William Powers, author of the new book Hamlet’s Blackberry, is a journalist who lives and works on Cape Cod. He and his wife, both writers, are used to working at home.

Powers values his computer and the technology he uses. Like so many other writers, he relies on a panoply of electronic devices.

Some time ago, however, he and his wife realized that their communication technology, with all the possibilities it offered, was taking over their family life. Their young son was shortchanged in the process because his parents were less available to him than they wanted to be.

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For decades, this woman had personified New York style and philanthropy. Her late husband’s name belonged to the city’s earliest history. At 105 years of age, she might have been expected to live in old age securely if not serenely.

Brooke Astor’s social standing, however, did not protect her from the same crime that many another old woman (and man) undergoes. She was robbed of her wealth by a member of her own family.

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“Unfortunately, the most effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease today is counseling the caregiver.”

This sober conclusion comes from Mary Mittleman, a leading researcher at NYU’s medical school. She explains why: “There is no effective drug that will stop or reverse the disease.”

Though it sounds grim, her statement does point toward an important response to the disease. In her research into caregiving for people with Alzheimer’s, the speaker has discovered what a difference it makes to have caregivers who are well-informed.

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If you ask for preferences, most people will tell you they want to live as long as possible. Many, however, will add a proviso: only if they do not have to suffer Alzheimer’s or some other crippling disease.

As to what produces a long life, modern people tend to believe that our genes make most of the difference. If your parents reach 100, you have a reasonable chance of doing the same.

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“My heart in hiding stirred for a bird.” These words come from Gerard Manley Hopkins, the celebrated Jesuit poet of the 19^th century. He was so far ahead of his poetic time, however, that he could have written in the 20^th century.

If you took courses in English literature, the way I did, you would have discovered him to be either a great minor poet or a minor great poet. In any event, he was a marvelous innovator who had a transformative impact on poetry in our language.

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Forget for a moment, if you can, Big Papi’s fall from batting grace; the balancing act facing David Cameron, the new British prime minister; the pope’s problems with sin and scandal; or the fallout from the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano.

Instead, focus on something really important. This column, if you persevere in reading it, will reveal a sure-fire stratagem for dealing with one of the ranking social problems of our era.

I refer, of course, to the odious habit of talking in movie theaters.

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“It doesn’t make much sense to base your faith on the quality of the management.” That’s the view of a Catholic woman close to me in response to the current crisis in Rome and elsewhere.

By way of disclosure, this wise mot comes from my wife, a life-long Catholic like me, who sees popes, bishops, and other church officials in perspective. We have been long used to faulty leadership and it troubles us.

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