My Generation

North Bay baby boomers reflect on the times that raised them.

Baby boomers are defined as the generation born following the return of soldiers from duty in World War II, specifically between (and including) 1946 and 1964. That means that in 2011, boomers are between 46 and 64 years old. In total, there are about 75 million baby boomers in the United States, representing about 29 percent of the U.S. population.

According to Baby Boomer Headquarters, an online site dedicated to all things boomer, “The 1960s is the decade that defined the boomers. The music, events and the social changes made a permanent impression on us. …but there were so many changes in the sixties that how old you were during the decade greatly affected how you turned out—1961 was a whole lot different from 1969. So any attempt to lump all boomers together probably won’t work. There’s much that ties us together, but also much that separates us.”

With that in mind, NorthBay biz asked several North Bay boomers to reflect on their own experiences and share what “being a boomer” means to them. Enjoy.

Q: How connected do you feel to media portrayals of baby boomers?
Steve Page: You mean that gray-haired, bespectacled bunch lined up at Starbucks in their Easy-fit Levis? I can’t relate in any way.

Suzanne Shiff: I think the portrayal is accurate. We’re younger looking, energetic, outspoken, creative, playful and thoughtful. Just like me!

William Bennett: We set out to change things, and we did in a lot of ways. However, I don’t agree with images that portray us as irresponsible and not financially prepared or ready for retirement.

Art Crofts: I was born in 1946, the very beginning of the boomers, attended San Francisco State University during the Vietnam war and the student strikes there and at UC Berkeley. I didn’t participate. I didn’t feel connected with the boomer image; I worked, went to college and purchased my first home in my mid-20s. It’s not easy to do that these days.

Gary Lieberstein: I don’t think I’ve been particularly dialed in to how the media portrays baby boomers.

Bill Stewart: Most portrayals that come to mind tend to be extremes or too stereotypical.

Sondra Bernstein: I think baby boomers wanted to be different, make changes for the better and advance not only in technology but in individualism as well. The media views these same philosophies as being selfish and self absorbed. That may be true in some regards, but the business approach toward having a better life and being able to strive for the best shouldn’t be regarded as self absorbed and selfish—unless we’re stomping on others to get there.

Q: What have baby boomers as a generation contributed to our American experience?
Steve Page: On the positive front, a greater acceptance of nonconformity and free expression has made this a richer culture and helped spark amazing waves of innovation. On the other hand, I fear we’ve fostered a society that’s short on patience and attention span, long on self-indulgence and sense of entitlement. That’s a stream against which our world’s political leadership will be swimming for years.

Suzanne Shiff: We fought for the freedom to choose when and how we want to live, work and learn, and embraced a willingness to take more risks. On the flip side, we’ve modeled a sense of entitlement and consumption.

William Bennett: The baby boomers focused attention on an awareness of our environment, alternatives to war and giving back, volunteering and serving others. On the other hand, boomers were sometimes self involved (quite a contradiction to the others!).

Art Crofts: I think the biggest contribution by the boomers is the Internet age and worldwide communication, the instant availability of information on most topics. A secondary contribution is the environmental revolution and sustainability, which wasn’t an issue in our parents’ generation.

Bill Stewart: The most positive contribution was the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Negative? All of us getting old at the same time.

Sondra Bernstein: Before the baby boomers, women were expected to stay in the home, take care of the family, cook and clean. We drastically changed that. Women now are able to train, study and prepare for almost any role, job or career (though it’s only recently that women are starting to reap the same financial rewards that men have for decades). Women not only went out to make a living and a difference, but they still took care of the home and the family.  

Q: In your opinion, what public event or “happening” during your lifetime best defines the baby boomer generation?
Steve Page: I was fortunate enough to attend the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 (at the age of 13). It was my first taste of the 1960s spiritual/cultural/political awakening that really blew the doors off prevailing societal norms.

Suzanne Shiff: It has to be the death of John F. Kennedy. He represented youth, hope, our dreams and, then, a loss of innocence. That particular experience provided us with unimaginable gravitas but also gave us the ability to deal with loss, reality and move forward.

William Bennett: The race to the moon defined what a lot of boomers did in our careers. It also affected our lives through science and technology.

Art Crofts: Nationally, I’d say Woodstock was the public event that defines the boomers. Locally, Haight Ashbury and the flower child era were substantial. At that time, there were many major musicians that were from the local area who helped define the era.

Gary Lieberstein: Although I was only 8 years old when President Kennedy was killed, I wonder how many boomers—myself included—had their philosophy shaped by his call for social activism and volunteerism. I know his spirit still lives in me today. I also believe he laid the groundwork for President Obama’s election some 44 years later.

And I think the Vietnam War still symbolizes the successes and failures of our country. Also tied into that era was the loss of our innocence as a nation, beginning with the loss of President Kennedy and through the downfall of President Nixon following Watergate.

The unfortunate aftermath is that, while I might generalize my generation as being more willing to question government, our most recent history—including two wars in Iraq and other battles in the Middle East—shows how little we’ve really learned from our past.

Bill Stewart: I think it would have to be the opposition to the Vietnam War and the social upheaval that resulted. To most of our parents’ generation, having lived through WWII, this had to be very hard to accept.

Sondra Bernstein: I can’t think of one specific event that best defines us, though I do think, overall, technology would be at the forefront—computers, cell phones, fax machines, MRI machines, mammography machines, laser surgery. Who could have imagined?

On a political note, when Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, it really brought civil rights and equal rights to a larger audience. And even though I wasn’t there, I think Woodstock influenced that decade greatly.

Q: In your opinion, what’s been the cultural effect of rapid technological advancements in the last 65 years?
Steve Page: We’re swimming in a sea of news and data from every corner of the planet, instantly detailing the latest revolution, natural disaster and celebrity train wreck, as well as revealing every inner thought of our friends and our “Friends.” There’s no piece of information, regardless how trivial, that’s not instantly available on a hand-held device. Unfortunately, I’m afraid the breadth of information available at our fingertips has not enhanced the depth of our understanding or our interpersonal relationships.

Suzanne Shiff: It affects the way we, as human beings (and as boomers), process information and time. People expect instant results like drive through fast food, instant text message responses or learning how to use a smart phone “smartly.” We impose on ourselves a great deal of stress—much more than required—to understand and be successful in our fast-changing social and media culture. We straddle two worlds: the slower, thoughtful one from the 1950s and 1960s and the innovative and creative one of the 1990s and 2000s. It’s head-turning, but I wouldn’t trade the experience I’ve lived through.

William Bennett: Younger people have lost touch with the personal side of communication, and this has permeated boomers. We’re caught up with gadgets, and we don’t know how to slow down.

Art Crofts: The computer and cell phone have changed our lives. Sixty-inch flat screens in many homes are really a change from the 10- to 12-inch black-and-white sets I grew up with. If you had the money, you could get a large magnifying glass on a stand that would go in front of the TV to make the picture larger. When color TV came in, I remember going to the neighbor’s house to see the great invention.

Gary Lieberstein: I grew up in Los Angeles and remember the Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland that included things like video phones, which are reality today. I’m not sure we can attribute a majority of our technological advances to baby boomers, as many young adults have more computer technical savvy than many boomers. On the other hand, we can claim Bill Gates as one of our own, as well as media/film innovators such as George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg. So I’d give boomers credit for changing the way movies are created, from “Star Wars” to “Avatar.”

My generation witnessed the first days of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs and now are witnessing the aging out and ending of the Space Shuttle program. What we know now—and didn’t understand in the 1960s—is how limitless our technological abilities are provided we have the inspiration and financial ability to make them a reality.

Bill Stewart: Access to information is the biggest event of our generation. Remember having to go to the reference section of the library to look something up? The cultural effects of social media have obviously had a huge global impact, but that advancement gets credited to the current generation, whatever it’s called.

Sondra Bernstein: We’re in the age of instantaneousness (is that a word?). The thought of writing a letter, putting a stamp on it, mailing it and waiting for a return letter seems almost absurd. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, my family of six shared one phone line. It’s almost comical to think about waiting my turn to use the phone or even standing in line at a payphone to make a call.

Today, I have the need to be constantly multitasking—why not try to get 10 things done in the time it used to take to do one? But, I have a harder time remembering things, because too much is flying through my brain and not sticking. Should I be surprised that it goes out as quickly as it goes in?

Q: If you could have any band or artist (in their heyday) perform at your next birthday party, whom would you choose? What would your first song request be?
Steve Page: How about the Grateful Dead breaking into “Not Fade Away” just as I blow out my candles? And afterward, Steve Winwood drops by and explains the lyrics to “Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys.” Is that asking too much?

Suzanne Shiff: The Beatles and anything from the “White Album.”

William Bennett: Jimmy Buffet, “He Went to Paris.”

Art Crofts: I’d have Elton John perform at my birthday and the first song would be “Daniel.” The second choice would be Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Gary Lieberstein: Anything with Jimmy Buffet performing would make for a great party.

Bill Stewart: Probably somebody I wouldn’t have chosen 30 years ago. I have new appreciation for some of the popular music I disdained when I was younger.

Sondra Bernstein: Crosby, Stills Nash and Young singing “Teach Your Children Well.”

Responses from the gang at GTO’s Seafood House in Sebastopol:

Q: How connected do you feel to media portrayals of baby boomers?
Scott Hensey (Anaglyph, Sculpture, Inc.): No. They’re a bunch of losers.
Greg Reynolds (MAX Processing): I think of most “baby boomer” TV programs as sitcoms. Dysfunctional families with clueless parents, I don’t identify with this.

Q: What have baby boomers as a generation contributed to our American experience?
Scott Hensey: Fizzies, “The Avengers” (especially Mrs. Peel), “The Addams Family”(Morticia), “Mr. Ed” (Carol) and “Gilligan’s Island” (Lovey).
Greg Reynolds: I associate the baby boomer generation with rampant consumerism and the suburbs—suburban sprawl, shopping malls, freeways. On the positive side, I’d say equal access to higher education and civil rights—a great leveling of social and economic stratification, the rise of the middle class and high-paying manufacturing jobs. In that sense, it was a golden age of equality…which is currently being eroded by (an oblivious) right wing.

Q: In your opinion, what public event or “happening” during your lifetime best defines the baby boomer generation?
Scott Hensey: Woodstock, Venice Beach
Greg Reynolds: I’m a later baby boomer, so JFK isn’t that prominent in my memories. Yes, the loss of “Camelot,” but mostly I remember the space race and the civil rights movement. As single events, I remember most strongly the footsteps of Neil Armstrong and the last helicopters evacuating the American Embassy in Saigon.

Q: In your opinion, what has been the cultural effect of rapid technological advancements in the last 65 years?
Scott Hensey: “Laugh-In”
Greg Reynolds: I think the Internet is the culmination of an electronic and communication development that was kick-started by the space race. The Internet will probably have a longer-lasting social impact that anything that occurred in the baby boomer generation.

Q: If you could have any band or artist (in their heyday) perform at your next birthday party, whom would you choose? What would your first song request be?
Scott Hensey: Frank Zappa, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Leon Russell, Cream, Wolfman Jack, Johnny Burnette, Jimmy Reed, Clifton Chenier, Joe Cocker, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones
Greg Reynolds: Jethro Tull, “Thick as a Brick” is something I really identify with. As a teenager, I was fascinated by history and science fiction. Tull spoke to me. Other votes by people around me right now: Elton John; Delaney & Bonnie, “Come to My Kitchen”; The Doors, “Love Me Two Times.”