Latecomers: Children of Parents over 35 [Hardcover]

Andrew L. Yarrow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1991

Illuminated by real-life stories and anecdotes, Latecomers sensitively describes and explores what it means to be a child of older parents--in the early years, as an adolescent, and as an adult. A reporter for The New York Times, Yarrow draws from questionnaires and interviews with over 800 people whose parents were over 35 when they were born.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this perceptive, broadly researched study, New York Times reporter Yarrow examines a trend which, though not previously unheard of, is now growing, fueled by feminism, contraception and economics. He evaluates the impact of delayed childbearing on the children born to not-so-youthful parents--some of whom here cite the advantages of having more mature, emotionally and financially secure progenitors, while others emphasize the drawbacks: the missed physical resiliency and easier companionship of younger parents and relatives, and the early loss or absence of grandparents. Both postponed latecomers and last-born "babies" or "accidents" of large families note a generation gap, especially pronounced during adolescence, and many profess a fear of early parental deaths. Such parent/child relationships, Yarrow stresses, are strongly influenced by changing perspectives of both parties on their respective ages--and often involve a reversal of roles.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Free Pr; 1ST edition (February 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029356857
• ISBN-13: 978-0029356852
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,536,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew L. Yarrow is a public policy professional, American historian, and journalist. In addition to Measuring America, he has published two other books, has taught post-World War II U.S. history at American University, writes a column for the Baltimore Sun, and was a reporter with The New York Times for many years. He also has worked or done consulting for several think tanks, international organizations, and the U.S. government.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As a latecomer myself, I learned a lot from this book!, November 18, 1999

By 

Nancy M. Burke (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latecomers: Children of Parents over 35 (Hardcover)

This is a great summary of issues that a latecomer faces. It recognizes various types of latecomers, whether they're only children or the youngest member of a family (I fall in the latter category) and describes their different situations.

I sought out reading material about this issue, when I faced doing Eldercare in my mid-thirties when many of my friends were becoming parents. My biggest revelation from the book came when I realized that the probable reason for my lifelong death obsession came from the shear quantity of funerals I attended before the age of 16 (my grandparents alough long lived, were all dead by the time I was 11).

This is a book I think many potential "older parents" would benefit from reading.