It doesn't make it any easier to deny the truth, so I'll just confirm reports that today is my birthday. It's my 63d birthday. I certainly don't feel like I'm in my 60s and I don't think I act like I'm a sexagenarian (very often), but I've double-checked the math and any claims to the contrary are clearly wrong. The cancer that wants to attack my body has been beaten back for the moment but probably will resume its guerrilla war inside my body when it finishes a few more months in rehab and is strong enough for hostile activities. But I've used this latest lull in combat to grow stronger myself and I'm more confident than ever that that particular battle will be won.
For almost 20 years now, March 16 has taken on another very special meaning for me, In 1993, on my 45th birthday, a rebel editorial staff led by me took over the New York Post and published the paper's now-legendary Alexander Hamilton edition -- a paper where every story screamed facts against the paper's new owner in a last-gasp effort to replace the publisher and let the paper survive. It's an edition and a rebellion that I can proudly claim credit for. No one will dispute this well documented fact..
It was the high-water mark of craziness during two months of insanity that those closest to it have come to call "The Carnival." It is, was and will be the highlight of my life. And I knew it at the time. On my 45th birthday I knew I was living through a battle that my entire life would be judged against. To be honest, life became considerably more complicated when I realized what fate had drawn me into.
I discovered that other men before me had experienced the same fate. I became obsessed with Joshua Chamberlain, the hero of Gettysburg who literally saved the Union while in his 20s and then went on to become the governor Maine and a college president. But he wrote extensively of the burden of reaching his peak early in life knowing he could never top it.
Those writings, and others, made me realize how foolish it would be to spend the rest of my life burdened by my biggest success. This bit of knowledge changed my life in many ways. Most importantly, it gave me the self-confidence and courage -- yes, courage -- to find, fall in love with and marry the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the world.
Marcia might become as great a moment in my life as those days in 1993. But either way, I can honestly say: "Life is good. Very good."
And. at the end, I'll proudly stand on my record. Right now, I'll just wish myself a self-satisfied (and admittedly self-absorbed) Happy Birthday!
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