In The News
RIP RUE McCLANAHAN
June 3, 2010
And the hits just keep on coming.....
I just read that Rue McClanahan passed away this morning following a massive stroke. Best known for her role as Blanche in The Golden Girls, McClanahan first burst on the scene as Vivian Harmon on the classic All In The Family spin-off (and Bea Arthur vehicle) Maude.
McClanahan's death leaves us with just one remaining Golden Girl, the incomparable Betty White. Arthur died in April 2009, while Estelle Getty died in 2008.
Showing posts with label In The News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In The News. Show all posts
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
This Day In Boomer History
HANDS ACROSS AMERICA
May 25, 1986
"I can not stop thinking again and again
How the heart of a stranger
Beats like a friend."
----HANDS ACROSS AMERICA by Voices of America
Growing up, I attended a variety of protests, peace marches, sit ins and activist events. For the most part, I left these moved by the speeches I heard, uplifted by the people I was with, and generally feeling that, yes, we can make a difference.
Some, though, just left me with the question - "Now what was the point of this, exactly?" Looking back, I guess that's how I feel about the "Hands Across America" campaign, culminating in the coast-to-coast event that happened 24 years ago today.
According to reports, approximately seven million people participated, creating a human chain that ran over 4000 miles, from New York's Battery Park to Long Beach, CA. Money raised from the event was designated for the homeless and hungry. Supposedly, people were supposed to pay $10 to reserve their spot in the chain (though I don't recall that happening actually; they just passed a bucket around and you threw in a donation).
And yes, I was there. I took my daughter (then 11 months old) and my mother, and we all headed to Cooper River Park in Camden to hold hands with total strangers. At the time, it seemed important - a legacy passed on from my activist parents to my child, through me. (Remember how deep everything used to seem, before we became so cynical about it all?)
I guess I wasn't the only one who thought it was important. It was reported that numerous celebrities were in the chain - Tony Danza and Dionne Warwick in Trenton, Chewbacca the Wookie in Cincinnati, 50 Lincoln impersonators in Springfield and Kathleen Turner under the St. Louis Arch, just to name a few. Nobody really important came to Cooper River, though. (Maybe that's why they didn't charge us the full ten dollars.)
The event was one of several held under the "USA For Africa" banner, though apparently the $20 million raised by this particular campaign stayed stateside. Though it sounds almost fairy-tale idyllic, Hands Across America was not without its own protesters. Notably, Senators Edward Kennedy and Edward Markey filed an official protest that the New England states were not part of the chain. Tom Selleck, with others, spearheaded a "Hawaiians Are Americans, Too!" initiative. No one spoke out for Alaskans, interestingly enough.
So what was accomplished? For a short while, we felt united. For a brief moment, we felt we still had the power to change things. For just a second, perhaps, we believed that people holding on to each other really was the answer.
Maybe not a lot, bottom line. But plenty, looking back.
HANDS ACROSS AMERICA
May 25, 1986
"I can not stop thinking again and again
How the heart of a stranger
Beats like a friend."
----HANDS ACROSS AMERICA by Voices of America
Growing up, I attended a variety of protests, peace marches, sit ins and activist events. For the most part, I left these moved by the speeches I heard, uplifted by the people I was with, and generally feeling that, yes, we can make a difference.
Some, though, just left me with the question - "Now what was the point of this, exactly?" Looking back, I guess that's how I feel about the "Hands Across America" campaign, culminating in the coast-to-coast event that happened 24 years ago today.
And yes, I was there. I took my daughter (then 11 months old) and my mother, and we all headed to Cooper River Park in Camden to hold hands with total strangers. At the time, it seemed important - a legacy passed on from my activist parents to my child, through me. (Remember how deep everything used to seem, before we became so cynical about it all?)
I guess I wasn't the only one who thought it was important. It was reported that numerous celebrities were in the chain - Tony Danza and Dionne Warwick in Trenton, Chewbacca the Wookie in Cincinnati, 50 Lincoln impersonators in Springfield and Kathleen Turner under the St. Louis Arch, just to name a few. Nobody really important came to Cooper River, though. (Maybe that's why they didn't charge us the full ten dollars.)
The event was one of several held under the "USA For Africa" banner, though apparently the $20 million raised by this particular campaign stayed stateside. Though it sounds almost fairy-tale idyllic, Hands Across America was not without its own protesters. Notably, Senators Edward Kennedy and Edward Markey filed an official protest that the New England states were not part of the chain. Tom Selleck, with others, spearheaded a "Hawaiians Are Americans, Too!" initiative. No one spoke out for Alaskans, interestingly enough.
So what was accomplished? For a short while, we felt united. For a brief moment, we felt we still had the power to change things. For just a second, perhaps, we believed that people holding on to each other really was the answer.
Maybe not a lot, bottom line. But plenty, looking back.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Reach for the Stars
This Day In Boomer History
FIRST AMERICAN IN SPACE
May 5, 1961
It's been 49 years since Alan Shepard boarded the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 and performed a suborbital flight, thus securing his spot in the history books as the first American in space. You can find footage of the event here.
Looking back, the voyage may seem like just a small blip - just 15 minutes, 28 seconds long, covering some 302 miles. But that blip was echoed by the rapid heartbeats of Americans chomping at the bit to become a viable part of the space race. The goal, of course, was the moon and bragging rights over the Russians (who beat us into space, but came up short in that moon race).
Yes, the moon was our goal, but we were reaching for the stars.
Now, our feet are firmly planted on earth. Sure, there are still the occasional space exploration missions, but we no longer gather around the television and watch, holding our breath in wonder, at the journey through that new frontier. We barely pay attention now, unless something tragic happens.
I can understand the change, of course. Money is too tight to spend too much on these missions. Still, for a brief shining moment, we had a national goal we could all agree on. We've grown up, but every now and then I still find myself reaching for the stars.
FIRST AMERICAN IN SPACE
May 5, 1961
It's been 49 years since Alan Shepard boarded the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 and performed a suborbital flight, thus securing his spot in the history books as the first American in space. You can find footage of the event here.
Looking back, the voyage may seem like just a small blip - just 15 minutes, 28 seconds long, covering some 302 miles. But that blip was echoed by the rapid heartbeats of Americans chomping at the bit to become a viable part of the space race. The goal, of course, was the moon and bragging rights over the Russians (who beat us into space, but came up short in that moon race).
Yes, the moon was our goal, but we were reaching for the stars.
Now, our feet are firmly planted on earth. Sure, there are still the occasional space exploration missions, but we no longer gather around the television and watch, holding our breath in wonder, at the journey through that new frontier. We barely pay attention now, unless something tragic happens.
I can understand the change, of course. Money is too tight to spend too much on these missions. Still, for a brief shining moment, we had a national goal we could all agree on. We've grown up, but every now and then I still find myself reaching for the stars.
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