any of them, yet lectured at still others later in his life.
> William McPherson (born March 16, 1933) is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of two novels, Testing the Current and To the Sargasso Sea, and many articles, essays, and book reviews. McPherson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism in 1977.
The term “subsidized” housing (i.e., Section 8) is really misleading. The actual payment a tenant has to pay is based on what their spendable income is and then a percentage of that is what they pay. I am not even sure their welfare payments count as spendable income.
There is a guy on the net that has a full set of pictures (before and after) of his house he put on Section 8 (he got another house) where the rent was something over $1000/month. The tenant couldn’t even come up with her $50/month co-payment. She lived there about a year and the amount of damage she did to the house was horrendous. She was eventually evicted but not before virtually all of the appliances and plumbing, wires, pipes etc. were ripped out and the whole house was completely trashed.
A Pulitzer for distinguished criticism?
Critics are parasites who feed on the creative works of others.
Right. I’m 2 years from retirement (I.e., a second career) and chose to keep working because early retirement has significant financial disadvantages.
Good points.
The Greatest Generation knew never to take it for granted. They lived through a time knowing life could be fleeting, that possessions weren’t guaranteed and you that if you worked you could improve your lot in life.
Too many who’ve followed have taken that for granted (except for “global warming” that they know they can “fix”) and they believe that their country and capitalism is evil.
Much of that comes from “academics, socialists, lawyers and writers’ like this man and the people he lives with in “poverty.”
What a LIB idiot. I laugh at his tears. Have a happy New Year!
Life is hard, it’s harder when you’re stupid.
With a few “twists of fate” he too could have been an Al Gore, or a John Kerry, perhaps even a Barack Obama.
: )
Ah, all those tassel loafers with run-down heels...
Do you hear a stint what of entitlement about these “writers, lawyers, etc” living in a very expensive city? I’ll bet they have food stamps, Social Security, rent help, etc...
So, he’s 83 years old and has learned nothing from life. In Washington, D.C, he should know that homeless black beggars often approach people on the street and beg for money. Many live on the streets and no one moves them and they are kept afloat partly from foolish people giving them money. There are shelters but they will not go to them.
People learn quickly to flee from the the beggars. Perhaps his black ‘trainer’ should have said, “Hello, Jan,” or whatever her name was before giving her the bum’s rush. To extrapolate from one event to condemn all white people is simply standard operating procedure for leftists.
Also, the guy has a ‘trainer’ and thinks he’s living in poverty? When you throw in the subsidies, he is living a good life and in an expensive city. What a whiner.
Also, what happened to his Social Security. Did he fail to report his income over his life. Is he lying about his monthly income?
The sentence about his 401(k) losing half its value because of inflation is just cuckoo. If it was invested in stocks it would have increased with inflation. If it was invested in bonds, it would have earned interest and that would have compounded. For the account to lose half its value it would have to be entirely in cash.
Finally, methinks the old codger might also be gay and his misfortunes are partly due to that lifestyle, which is live for today and forget about tomorrow. He’s lucky to be alive. Where’s the gratitude for good luck, the generosity of the taxpaying public at large and for all the family and friends who have helped him even though he’s made a complete mess of his life?
There’s no fool like an old fool.
From experience let me say as a former landlord:
“Some people can tear up an anvil!”
I've got a great idea for a book for him; "How to Afford the Millionaire Washington Lifestyle on $11,670 a Year"!
In the United States in 2015, "poverty" doesn't have much if anything to do with money. McPherson clearly has most of his basic needs met, except (maybe) a new Bimmer and first-class vacations to Tahiti.
I wouldn’t hard times for anyone. Nonetheless, o how the mighty have fallen.
Pretty much qualifies him to be POTUS, does't it?
The Pulitzer is given to the author of the best political hit piece against the right.
Great use of language isn’t a consideration.
Obama got a Nobel Piece Prize - I rest my case.
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