ABSTRACT
Being 65 years old, I retire at the end of this month (September 1995)—the British university system being old fashioned enough (or maybe forward thinking enough) to have a mandatory retirement age. I am not sure what retirement would mean, other than going freelance. I certainly have commitments for the next few years to two ongoing research programs, and the list of books that I am contracted to write and series to edit appears, if anything, to be growing. Since “someone who thinks retirement means going freelance” is as good a definition of a workaholic as any, and I have always insisted that I am not one (to my family’s cries of derision it must be admitted), things will change, even though I am not sure just how or when. This is therefore an appropriate occasion for me to reflect on my professional career.
