Brokaw's "BOOM !" ( a book review )

George Corneliussen

 Imagine running into someone you used to know fairly well, but haven't seen for decades. Then imagine what it would be like if that person began reminding you of all the experiences you shared and the people you both knew "way back when". Now try to imagine what it would feel like if that person then brought you up to date on all of those people and events. If you can do that, you have an accurate picture of the writing style Tom Brokaw uses in his new book "BOOM !".

Those hoping that "Boom !" will bring into focus the generation of the 60's the way " The Greatest Generation" brought into focus the generation of the 40's run the risk of walking away from this book disappointed. That ,however, would not be a failure on the part of the book as much as it would be a failure on the part of the reader to recognize that the generation "Boom !" analyzes is still a work in progress to a much greater degree than the generation covered in " The Greatest Generation". The reader should look at " Boom !" as a mid-term exam on the generation of the 60's rather than a final exam.

As this book begins, Brokaw takes us behind the scenes of his life in the 60's. What's fascinating about what he reveals is how different, yet familiar to us readers, his personal life was from his professional life during this time. This is a wise move on his part because it sets the mood for what he tells us, as the book unfolds, as being believable.

While I find the reflections of the "household -name" personalities Brokaw includes in this book interesting, I am most captivated by the lesser- knowns. For example, in Part One ( page 62 ) Brokaw introduces us to Tom Turnipseed. Only a die-hard political activist from the 60's would recognize Turnipseed as the campaign organizer for George Wallace's 1968 Presidential campaign ( I saw Wallace speak in 1968 when he was campaigning for President. The crowd of 12,000 that came to see him was so polarized that they yelled, spit, and punched each other before,during and after the event. )

Turnipseed grew up as the grandson of a wizard in the Ku Klux Klan. Forty years on, Turnipseed sees many wrongs in what he thought was right in 1968. Today, he says, " I'm sorry. Hell, what we did , and what I was involved in and I helped carry out, deserves more action than an apology. It deserves justice for the injustices we did".

In Part Three ( page 597 ), we meet Stewart Brand. Brand created the Whole Earth Catalog, the instruction book for everyday life in the 60's.

Today, Brand lives on a restored tug boat in California, just where you'd expect the creator of the Whole Earth Catalog to live. On the subject of the 60's, Brand has this to say, " We were rude to our parents. We prevented more people like me from going into the military by chasing ROTC off campus. I didn't like the Vietnam War, but I thought most of the protestors had a wrong perspective on military people. When a generation talks just to itself, it becomes more filled with folly than it might have otherwise."

The stories of Turnipseed and Brand reflect the common theme of "Boom !". That is, many who opposed the popular viewpoint of the 60's now are drawn toward certain aspects of it, and many of those who embraced the popular viewpoint of the 60's now shy away from certain aspects of it.

Maybe that is how the final picture the 60's will paint itself out, a compromise resulting in the best of both sides of the 60's. Whether you are a survivor of the 60's or just curious about the "then and now" of them, you will like this book. After reading this book, you just might find all your beliefs about the 60's " are-a-changin' ".

Epilogue :

If Mr. Brokaw had interviewed me for his book, I would have told him of the anti-war demonstration my friends and I attended in Washington D.C. on a cool October day in 1969. Tired and hungry and being "encouraged" to leave the mall surrounding the Reflecting Pond next to the Washington Monument by the D.C. police, we came up with what we thought was a perfect plan. We would go into a local McDonald's and buy a cheap meal, and sleep in a booth while we pretended to eat.

Our plan worked perfectly until the Washington police entered the McDonald's and forced everyone inside to leave. Once on the street, tear gas began wafting over us, then a huge storefront window near us was shattered by a brick. As more police arrived, we all "ran like the dickens". On that day in 1969 I remember thinking how wrong it was that the police treated us that way. Now, almost forty years later, I look back on that incident and marvel at the fact that even during near-riot conditions, the McDonald's stayed open for business as usual.

Notable Quotes :

Garry Trudeau (cartoonist ) : "Can you believe it ? Forty years ago, I was participating in antiwar demonstrations, and now I'm being asked to speak at reunions of Vietnam veterans. "

Judy Collins ( singer ) : " How much beautiful work was done during that period, the Sixties and Seventies. Maybe breaking the rules helped. But we were lucky to live through it."

Charles Cook ( political analyst ) : " It's deeply troubling to a lot of baby boomers, that they're finally older than a president."

Former President Bill Clinton ( on Vietnam ) : "Vietnam was a conflict seen through a Cold War lens, and it didn't play out that way. It remains in the back of our collective consciousness and makes us a little warier than we might otherwise be about the use of force and a little warier than we might otherwise be about attacked as weak."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (on political incumbents ): " We've made incumbents too powerful. They don't have to work hard anymore."

Paul Simon ( musician ): " The culture we're in now is controlled by popular polarizers. If that's the way the world is headed, we're in for a lot of pain."

The Mechanicals :

* Coming in at 615 pages ( not counting the timeline and index ),"Boom" is a comfortable read.

* The book is divided into three parts. Part One deals with the 60's as they unfolded, Part Two deals with where the 60's led us, Part Three deals with what the philosophy of the 60's was versus what the reality of today is, through the eyes of 60's survivors.

* The Cast ( in order of appearance ):

John Lewis, Julian Bond,Andrew Young,Tom Turnipseed,Reverend Thomas Gilmore,Jeff Greenfield,Sam Brown,Mayor Richard M. Daley,William Daley,Pat Buchanan,Captain Gene Kimmel,Dr. Les Gelb,Tom and Nellie Coakley,Jeffry House,Senator James Webb,Mike "Mac"McGarvey,James Fallows,Nora Ephron,Gloria Steinem,Joan Growe,Muriel Kraszewski,Dr. Judith Rodin,Carla Hills and Joan Didion,Lissa Muscatine,Dr. David Smith,Judy Collins,Arlo Guthrie,Tim Russet,Jann Wenner,Kris Kristofferson,Berry Gordy,Woody Miller,Charlene Stimley Priester,Ouida Barnett Atkins,Stan Sanders,Dr.Shelby Steele,Dr. Cleveland Sellers,President Bill Clinton,Speaker newt Gingrich,Senator George McGovern,Senator Gary Hart,Karl Rove,Vice President Dick Cheney,Pat Buchnan,Senator Hillary Clinton,Sam Brown,Jeremy Larner,Carl Pope,Ed Crane,Dolores Huerta,David Cadwell,General Wayne Downing,Senator John McCain,Senator Bob Kerrey,Senator Chuck Hagel,Dr. Charles Desmond,Ron Armella,Ambassadoe Richard Holbrooke,Peter Davis,Jane Pauley,Anne Taylor Fleming,Linda Greenhouse,Dorothy Rabinowitz,Dr. Ruth Simmons,Dr. Susan Miller,James Taylor,Paul Simon,Jann Wenner,Warren Beatty,Lawrence Kasdan,Lorne Michaels,Dick Gregory,Tommy Smothers,Leonard Riggio,Garry Trudeau,Joan Baez,Don McLean,Yvon Chouinard,Jack Weinberg,Stewart Brand,Captain Jim Lovell