What pleasure is sweeter in later life than seeing a friend from boyhood receive a public honor? In addition to rejoicing with him, you taste the exquisite satisfaction of being ahead of anyone else in having recognized your friend’s merits long before they did.

That was my experience last week as Robert Bullock, who has been my friend since age fourteen, received recognition from the Brookline-based national organization Facing History and Ourselves. Father Bullock is pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows parish in Sharon where he is much respected and loved by parishioners and townspeople.

Jokingly, I tell Bob that he became well prepared for the challenges of an adventurous life when we were in high school together. We were both members of the St. Sebastian’s baseball team during those years. Anyone who was brave enough to play third base, as he did, when I was pitching, certainly demonstrated bravery under fire.

In those days I did not realize that Bob had already been touched by history seven years previously. In 1936, Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, visited Bob’s home parish in Newton. There he placed his hand on the boy’s head in blessing. Little did anyone know then that this pope would become the continuing subject of controversy even now, centered on his actions and failures to act during World War II.

Incidentally, I feel some small association with this same drama. As a reporter for the Boston Post, my father was sent to cover the papal consistory of 1939 at which Cardinal Pacelli was elected pope. He accompanied Cardinal O’Connell, the archbishop of Boston, on shipboard as the latter sailed to Rome to vote. No one at that time doubted that Pacelli was the right person as the world and the church entered a time of severe crisis.

In retrospect, there seems to have been something prophetic in Bob’s contact with Cardinal Pacelli, however fleeting. It can now be seen to presage his lifelong interest in the relationship of the Catholic Church with the Jewish community, an interest that would lead to his involvement in Facing History.

Before becoming pastor in Sharon, Father Bullock had been Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University. That was a position highly favorable for developing an intimate knowledge of Jewish traditions in all their beauty and variety. He became a student of the Jewish community and moved ahead of his own church in his appreciation of that faith so closely linked with his own.

Through his study and personal associations over the years, my friend Bob has built on the Brandeis experience and has become widely recognized for his pioneer work in helping bring the Jewish and Catholic communities closer together.

He has followed with intense concern the issues raised by the Holocaust. His commitment to the educational mission of Facing History has been notable: the struggle to eliminate racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism. With this organization, he believes that “history is a moral enterprise” and must be studied for its meaning.

Father Bullock has long anticipated the Catholic Church’s official moves toward revision of its own theology vis-à-vis the Jewish community. He took the lead in applying the teachings of the Second Vatican Council that corrected erroneous ideas about responsibility for the death of Jesus. And he saw how Catholics need to change deeply ingrained attitudes about brothers and sisters whose faith antedates Christianity.

Another important set of experiences in Father Bullock ministry comes from his role as director of campus ministry for the Archdiocese of Boston. He held this position at time of great tension in American society, nowhere more so than in colleges and universities.

The Church, too, was feeling this same pressure as demands for change became insistent. My friend helped steer many of us campus ministers through this time of radicalism in church, academia, and society at large.

His work with Facing History has been deeply relevant to the ministry that Bob Bullock has practiced for decades. Two weeks ago, Facing History not only gave my friend words of praise before an audience of twelve hundred people, but also endowed a educational fellowship in his name. The organization had good reason to do so: Father Bullock has been contributing his talents to it for much of its twenty-five year history.  The executive director of the agency, Margot Stern Strom, expressed special appreciation for giving to its members the benefits of his theological reflection and wise counsel.

At the same time that Father Bullock was honored, the philanthropist Richard Smith, for whom his Jewish tradition is vitally important, was also recognized for long service to Facing History. Currently chairman of the board of trustees, Smith has distinguished himself for his generosity to the organization and his good ideas for extending its services more widely.

As a guest at the award ceremony, I felt privileged to be taking part in an event that celebrated the spirit of both Passover and Easter in the exchange of mutual respect and love.

Richard Griffin

“I feel very happy about it; it’s going to save a lot of money.”  This is what Grace Straight, 78 years old, says of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ new Prescription Advantage drug insurance plan. She and her husband, Donald Straight, are longtime residents of the town of Templeton, living in the same house since 1948.

Donald, who has just applied, agrees with Grace: “It’s a good program, by the looks of it.” He has been retired for twelve years and needs to take several medications daily to keep himself in good health, medications that he could not afford if left to his own resources.

The Straights stand among the early enrollers in the new plan which officially began on April 1st. At least one television station in Boston has reported that Prescription Advantage is running far behind expected enrollments, but Secretary of Elder Affairs Lillian Glickman assures me that this information is incorrect. Already more than fifteen thousand elders and people with certain specific disabilities have signed up for the program.

Secretary Glickman says, “We are ahead of where we want to be.” And this achievement comes before a mass media campaign scheduled to begin in May. Her hope is that all eligible elder citizens will seize the opportunity to sign up.

She expresses excitement about the program. “Finally, every elder will have access to coverage that is affordable,” Glickman says. And she takes satisfaction in Massachusetts being the first state to adopt such comprehensive coverage. “The eyes of the nation will be upon us,” she boasts; “We hope it will inform the national debate.”

Massachusetts has already had programs in place to provide drug coverage for its elder citizens. But these Pharmacy and Pharmacy Plus programs will now be replaced by a new and more sweeping plan.

To get information about Prescription Advantage you can simply call 1-800-AGE-INFO, where you can also find out how to enroll. In addition, you can contact the Council on Aging in your city or town or one of the 27 regional ASAPS (Aging Service Access Points).

In its newsletter, the Executive office of Elder Affairs summarizes how the new program works: “Prescription Advantage enrollees will pay premiums, deductibles and co-payments. Unlike other insurance plans, payments will be graduated and are based on gross annual income.

“The state will contribute to the premiums and deductibles for certain low-income enrollees. Members whose income falls below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) pay lower co-payments.

“The maximum monthly premium will be $82, and the state will pay the full cost of premiums for individuals at or below 188% of the FPL.

“There is also an unlimited coverage benefit, and the maximum out-of-pocket expense for co-payments and deductibles for any enrollee will be the lesser of  $2,000 or 10% of gross annual household income.”

For a sharp appraisal of Prescription Advantage, I turned to two well-informed advocates for older people. John O'Neill, Executive Director of Somerville Cambridge Elder Services and current president of the Massachusetts Home Care Association, feels mixed about the program. “It’s good that it’s a public plan,” he says, and it should prove helpful for low-income people. But it has too many deductibles and co-payments for his taste.

“The premiums are a shot in the dark,” he adds, because no one knows how much the whole program will cost. “They are afraid of adverse selection, “ he says of the planners, because so many people who are big users of prescription drugs may sign up. And the plan depends on state funding from year to year.

Another highly knowledgeable advocate for older people, Art Mazer of Cambridge, feels concern about some public policy issues connected with Prescription Advantage. A veteran health care analyst with many years’ service with the federal part of the Medicaid program, Mazer also welcomes Prescription Advantage because he sees its promise for so many low-income people.

At the same time he feels critical of arrangements behind the new program for at least three reasons. First, he says, “I am opposed to insuring one item of health care, namely drugs, without insuring other services.”

Secondly, Prescription Advantage will be funded entirely out of funds that Massachusetts received from the settlement with tobacco companies. Currently, some thirty percent of these funds are being used for other needed health services but all that money and more will be soaked up to pay for the new drug program. He fears that the total costs to the state will go far beyond projections.

Thirdly, Mazer regrets that Prescription Advantage will not lower the costs of drugs. The companies that produce them will still be free to spend twice as much money on advertising as they do for research. This advertising of prescription drugs is a practice, he says, that allows patients to pressure their doctors to prescribe more of these drugs, even when not advisable.

Richard Griffin

Anyone who thinks that old-fashioned Southern charm is dead has not met David Prior. This 66-year-old native of Arkansas is warm, witty, and thoroughly gracious. Sitting down with him to breakfast, as I did two weeks ago, proved to be a pleasant experience indeed.

His success as a politician is rivaled only by that other Arkansan of recent residence in the White House and his reputation for integrity is a whole lot better. Prior was elected Congressman, Governor, and Senator over a long career of public service. Now, after leaving the Senate, he has become director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government.

You might think that his new job is a come-down from the United States Senate. Not so – – David Prior loves it and sees it as another form of public service. During breakfast, some students came by and it became clear how they look up to him and how he enjoys their company.

During his time in the Senate, Prior became chairman of the Aging Committee. As such, he proposed legislation on matters that affect older Americans. Before that time, he led the way toward getting the House of Representatives to establish its own aging committee. He feels proud of creating this platform from which Claude Pepper championed action for the nation’s elder citizens.

The stories David Prior tells about first becoming involved with elder issues show how much he values direct experience. When first elected to Congress, he went to visit the Arkansas nursing home where his mother’s great-aunt was a resident. When he saw the conditions that prevailed there, he was appalled. He felt aghast that the old people who lived there were getting such irresponsible treatment.

After this raising of his consciousness, he resolved to change the ways in which institutionalized old people are cared for. Soon afterward, he flew to a nursing home in Pennsylvania where eight residents had died in a fire. That facility did not even have fire extinguishers. Though the legislation he introduced did not get through the House bureaucracy, he got a federal agency to establish protective regulations.

His frustration at the slow pace of change moved him to say to himself, “Heck, I’m going to go out and volunteer and see what it’s like.” This resolution led him to serve in eleven nursing homes in Maryland and Virginia, without telling them that he was a congressman. After a single day on the job, one home offered him the job of director.

On his last day as volunteer, he brought a news photographer with him. This led to coverage in the New York Times that spread around the world. The result was that Prior received twenty thousand letters, many of them from college kids concerned about relatives. Looking back on this experience, he says, “I really learned something about generations.”

Later in our conversation I raised the subject of how David Prior experiences himself as a person growing older. Three themes emerge forcefully in his response to this question, one that turns out to be surprisingly difficult for most people to answer.

For David Prior, the first idea that springs to mind is about young people. “There’s some special tonic about young people that I think is invaluable,” he says. “I’m constantly around them; I have such great hopes for them.”

Secondly, he wants to continue doing something meaningful. Association with young people makes his current job precious to him: “I would hate to get fired, to cut this off because it’s given me a lot of interest and reason to work.”

 He contrasts his situation with that of some who have retired. “I have so many friends who go to the golf club at 11:30, then sit there and tee off about 1:30, then go home in the afternoon and take a nap. At 10 o’clock they watch TV and go to sleep.” He explains: “I like golf but that’s not my deal.”

A third theme is the rapidity of the years. “I can’t imagine it; someone else is 66, not me.” He looks back and asks himself, “Where did all those years go?”

About his years as governor and senator, he says: “So much of that is a blur. It’s like I stand on the street corner watching the traffic go by.”

That time passed so fast that he now has trouble separating out what happened when. He kept some journals but the material is not organized. However, he does imagine doing something to reconstruct this time: “Someday, I’ll get a tape recorder, sit around with some friends, and just yak.”

Obviously David Prior has a full treasury of experiences to enrich his old age. After growing up in a small town in the old south, he saw sweeping changes in both public and private life. They form a legacy that he can reflect on for years ahead and sift for their meaning.

Richard Griffin

“You start off with a lot of nice words. Then comes the hard part. You’re supposed to compromise, but that wasn’t for me. You’re supposed to talk things over. I just waited for things to blow over. All six of my wives had the same complaints. I got sick of it. I’m better off single.”

These words come from Harry Nichols, 71 years of age, in conversation with Wendy Lustbader. She includes this brief report among more than two hundred encounters with older people in her new book “What’s Worth Knowing.” In the pages of this small volume these elders share with the author their views of life seen from the vantage point of many years.

A geriatric social worker in Seattle, Wendy Lustbader ranks as one of the most skilled speakers I know. At a conference of the American Society on Aging, held in New Orleans during the first week of March, she talked about the people who figure in her book. Her presentation held audience members rapt and at times even moved us to tears.

However, when she recounted Harry Nichols’ words in the quotation above, “All six of my wives had the same complaints,” we all broke into laughter.  Of course, we laughed knowing that here was a man who lacks self-knowledge to a painful degree. He can say some of the right words about compromise and talking things over but he cannot put them into practice.

This failure has sentenced him to a chaotic style of living. As Wendy Lustbader describes it: “Living in wifeless freedom, Harry Nichols gradually become buried in the debris of daily living. His floors and furniture were covered with piles of tin cans and old newspapers, but he refused to accept the assistance of a county-funded housekeeper. In response to my pleas that he accept some help for the sake of his health and safety, he thundered, ‘I told you, I had enough of women messing around in my house.’”

Richard Griffin