News Archives
The Cuban Missile Crisis Some things blissfully took place before I had a chance to be terrified by them. As a kid, I was plagued by worry. I've gotten over it since then, perhaps to an excessive degree, but back then, it didn't take much to fill me with fear. And if I'd been...
Rock Star Deaths It's a bit sad that death is so much a part of our Boomer memories. We learned at a very early age that famous people die. We also learned, through the Vietnam war, that loved ones die. And as we kids grew up listening to and loving rock and roll...
Saigon Falls We Boomers have a wealth of pleasant memories from growing up in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Those are memories that we wouldn't trade for a million dollars. But, like all generations, we have our share of bad memories as well. One of the most pervasive unpleasant memories that touched...
The Watergate Scandal Richard Nixon was in tall cotton in 1972. His overall approval rating with the public was respectable. His opponent, George McGovern, was so far to the left that he had alienated many Democrats. It should have been an easy ride into his second term as President. Only it wasn't. Sure,...
The Pueblo Is Captured If you youngsters out there think that North Korea's current ruler is a nutcase, you would be right. But if you think he's the first, well, then you don't remember the news headlines of 1968. In January of that year, the USS Pueblo was on patrol in international waters in...
Breaking News: R.I.P. Art Clokey Art Clokey, creator of Gumby, just passed at age 89. Enjoy this presentation of Gumby on the Moon, courtesy of a brilliantly imaginative mind that will be missed by Boomers and others alike....
Dan Cooper Jumps Out of an Airplane The date was November 24, 1971. A man on a Boeing 727 flying from Portland, Oregon to Seattle passed a note to a stewardess. The note said "I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are...
The Women's Lib Movement For some reason, the males of society have, by and large, long prevented women from enjoying the same freedoms that they have had. In western society, however, women have declared that they're not going to take it. They have done so in three waves, the last one having been evident...
When We Converted to the Metric System - NOT! The things we Baby Boomers were destined to accomplish! We would be the generation that would usher in cheap, clean nuclear power! We would be driving flying cars by 2000! And we would take the lead in adopting the efficient, easy-to-use metric system! OK, enough with the exclamation points already....
Swine Flu Scare, the 1976 Version The world has reacted in various ways to the swine flu scare at presstime. Mexico has basically shut down, recent soccer games being played all over the country before empty stadiums. The fans aren't allowed in, but the games get played anyway. Strange. Anyhow, the CDC is calling for clear...
The Cold War of the 60's One thing that all Boomer kids had in common was that they grew up with an inherent distrust of the Russians in particular, as well as communism in general. WWII was fought to eliminate tyranny and oppressive governments, and here we were, twenty years later, and there was a wall...
Marilyn Is Dead! As I have stated repeatedly here, my first coherent memory was the death of JFK. However, many slightly older Boomers have have a similar photographic recollection of the death of renowned tortured soul Marilyn Monroe. Starlets have handled their fame with various degrees of aptitude. Some, like Mae West, reveled...
Four Dead in Ohio One of the great societal changes that took place during the 60's was the banding together of the nation's youth under a common shared cause. That cause was protesting the war in Vietnam. The war itself was a drawn-out affair that was mired in red tape and bureaucratic rules of...
Brando Sends an Indian Maiden to the Oscars In 1972, a gritty mobster movie was all the rage. The Godfather, despite its running time of over three hours, was a huge hit all over the nation. The next year, when the Academy Awards show was televised, there was a lot of buzz in the air about the movie....
Billy Carter Many Presidents have had brothers who were also in the limelight. Most notably, our site's namesake, JFK, had two famous siblings who also chose political careers. But arguably, the most entertaining presidential brother as one William Alton Carter III, otherwise known as Billy. Jimmy Carter came from nowhere to become...
China Opens Up to the West We Boomer kids grew up in a pretty consistent political situation: Better Dead than Red. The communists, ANY communists, were our sworn enemies, that is if you lived in the United States, or most other democratic nations. Russia, Cuba, East Germany, North Vietnam, Red China, they were all the same....
The Day the Music Died You want to hear something weird? While pondering column ideas this morning, the thought of Buddy Holly popped into my head. Being a Don McLean fan, I thought "why not write about the the day the music died?" So I set out to go to work. It was after I...
The Race to Defeat Polio My older brothers grew up with the presence of a horrible, random terror that caused near-hysteria. It could strike absolutely anyone, but seemed particularly fond of children. Perfectly healthy, active kids could be transformed in a matter of days into paralyzed individuals who might require confinement in an "iron lung"...
When We Thought All Leaders Were Assassinated Watching Tom Brokaw's 1968 on the History Channel, I had a memory spring back to mind that was buried too deeply for me to dig up without a little help. After the unspeakable assassinations of that year, I, and many other kids, assumed that leaders were destined to die violent...
Television Influences Its Second Election I have to tell you, I am completely blown away by Tom Brokaw's EXCELLENT presentation on History Channel, 1968. I have always felt that 1968 was a pivotal year, not only because of the untimely assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, but also because it seemed that rock...
Bible Reading from the Moon Americans are a fickle bunch, to be sure. By 1968, we had grown bored with the space program. At first, it was thrilling to see black and white images of the earth from space. But by 1968, it had grown routine. We wanted something more. In spectacular fashion, astronauts Frank...
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Blogging Boomers #49:
For lots of great content that is aimed squarely at you, the Baby Boomer, browse on over to Contemporary Retirement Coaching!...
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