At the behest of his stepmother, Charlie Wayne, an unemployed banker and baby boomer, visits his 93 year-old father in Florida. Initially, the wealthy and independent Wriston Wayne, the former CEO of a major regional bank, seems as sharp and tenacious as ever. But then Wriston, while parking his Cadillac, loses control and the tippling Charlie, a dutiful son, is obliged to raise this issue: Should his father continue to drive? Subsequent interaction in the Wayne family reveals patterns of tenacity, chicanery, love, and denial, as the men and their wives bargain about the future. This family interaction is The Spirit of the Waynes. Recommended to readers coping with the gradual diminishment of elderly parents or who wonder about the stress of revitalizing a stalled career.