Jack, I have loved not only your artistic ability, but your wordsmith capabilities for a long time. Today's piece on Ethel Kennedy was my favorite! (and I'm not even Catholic)
You're reminding me of the 2 best books I've listened to recently. Halberstam...The Fifties. and Doris Kearns Goodwin...An Unfinished Love Affair. The first for insights into the 50's; the second for the 60's. If you haven't read them, you would enjoy doing so.
Your column today was perfect. You articulated many of the intangibles we Boomers remember and the heartaches we are left with.
Most days you write with sass and sarcasm that is pitch perfect for the crazy news of the moment. Today we are left with the end of an era that is completely unique. Nothing like it had happened before and certainly it will never be replicated. The late 50s and early 60s were a decade of optimism. Technology and science gave us a sense of invincibility. Childhood diseases were not going to kill us anymore. We were going to space - the Moon! We Boomer kids had everything to look forward to. I don’t think we deluded ourselves or we allowed ourselves to be deluded. It’s almost impossible to see around a blind corner.
I remember the assassinations that defined the 60s and us. After Bobby Kennedy died, some part of us was buried with him. I don’t think we could have realized it then. That bit of us that went in his grave never grew back. In some of us it festered into a sepsis that has never quite fully disappeared.
Keep writing and drawing, Jack. You have an important place in this world. You help us understand the hurricanes in the weather and society that sometimes we just can’t quite get a handle on. You are doing good and necessary work. Please don’t stop!
Jack, I have loved not only your artistic ability, but your wordsmith capabilities for a long time. Today's piece on Ethel Kennedy was my favorite! (and I'm not even Catholic)
Thank you so much, Patti!
You're reminding me of the 2 best books I've listened to recently. Halberstam...The Fifties. and Doris Kearns Goodwin...An Unfinished Love Affair. The first for insights into the 50's; the second for the 60's. If you haven't read them, you would enjoy doing so.
Fred, I read the 1950s book maybe 20 years ago, and am nearly done with the Goodwin book! I try to keep up with my subscribers!
Your column today was perfect. You articulated many of the intangibles we Boomers remember and the heartaches we are left with.
Most days you write with sass and sarcasm that is pitch perfect for the crazy news of the moment. Today we are left with the end of an era that is completely unique. Nothing like it had happened before and certainly it will never be replicated. The late 50s and early 60s were a decade of optimism. Technology and science gave us a sense of invincibility. Childhood diseases were not going to kill us anymore. We were going to space - the Moon! We Boomer kids had everything to look forward to. I don’t think we deluded ourselves or we allowed ourselves to be deluded. It’s almost impossible to see around a blind corner.
I remember the assassinations that defined the 60s and us. After Bobby Kennedy died, some part of us was buried with him. I don’t think we could have realized it then. That bit of us that went in his grave never grew back. In some of us it festered into a sepsis that has never quite fully disappeared.
Keep writing and drawing, Jack. You have an important place in this world. You help us understand the hurricanes in the weather and society that sometimes we just can’t quite get a handle on. You are doing good and necessary work. Please don’t stop!
Betsy, thanks to you and people like you, I won't have to!