The government has done studies showing that the vast majority of the population would be dead not long after a sustained nationwide power outage. All it takes is people missing a few meals before the fun starts.
It's referring to a fictional story in that quote, but the scientist says that 90% is accurate for the real world if that scenario were to happen. Pretty chilling.
He was born in 1926, he grew up "of the grid" and likely spent most of his early life mostly off grid.
It's not especially noteworthy .. to those of us that also grew up away from large connected services - you have your own sewerage, generators, mail, drive | walk to town to pick things up.
Currently I'm "mostly" off grid - I have internet connection, a well, leach drains, solar + wind (electric) + wind (mechanical mill), etc and live in a rural community with a lot of people older than 60 who also grew up off grid.
> Their cabin lacks electricity, phone service, and municipal plumbing. Bartlett currently works as a senior consultant for Lineage Technologies, a cyber security group that seeks to protect supply chains.[39] Bartlett is a vegetarian and does not drink alcohol or smoke. He also grows his own organic vegetables.
Reads more like a self-written personal home page than an encyclopedia entry produced by independent volunteers.