Every generation has a war that marks and shapes the years of its coming-of-age. For today’s young people, it is Iraq.  Before that, it was the Persian Gulf.  For those who grew up in the ’60’s and 70’s, it was undoubtedly Vietnam.

In his poem, “Facing It,” celebrated writer and Vietnam veteran Yusef Komunyakaa recalls a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.  His language paints a powerful picture of a man whose memories of war have been engraved onto him as permanently as the names carved on the wall.

Facing It
by Yusef Komunyakaa

My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn’t,
dammit: No tears.
I’m stone. I’m flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night
slanted against morning. I turn
this way–the stone lets me go.
I turn that way–I’m inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke.
I touch the name Andrew Johnson;
I see the booby trap’s white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman’s blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet’s image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I’m a window.
He’s lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman’s trying to erase names:
No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair.

(source: The Academy of American Poets Website)

* * *

More Poems About the Vietnam War:

• “At the Vietnam Memorial” by George Bilgere
• “Advent 1966″ by Denise Levertov
• “Vietnam” by Michael Collier
• “Driving through Minnesota During the Hanoi Bombings” by Robert Bly
• “The Asians Dying” by W.S. Merwin
• “Song of Napalm” by Bruce Weigl

Famous Poems About Other Wars, Past and Present:

• “Here, Bullet” by Brian Turner [Iraq War]
• “The Death of the Ball Turrett Gunner” by Randall Jarrell [WWII]
• “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen [WWI]
• “The Blue and the Gray” by Francis Miles Finch [Civil War]
• “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson [Crimean War]
• “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [Revolutionary War]

Filed under: Boomers • History • Literature

Check out this great article by Paula Span about the unexpected joys of taking care of elderly parents! It was featured in The Washington Post last week:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/12/AR2009061203251.html?referrer=emailarticle

Filed under: Boomers

Yesterday, Kodak announced that it will retire Kodachrome film, a long time staple of color photography. According to Kodak’s press release about the discontinuation, Kodachrome was “the world’s first commercially successful color film in 1935,” as well as “the film of choice for family slide shows of the Baby Boom generation.”

Debuted in 1935, Kodachrome itself isn’t exactly a Boomer – its formative years were spent by the time the post-WWII Boom began. However, many Baby Boomers grew up with Kodachrome, and after 74 years of color-popping pictures, I think we’re all a little sad to see it go.

During our childhood, Kodachrome was the film our parents used on a vacation abroad– preserving scenes like the ones featured in National Geographic’s special exhibit, “Kodachrome Culture: The American Tourist in Europe.” (Open to the public, free of charge, June 25 – September 9, 2009)

Trieste, Italy, 1956 Photo by B. Anthony Stewart

In 1973, we sang along to Paul Simon’s famous “Kodachrome” lyrics:

“Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away”

And even in more recent years, Kodachrome captured some of the images of the world that took our breath away. Baby Boomer Steve McCurry, one of America’s most renowned professional photographers, used Kodachrome to shoot many of his incredible photographs, including that of Sharbat Gula – an Afghan girl with haunting eyes – which graced the cover of National Geographic’s June 1985 issue.

Photo by Steve McCurry

For a trip down a bright and colorful memory lane, check out Kodak’s retrospective Kodachrome slideshow, as well as the New York Times’ LENS blog story.

Share your own memories of Kodachrome and the years it captured in our comments section! What photographs do you hold dear, and what are the scenes they preserve?

Filed under: Boomers • News

Facebook began in 2004 as a way for college students to connect with classmates at their respective schools. The original Facebook networks were exclusive to students who had direct contact with each other. It was a way for students to see, for instance, who else was in their Biology 101 class. Two years later, Facebook had exploded into a world-wide social networking site.

This past Monday The New York Times ran an article about how social networking websites like Facebook  and MySpace have become important to “aging baby boomers” because they provide an easy way for people to connect with each other from home at a time when they begin to feel most isolated. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02face.html?ref=science)          

The article concludes that by providing an easy way for people to connect with each other, social networking sites have enriched the lives of many aging adults.

A few months ago The New York Times ran another article emphasizing the importance of friends and social connections to longevity of life.(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/health/21well.html)

So is it safe to conclude that Facebook, MySpace and Twitter (to name a few) are actually increasing the life expectancy of those who participate in the social networking world?

What do you think?

How do you feel about these websites?      Have they affected people positively? Negatively?

Interesting factoid:

Despite the fact that Facebook was created for 18-21 year olds, CNN.com ran an article in April stating that women over 55 are currently the biggest market for facebook. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/13/social.network.older/index.html?iref=t2test_techmon&eref=rss_topstories)

Filed under: Boomers • Media • News

We’re entering swimsuit season which means that women around the country are looking in the mirror and wondering how they’ll pull it off this time around. Finding a flattering swimsuit can be a daunting and demoralizing task after a long winter. Feeling self-conscious about the extra winter weight and loss of muscle-tone may be a yearly tradition for you, but this time Charla’s here to help!

Our fabulous beauty expert Charla Krupp has some advice about how to look younger and feel better in a bathing suit this summer. This week she did an interview with Oprah in which she gave some tips about how to choose the right bathing suit for your body.

Here’s the link to her interview in O, The Oprah Magazine:

http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200906-omag-charla-swim-advice

Filed under: Media • Style

Paula Span, author of WHEN THE TIME COMES (in stores this June!)

When she’s not writing, Paula Span, one of our own Springboard authors, teaches classes at Columbia University. She teaches such classes as “Techniques of Feature Writing,” and serves as an advisor to students working on their master’s projects. We are delighted to announce that this past week Paula was named Teacher of the Year by the Class of 2009. This award is quite an honor, and was presented to her by The Society of Professional Journalists at Columbia.

Congratulations Paula!

Read more about the award on the Columbia University website: http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1165270052298/JRN_News_C/1212611141327/JRNNewsDetail.htm

Filed under: Books • Media

I don’t know how many of you have seen Charles Grodin’s great comedic roles in The Heartbreak Kid or Midnight Run, but his performances are laugh-out-loud funny. What you may not know, is that he’s also a really great person who has spent much of the last 20 years giving back to those who need help–from the homeless (he is a major fundraiser for Help USA) to those who are suffering extremely long imprisonments under the felony murder rule.
We are so proud to have published HOW I GOT TO BE WHOEVER IT IS I AM, Chuck’s recent memoir that recounts the “teaching moments” in his life from his days in Hebrew School to his days as a talk show host. His stories are funny and revelatory. I am lucky enough to know Chuck; I’d like to introduce him to you through his book.

Filed under: Books • Boomers • Media

Yesterday, as I sat at my desk and saw hourly updates about the tragic shooting at my son’s school and my alma mater, Wesleyan, I couldn’t help but think how my son’s childhood and his brushes with public crises and tragedies is so much more personal than mine.
My friends and I grew up crying about the assassinations of political leaders: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy. These deaths were tragic and had great ramifications for the country and its citizens, but there were few of us who felt it affected us on a very personal level.
But our children have grown up with the tragedies of the Oklahoma Bombing, the Columbine shooting, the massive destruction of 9-11, the Virginia Tech massacres, and other horrible tragedies that touch everyday citizens just going about their business, whether it’s going to an office, a day care center, a class, or, as in the case of Johanna Justin-Jinich, working at a café to earn some money to help pay the college bills.
I live in a suburb outside of New York City, and I remember September 11, 2001, when I went to pick up my sons from school, but knew that the schools were not releasing them early as the officials weren’t sure how many of the children’s parents might have been affected by the World Trade Center destruction. Later that day I heard how the parents of three of my son’s close friends either happened to not be at work that day, or got to work late, or decided not to listen to the loudspeaker and walked down the stairs to safety instead of staying at their desks. And I felt so grateful for this gift that these boys I knew didn’t have to experience such a tragic loss so young.
Now I think of my son and his two friends from our town, who were confined to their dorms at college (One of these friends’ father was the one who got to the World Trade Center late on September 11th and avoided catastrophe). I can’t quite believe that a tragedy, which has made the nightly news and the newspapers and websites, touched someone I hold so close to my heart. But then I remember that this same child has grown up knowing 9-11 happened 20 miles away, and that there are different colors for how safe he should feel that day, and that you don’t just enter a plane without taking off your shoes and belt and throwing away your bottle of water. He knows these are the rules, the way things are today.
But what I find heartening is that he and his friends constantly build havens around themselves, and they revel in their freedom. I resent that his current haven has temporarily been upset. But last night when he called, he sounded fine, and not very worried or scared. He was still making plans and telling us of his schedule for finals and moving his stuff back home. The only thing that was different about his phone call is that at the end of it he said something that usually goes unsaid, although it is understood. He said, “Mom, I love you.”

Filed under: News

It seems like everyone is talking about Susan Boyle. The New York Times even devoted a large part of the Sunday Styles section this past weekend to an article about “the dowdy Scottish spinster who sang her way to fame” on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. The reason Susan Boyle is the talk of the town is not just that she’s a great singer—it’s that she’s a great singer who is an unattractive and awkward middle-aged woman. If Ms. Boyle had been young, or if she had been attractive, the story would not be what it is.

What do you make of all this?               

(If you haven’t seen the video, watch it here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBTVdnWj1hM )

Do you think it’s fantastic she’s getting recognition despite her looks, or do you think it’s upsetting she’s getting such extreme recognition because of her looks?  Is this a big deal or not? Have people learned a lesson about making superficial judgments, or is Susan Boyle being sensationalized only to be forgotten after her 15 minutes of fame?  Let us know what you think!

Many people have voiced their opinions on the Susan Boyle story, including our own author, Charla Krupp. On her blog, Charla states that, “Part of [Susan's] charm is the way she looks. What a big mistake it would be for her to undergo an extreme makeover at this point.” Still, since Charla gives such great beauty advice, she lists a few things that Susan could do to change her look if she wanted to. And lucky for us, her tips are useful for us, too. Here’s a teaser:

        5. Only wear light pink lipstick. Dark reds or wines are aging.        

Check out the rest of Charla’s tips here: http://www.charlakrupp.com/blog/index.asp

Filed under: Media • Style

Well, it’s that time of the year again. Open up your windows, and let the fresh air in!

Yup—it’s time for spring cleaning.                                

Why not lighten up for the new season

by getting rid of all the clutter that has

accumulated during the long winter?

Out with the old!                                                                    

Gail Blanke, author of Throw Out Fifty Things  recently appeared on the Today Show to give some advice about  how (and why) to simplify our lives by getting rid of the things we don’t need.  Creating physical and mental space in your life is the best way to usher in the new season.

Here is the video of Gail on the Today Show: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29773973#29773973

And here’s an article about her appearance: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29758131/

Filed under: Media