SINGER MAUREEN MCGOVERN'S LIVING WITH ALZHEIMER'S- 'YOU GO ONE DAY AT A TIME'

AFTER DAZZLING AUDIENCES FOR DECADES, THE VIRTUOSO VOCALIST STEPS OFF THE STAGE AND NANCY KRUHINTO A CHALLENGING NEW CHAPTER 

- NANCY KRUH

For almost 50 years Maureen McGovern has spread a message of hope amid darkness with her signature song, “The Morning After.” But now, as she speaks with People from a Columbus, Ohio, retirement community—where she has been living with the heartbreaking diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease—the anthem is also telling McGovern’s own story. Already the progressive and incurable neurological disease has begun to rob the celebrated vocalist of her everyday vocabulary, but she still effortlessly recites the lyrics to the song that’s so singularly hers: “It’s not too late, we should be giving/ Only with love can we climb/ It’s not too late, not while we’re living/ Let’s put our hands out in time.”

“It’s not too late,” McGovern says, emphasizing the line. “There’s hope. Don’t give up. That’s my mantra. Don’t give up.”

In every aspect of her life the 73-year-old artist—who has wowed theater and concert audiences for decades with what has famously been called her “Stradivarius voice”—embraces that conviction, holding tight to her family and friends, finding ways to use the gifts she still possesses and always feeding her boundless passion for music. “I truly, truly do believe I’ve been blessed with so many things,” she says.