World | Margaret Thatcher No One Will Touch Margaret Thatcher's Real Story Michael Wolff says we should be talking about the Iron Lady's dementia By Kevin Spak Posted Apr 15, 2013 12:27 PM CDT Updated Apr 15, 2013 1:55 PM CDT Copied Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher now Baroness Margaret Thatcher at a wreath laying ceremony in London, Nov. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Margaret Thatcher had dementia. She had it for longer than she was prime minister. Yet few of her obituaries mention it or "regard it as a meaningful part of her story," complains USA Today columnist Michael Wolff, whose own mother died at the same age as Thatcher fairly recently—and also battled with dementia. But Thatcher's dementia "is more relevant to current societal issues and costs than her concerns with the poll tax or the miners' union." Dementia is "the single greatest physical scourge of our time," yet the media brushes it aside, acting as though Thatcher simply slid graciously from view. If you've seen dementia up close, you know these "negative space characterizations of the disease are as opposite to reality as war is to peace." This should be seen as her "ultimate, signature fight. Even her detractors ought to be humbled by her fate. Nobody can deserve to die like this. Yet many of us will," because no one is willing to tell this story. Click for Wolff's full column. Read These Next New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. Supreme Court ruling is a big blow to Planned Parenthood. Report an error