Four Passions

Author Wallace Peters was a renowned medical scientist in his 80s whose main interest was tropical medicine. In 2007, he and his Swiss wife, Ruth, moved into a peaceful retirement village in the English countryside. Nine months later Ruth succumbed to cancer.After Ruth’s death, Wallace came to learn that the 200 residents in the community had a wide range of backgrounds. He realized that many of them, irrespective of their former careers, struggled to find a direction in their lives. Some, learning of the author’s own career, asked to hear more. Hoping to restore their interest in their own existences, Wallace set out to describe his and Ruth’s experience of their own lives post-retirement and their positive lifestyle. Four Passions: Conversations with Myself is a frank account, describing the psychological pitfalls that many couples encounter after one or both are obliged to “retire”. In today’s world, an ever-increasing number of us will face an unprecedentedly long period of seniority. This story offers an optimistic perspective on the pleasures of “old age”.Wallace Peters grew up in London and currently resides at Castle Village Retirement Home, near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. He has written three books on medical and entomological topics; was a senior author (with two different co-authors) of six editions (since 1977) of Atlas of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology; co-editor of four books on malaria and leishmaniasis; the author of forty-three book chapters; and sole or joint author of over three hundred and forty papers. http: //sbpra.com/WallacePeters