Second Chance: A Life After Death

""I died and was born again,"" writes Barrett of his near-death experience in 1984 at age 63. There was no tunnel with a light at the end, no life review, but rather, a green, seductive, luminous slope. This book, which consists of journal excerpts written between 1984 and 1990, is a sequel of sorts to Spare Days (1988), in which this former Time and Newsweek journalist described his battle against cancer with clarity and eloquence. Barrett's central message that old age is potentially the best stage of life, a time of freedom for significant thought and action, is a welcome one. But his musings, though clearly heartfelt, are less than fresh, even obvious (life ""is a privilege, a treasure, not to be wasted, rejected, even for a minute""). Barrett led an interesting life in the 1980s, and much of what he reports on is notable. He tells of travels to Israel and to India, where he visits ""holy Englishman"" Father Bede Griffiths in his ashram; recalls his 1946 sojourn at the Southern California spiritual retreat of English guru Gerald Heard; records travel impressions, ranging from Seattle to his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa; and re-creates encounters with Max Lerner and Paul Nitze. There are sporadic phone calls from his father-in-law, composer Irving Berlin, a recluse during the 1980s, and reminiscences of happier times with Berlin decades earlier. Sprinkled with quotes on aging, faith and death from Jung, Tennyson, Goethe, Braque, Augustine and Brillat-Savarin, this thoughtful daybook works best in those moments when Barrett writes with simple directness, as when he discusses his delight in his grandson or the beauty of the Italian village of Taormina. (Mar.)