The Misanthrope’s Corner

Back when Roots kicked off an interest in genealogy, author Alex Haley advised youngsters to keep a tape recorder at the ready when talking to their grandparents so they could gather stories and reminiscences to help them trace their family trees.

This might have been a fruitful exercise once, but today’s seniors have achieved the American nirvana known as being “informed.” Their overriding interest now is retirement savvy, and their conversation, such as it is, revolves around IRAs, CDs, munis, T-notes, roll-overs, no-loads, caps, penalties, and discounts. This is no way to keep your ancestors straight; children taking Haley’s advice today would come away thinking they were direct descendants of Louis Rukeyser and Jane Bryant Quinn.

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Florence King

Florence King was a contributing editor of National Review.

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Back when Roots kicked off an interest in genealogy, author Alex Haley advised youngsters to keep a tape recorder at the ready when talking to their grandparents so they could gather stories and reminiscences to help them trace their family trees.

This might have been a fruitful exercise once, but today’s seniors have achieved the American nirvana known as being “informed.” Their overriding interest now is retirement savvy, and their conversation, such as it is, revolves around IRAs, CDs, munis, T-notes, roll-overs, no-loads, caps, penalties, and discounts. This is no way to keep your ancestors straight; children taking Haley’s advice today would come away thinking they were direct descendants of Louis Rukeyser and Jane Bryant Quinn.