There is a fine interview with Gene Fama in the FT today which concludes thus:
“I wonder why he doesn\u2019t simply retire, enjoy all the golf he could ever want, spend more time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, or travel the world with Sallyann, his wife of more than six decades. He has an efficient answer. \u201cI do it because I like it,\u201d Fama says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recalls how his mentor Miller\u2019s life changed completely after becoming a Nobel laureate in 1990. \u201cHe basically gave up academics and travelled the world until he died. That\u2019s fine, that\u2019s what he <\/a>wanted to do. Someone told me you can turn your life into a victory lap, or you can go back to work,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ****<\/p>\n\n\n\n I spent a year as a visiting prof at the U of C’s business school in 1999-2000. It wasn’t the Booth School and hadn’t moved into a spiffy building then. Gene would come down to the faculty lounge (such as it was) with a packed lunch and engage in spirited conversation with whoever was around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several times a week he’d play tennis at the Quad Club. He was almost 20 years older than I was but I didn’t dare ask him for a game. (I was afraid of embarrassing myself although I had played for my college team in my youth).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m sorry to read he can’t play tennis anymore but delighted that nothing else has changed. That the Nobel didn’t turn his life into a victory lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n