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Here is an excerpt from Brokaw's new book, entitled "Boom: Voices of the Sixties." I've seen him most recently interviewed, I believe by Tim Russert (a contemporary) but this particular piece touches so much of my personal history, and probably that of many others of my generation.
It is a good look into those small moments between excitement at JKF's election, and his death. But it also quietly and calmly looks at other icons, large and not so large, of the 60s.
It will be on my holiday wish list!
AlterNet: Tom Brokaw's Boom!: Voices of the Sixties (broken link)
Brokaw has been on some of the cable stations over the last few days talking about it. If it's anything like "The Greatest Generation", it's sure to be a great one. I'm sure it will, too.
Did anyone else see the Brokaw 1968 show on the History Channel?
If so, anyone up for a thread on the program?
I saw it!
(Usually I fall asleep around 9:30 or 10, but I managed to stay awake for the entire program.)
I thought it was pretty good.
Obviously it brought back memories.
I especially enjoyed Sam Brown's and Bruce Springsteen's commentary.
I was a teenybopper when the counterculture movement began.
I was a couple months shy of 14 when I watched the Chicago Democratic Convention riots on TV. At the time, I did not quite understand the whys and hows of Humphrey getting the nomination. But it did not take political acumen to understand how wretched the violence was. There was just so much anger back then--for good reason. The assassinations of MLK and RFK were heartbreaking, and that Vietnam war was simply wretched. Meanwhile, My Lai was happening but I don't think we even knew about it yet.
Of course this "1968" program was mostly an overview, and I actually enjoyed Brokaw's personal memories, they were well-chosen and relevant.
One thing I would have liked was a bit deeper exploration into the women's equal rights movement. I think a lot of younger women take so much for granted these days. But I realize that 1968 was the watershed year from which so much change later came.
I did like how the program ended, on a note of hope, with the astronauts going to the moon (though it did remind me of JFK, who had said "we choose to go to the moon.")
I set the computer alarm so I wouldn't miss it. It was a fascinating review of 1968 (also the year I got married, btw .)
Several of the flash-backs seemed fresh and unfamiliar, but unlike you I was an adult, and lived much of that year in agony and ecstasy--particular at the death of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. One month before RFK was assassinated I held a symposium at the very hotel, in that very room.
And I agree Brokaw made it personal with his own view of where he was and how he felt at each symbolic crossing.
Thanks for letting me know it was on, and thanks for sharing your post-viewing thoughts.
I have bought the book but haven't read it yet. Also I missed the TV special on 1968 and am unable to find if it will be repeated on their site (anyone know?).
I think you might find out if you check the channel's online schedule. I don't often watch this channel as I don't have television regularly.
And I will be interested to hear what you think of the book.
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