The Dwindling Years is a science fiction short story by American author Lester del Ray, first published in 1956.

He didn’t expect to be last—

but neither did he anticipate the horror of being the first!

A totally different story on eternal life. 

The Dwindling Years was first published in Galaxy January 1956.

Lester del Rey (1915 - 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books.

Del Rey was awarded the 1972 E. E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (for the Skylark) by the New England Science Fiction Association and a special 1985 Balrog Award for his contributions to fantasy, voted by fans and organized by Locus Magazine. The Science Fiction Writers of America named him its 11th SFWA Grand Master in 1990.