Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, and Mary, In Memoriam

Mary Travers of the folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary passed Wednesday at the age of 72. The cause was complications from chemotherapy, She had a bone marrow transplant to treat leukaemia.

Mary Travers was born on November 9, 1936 in Louisville, Kentucky. She was only two years old when her parents moved to New York City. She grew up in Greenwich Village, long known for its collection of poets, artists, and folk musicians. She attended Elisabeth Irwin High School in New York City. While in high school she sang with The Song Swappers. The Song Swappers recorded four albums singing backup for Pete Seeger. She was part of the cast of the Broadway musical The Next President.

All this time, Mary Travers had no real intention of making singing her career, even though she had no real thoughts on what to do with her life. It was as the Sixties began that Albert Grossman, who managed an unsuccessful folk musician named Peter Yarrow, decided that an updated version of The Weavers would be a good idea. His idea was that the group should consist of two men and women, and should appeal to the popular audience in much the way The Kingston Trio did. It was while Peter Yarrow and Albert Grossman were talking in the Folklore Centre in Greenwich Village that Yarrow noticed Travers' picture on the wall. He asked Grossman who she was and Grossman told him that it was Mary Travers. He also said that she would be good if he could get her to work.

Peter Yarrow then met with Mary Travers. After singing “Miner’s Lifeguard" together, they decided they harmonised well. Mary Travers suggested her friend Noel Stookey, then doing stand up comedy at the Gaslight, as the third member of the group. Noel Stookey decided to use his middle name "Paul," so that the group could be called "Peter, Paul, and Mary." Their self titled, debut album was released a year later in 1961 and became an immediate hit. The album spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart. Their rendition of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer" went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

They would have continued success with further albums. Their second album, Moving, went to #2 on the Billboard chart in 1963. Their third album, In the Wind, released in October of that year, went to #1. It was that same year that they had what may have been their biggest hit, "Puff the Magic Dragon." The song went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. In 1963 they also had hits with Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."

So successful were Peter, Paul, and Mary that they were one of the few folk groups to survive the British Invasion. Released in 1964, their live album In Concert went to #2 on the Billboard chart. Every one of their albums through the end of the Sixties made it into the Top 25 of the Billboard chart. They also continued to have hit singles, including "Cruel War," "I Dig Rock and Roll Music," and "Leaving on a Jet Plane (possibly their biggest hit besides "Puff the Magic Dragon")."

Peter, Paul, and Mary disbanded in 1970 and each member pursued their own solo careers, but with little success. Mary Travers would release four solo albums in the Seventies. Peter, Paul, and Mary would reunite several times over the year, the first time being in 1978 for a concert to protest nuclear energy. Afterwards they recorded several albums. Many compilations of their work have been released as well.

I grew up hearing Peter, Paul, and Mary and developed an appreciation for their music over the years. The group had fantastic harmony together and could be mesmerising when performing. Mary Travers' strong, earnest vocals played a large role in both the group's style and their success. The group was also extremely earnest in their songs, whether singing political anthems such as "If I Had a Hammer" or "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" or more pop oriented songs such as "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Leaving on a Jet Plane." In many respects they represented the midway point between folk singers like Pete Seeger, who sang almost only politically oriented songs, and The Kingston Trio, who eschewed politics altogether. Regardless, Peter, Paul, and Mary were one of the greatest folk groups of all time. Mary Travers was much of the reason for that.

The Late Great Henry Gibson

Henry Gibson, one of the original cast members of Rowan & Martin's Laugh In, passed on Monday at the age of 73. The cause was cancer.

Henry Gibson was born James Bateman September 21, 1935 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia. He the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. After graduating from college, Bateman served in the United States Air Force from 1957-60 as an intelligence officer. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

It was when he returned to New York City that he developed the character of "Henry Gibson," a humble, innocent poet from Fairhope, Alabama. He made his television debut on Tonight Starring Jack Paar in 1961. He went onto appear three times on The Joey Bishop Show as the character of "Henry Schultz." It was that same year that he made his film debut in The Nutty Professor, as "Gibson," a college student. Henry Gibson went onto appear in the TV shows 77 Sunset Strip, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Mike Douglas Show, My Favorite Martian, Laredo, The Dick Van Dyke Show, F Troop, and Bewitched. He also appeared in the films Kiss Me Stupid and The Outlaws is Coming. In 1963 he appeared on Broadway in My Mother, My Father and Me.

It was in 1967 that he appeared in the comedy special Laugh In on NBC. The special proved so successful that it became the series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in January 1968. Henry Gibson was part of the original cast, and stayed with the show until 1971. A running gag was Gibson's poetry, which he recited with a gigantic flower in his hand. Gibson eventually released two record albums' worth of the poetry, The Alligator and The Grass Menagerie and a book of the poetry, A Flower Child's Garden of Verses. Another character he played regularly on Rowan & Martin's Laugh In was The Parson, who made one liners in a sombre tone.

It was in 1968 that Henry Gibson also became a frequent guest on Hollywood Squares, appearing somewhat regularly until 1970. He also made several guest appearances on Love, American Style. In 1972 he appeared as Clifford Stool in the movie Evil Roy Slade. He provided the voice of Wilbur in the 1973 animated version of Charlotte's Web. Gibson took a more serious turn in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, playing the evil Dr. Verringer. He would also appear in Altman's 1975 film Nashville. Over the next several years he guest starred in the shows McCloud, Barbary Coast, Police Woman, and Wonder Woman. He also provided the singing voice for Max the dog in the animated special Halloween Is Grinch Night and appeared in the TV movies Escape from Bogen County and Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill. He also appeared in the movies The Last Remake of Beau Geste and The Perfect Couple.

It was in 1980 that Henry Gibson appeared in one of his most memorable roles in the film The Blues Brothers, as the Head Nazi. The same year he appeared in the movie HealtH. Throughout much of the Eighties Gibson primarily appeared on television, in such shows as Trapper John M.D., Magnum P.I., Simon and Simon, Quincy, The Fall Guy, and the Eighties revival of The Twilight Zone. He was the voice of Aimee's Locker and Doyle's Locker on the animated series Galaxy High School. He also appeared in the movies The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Tulips, Monster in the Closet, Inner Space, Switching Channels, and Brenda Starr.

In the Nineties into the Naughts, Henry Gibson guest starred on Newhart, Evening Shade, Eerie, Indiana, Murder, She Wrote, Tales from the Crypt, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Becker, Malcolm in the Middle, and as voice on Grim and Evil. He provided the voice for television announcer Bob Jenkins on King of the Hill and appeared as Judge Clark Brown on Boston Legal (his last work). He also appeared in the movies Tune In Tomorrow, The 'Burbs, Cyber Bandits, Bio-Dome, Asylum, Stranger in the Kingdom, Never Die Alone, and Wedding Crashers. In 2001 he appeared on Broadway again in Rogers and Hart's version of A Connecticut Yankee.

I remember Henry Gibson not simply from Rowan & Martin's Laugh In, but from his many guest appearances on shows ranging from The Beverly Hillbillies to Bewitched. When I was older I was able to appreciate his talent in movies such as The Blues Brothers. To me he was one of the funniest actors around, whether he was playing wide eyed poet Henry Gibson or a Nazi leader. Although he had a gift for comedy, Henry Gibson also did well in dramatic roles, whether as Dr. Verringer in The Long Goodbye or as sycophantic country singer Haven Hamilton in Nashville. He was a man of no small talent, and I must say that it is very sad to know that he is gone.

Patrick Swayze R.I.P.

Actor and cancer Patrick Swayze passed yesterday at the age of 57, following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Patrick Swayze was born on August 18, 1952 in Houston. His mother was choreographer and dance instructor Patsy Swayze and his father was rodeo cowboy and engineer Jesse Wayne Swayze. He started dancing as a child. He also learned ice skating and was a student athlete, playing football. Swayze attended San Jacinto College in Houston. He then moved to New York City to study dance and joined the Eliot Feld Ballet. He made his debut on Broadway in the musical Goodtime Charley. He was also a replacement for the part of Danny Zuko in the long running musical Grease.

Patrick Swayze made his movie debut in the movie Skatetown, U.S.A. in 1979. He made a guest appearance on M*A*S**H in 1981. He went onto appear in the movies The Outsiders, Uncommon Valour, Grandview U.S.A., and Red Dawn. He appeared in both the miniseries North and South and North and South Book II. It was in 1987 that Swayze entered the height of his career. That year he starred in the hugely successful film Dirty Dancing, as well as the much less successful sci-fi film Steel Dawn.

In the late Eighties and early Nineties, Patrick Swayze became one of the top stars of the day. He had some success with action films such as Road House and Next of Kin, but his next big success would be the screwball comedy Ghost. The following years he appeared in such films as Point Break, City of Joy, Tall Tale, and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. His career declined a bit in the late Nineties, although he would appear in the cult film Donnie Darko and once more on Broadway in 2003 and 2004 as a replacement for the role of Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago. His last role was in the TV show The Beast, which aired this year, after Swayze had been diagnosed with cancer.

I cannot say I am a huge fan of Patrick Swayze's movies. In fact, there only a few I like (Ghost, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, and Donnie Darkio, but I have to say I always liked Patrick Swayze. He also seemed charming, with a great self deprecating sense of humour. And regardless of what I thought of many of his films, there can be no doubt that he had talent. He was a great dancer. And he was a very good actor. In fact, I sometimes think his true calling was as a comic actor. Indeed, of my three favourite Swayze films, two are comedies (Ghost and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar), both of which he gave very good, comic performances. And I must say I thought he was one of the best guest hosts ever on Saturday Night Live. While many might remember Swayze for his romantic turn in Dirty Dancing (a film I must confess I don't really care for), I'll always remember him for his work in comedy.

The Decline of Civlity

"...I think once you quit hearing 'sir' and 'ma'am,' the rest is soon to follow." (Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, No Country for Old Men)

It was last Wednesday when Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina shouted "You lie!" during President Barack Obama's speech on health care. Now I am not going to write about why Wilson may have said this, the pros and cons of President Obama's ideas on health care, or anything of the sort. This blog is not devoted to politics and I do not wish to address politics even in this post. Instead I wish to address something of which I think Wilson's outburst is a symptom, something that not only touches upon pop culture, but our culture itself.

Over the past several days I have read various reactions to Mr. Wilson's outburst. I have read comments from some who think Mr. Wilson was in the "right" to make his outburst. I have read comments from many more who think Mr. Wilson's outburst showed an enormous amount of disrespect to the office of the President. While I agree that Mr. Wilson was being very disrespectful to the President, there is something I find equally disturbing that very few in the media seem to have addressed in the past few days. In shouting "You lie!" during President Obama's speech, Mr. Wilson was being just plain rude.

From my point of view, when anyone, I don't care if they are the President of the Untied States of America or a garbageman, is making a formal speech, individuals should not talk (except maybe in hushed whispers) during that speech, let alone heckle him or her or disrupt the speech in any other way. This is simple courtesy, respecting the individual. Sadly such civility seems to have declined in the United States in the past few decades, and it seems to have declined at an even faster rate this decade.

One needs to look no further for examples of this decline in civility than the town hall meetings on health care held last month. People hissed, booed, shouted, and did much worse. In both St. Louis and Tampa the town halls even turned violent. While I can understand that there were people at these town hall meetings who wished to be heard, I do believe that one can make his or her point without raising his or her voice, booing, hissing, or raising his or her fist in anger. Indeed, to me when people shout, boo, hiss, or threaten violence, it tends to make it less likely that their voice will be heard. I know that I am much more willing to listen to someone who is well spoken and polite than someone who is in my face shouting, even if I disagree with them. This is natural. People will listen to others who respect them; they will not listen to those who disrespect them. Shouting, booing, hissing, and threatening violence are all signs of disrespect.

Of course, what really disturbs me about Mr. Wilson's outburst is that he is from South Carolina. While I believe civility has declined across all of the United States, I always thought that its decline had been much slower here in the South. Growing up in an area called "Little Dixie," I was trained by my godmother and my mother's other friends to be a perfect gentleman. I was taught to call people "Sir" and "Ma'am," to never raise my voice, and to generally treat everyone with respect. Even today this has not changed much where I live--I get addressed as "sir" on almost a daily basis. Mr. Wilson's outburst then makes me wonder two things. The first is whether Mr. Wilson's parents simply didn't raise him right. The second is much more frightening to me--that civility has declined in the South so much that even Congressmen have dispensed with it! Maybe pretty soon I won't be hearing "Sir" and "Ma'am" much around Little Dixie.

Of course, politics in the United States have always been volatile, and people have been impolite at political gatherings almost since the founding of the nation. Perhaps one cannot use Mr. Wilson's outburst at President Obama's speech or the shenanigans at the town halls of last month as signs that civility in this nation is on the decline. Sadly, I have noticed it in venues beyond politics, and I am sure most of us have. All of us, at some time or another, have probably been at a store only to witness some boor dressing down a poor clerk, who obviously does not deserve such treatment. And I am sure we have all witnessed similar scenes in restaurants, at filling stations, and other places.

We have even witnessed rudeness on live television. An incident which just occurred last night is an example of this. Reportedly, at the MTV Video Awards, as Taylor Swift was making her acceptance speech for her first ever MTV Video Award, Kayne West grabbed the microphone from her and announced his love for one of Beyonce's videos. Granted, Mr. West did tell Miss Swift that he was happy for her, but that did not mean what his actions were not rude. He not only interrupted Miss Swift, but he did so during a moment that may well have been very important to her. Granted, perhaps we should not expect civility at the MTV Video Awards, but then we should not expect something so rude as someone interrupting another's acceptance speech either!

Indeed, even officers of the law are not immune to people being rude to them. I remember the old woman in Austin, Texas who was tased by a deputy constable back in May. Before she was even tased, she used the sort of language on the constable that would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap as a child. While a great deal was made of the old woman being tased, it rather bothered me that no one commented on the foul language she used on him and the disrespect she showed him. That no one noticed the woman's behaviour makes me think civility has declined so rapidly in this country that we are now taking rudeness for granted.

While it does seem to be rapidly declining in this country, I think the truth is that civility is necessary to our society. The simple fact is that rudeness almost uniformly results in a negative reaction from the victim of that rudeness. At the very least the individual who is the victim of rudeness will tend to stop listening to anything the individual who is being rude has to say. At the very worst the victim of rudeness will simply shout back or even resort to violence. Either of these reactions will seriously hinder any communication between individuals. What is more, rudeness does not simply have an impact on victims of rudeness, but even on innocent bystanders. A recent study discovered that witnessing rudeness reduced the performance of innocent bystanders on both routine tasks and creative tasks. This would seem to be detrimental in any workplace, including the halls of Congress.

Our country was founded not only on the principle that all men were created equal, but that all men are deserving of respect. Sadly, the past several years have seen a decline in such respect being offered to individuals. Not only are the days when across the nation people were routinely addressed as "sir" and "ma'am" gone, but it seems we are moving towards a time when it will be perfectly acceptable for individuals to shout at, swear at, and otherwise abuse others. I fear that when that day comes, it may well be the beginning of the end.

Thunderbirds Voice Actor Ray Barrett Passes On

Ray Barrett, who provided the voice for John Tracy on the TV series Thunderbirds and was one of the stars of the British Sixties series The Troubleshooters, passed on September 8 at the age of 82. The cause was a brain haemorrhage.

Ray Barrett was born on May 2, 1927 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. From early age he had an interest in radio. At age 12 he even won a eisteddfod, which was broadcast on 4BH radio. After his graduation from Brisbane High School, Barrett received a job hosting a daily radio show. He was only 17 when he became the first actor to ever sign an exclusive contract with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. For much of the Fifties he appeared on various radio shows. He also made his first appearance on television in a guest shot on the Australian series The Adventures of Long John Silver. His first appearance in a feature film was in 1955 in The Desperate Women

In 1958 Ray Barrett decided to pursue his career in the United Kingdom. He guest starred twice on Armchair Theatre in the early Sixties. Small roles in the movies The Sundowners and Touch of Death followed by a recurring role in the soap opera Emergency-Ward 10 in 1961. For the next few years Barrett appeared both on television and in motion pictures. He guest starred on Out of This World, Man of the World, The Avengers, and Z Cars. He appeared in the movies Jigsaw, Mix Me a Person, 80,000 Suspects, and Valley of the Kings.

In 1963 Ray Barrett played the role of Peter Clarke on Ghost Squad, replacing Michael Quinn as Nick Craig. He guest starred on The Saint and Doctor Who before providing the voice of Commander Sam Shore and other characters on the Gerry Anderson, Supermarionation series Stingray. It was in 1965 that Barrett provided the voice of John Tracy on what may be the most famous Supermarionation show of all time, Thunderbirds. He also provided the voice of John Tracy in the feature film based on the show, Thunderbirds are GO. He also guest starred on Gideon's Way and The Spies, as well as the movie The Reptile.

It was in 1967 that Ray Barrett would be cast in what may be his most famous role aside from John Tracy on Thunderbirds. Barrett played Peter Thornton, field agent for the Mogul oil company. Most episodes nearly always placed Thornton in some kind of danger, ranging from industrial espionage to natural disasters. The Troubleshooters ran until 1972. From the Seventies into the Nineties, Barrett made guest appearances on such shows as Public Eye, The Adventures of Black Beauty, Dixon of Dock Green, The Outsiders, Five Mile Creek, Fire, and Medivac. He appeared in such films as Little Laura and Big John, The Hostages, The Earthling, A Dangerous Summer, Conferenceville, Rebel, Frenchman's Farm, As Time Goes By, Blood Oath, Hotel de Love, and In the Winter Dark.

It was in 2000 that Ray Barrett took the role of Len Taylor on the Australian soap opera Something in the Air. He guest starred on the shows Stingers and All Saints, and appeared in the movies Dalkieth and All Saints.

Ray Barrett was a remarkable actor with an impressive voice capable of doing various accents fairly well. He was quite versatile, playing characters from the soft spoken Peter Clarke of Ghost Squad to the more rough and tumble character of Peter Thornton on The Troubleshooters. It is little wonder his career, spent in radio, movies, and television, lasted over sixty years.

Larry Gelbart R.I.P.

Larry Gelbart, one of the veteran writers from Your Show of Shows and who developed M*A*S*H for television, passed yesterday at the age of 81. He had been suffering from cancer.

Larry Gelbart was born on February 25, 1928 in Chicago. His father was a barber, while his mother was a seamstress. In 1942 his family moved to Los Angeles. There his father's clients included both agents and actors. Among them was Danny Thomas, to whom his father bragged about young Gelbart. Thomas told him to have Gelbart write something to see how good he was. Gelbart wrote a short comedy sequence, which landed him a job on the radio show Maxwell House Coffee Time, which featured Thomas in a regular segment. By the time he was 18 years old he was writing for the show Duffy's Tavern.

It was when he was 18 that Gelbart was draughted into the post-war Army. During his years in the service, he wrote for the Armed Forces Radio Service show Command Performance, while still writing radio shows as he had before he was draughted. It was in 1950 that Larry Gelbart first entered television as one of the writers on the classic series Your Show of Shows. He also wrote for The Red Buttons Show and he wrote an episode of Four Star Revue. During the Fifties he went on to write for Caesar's Hour, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, and The Art Carney Show.

In 1961 Larry Gelbart made his debut as a writer on Broadway with the musical The Conquering Hero. He followed it up with the smash hit A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which ran from 1962 to 1964. It was also in 1962 that The Notorious Landlady was released, the first movie with a screenplay by Gilbert. During the Sixties he also wrote the story for the Doris Day sex comedy The Thrill of It All and screenplays for The Wrong Box and Not with My Wife, You Don't. He was one of the writers on The Danny Kaye Show.

It was in 1972 that Gelbart adapted M*A*S*H for television. Set in the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, the television show came about due to the success of Robert Altman's 1969 movie of the same name, which was based on the novel of the same name by Richard Hooker. Gelbart wrote many of the episodes of the series and served as one of its producers as well. Gelbart also created the short lived 1973 series Roll Out and the 1980 series United States. He wrote the screenplays for Movie, Movie and Oh, God. In 1976 he returned to Broadway with the comedy Sly Fox.

In the Eighties Gelbart wrote the screenplays for the movies Rough Cut, Neighbours, Tootsie, and Blame It On Rio. He created and wrote several episodes of the M*A*S*H spinoff AfterM*A*S*H. On Broadway he wrote the plays Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Mastergate, and City of Angels. Gelbart continued writing almost up until his death. He wrote the teleplays Weapons of Mass Distraction and Starring Pancho Villia as Himself, as well as screenplays for C-Scam and the 2000 remake of Bedazzled.

Larry Gelbart was one of the greatest comedy writers of the late 20th Century. Although he is best known for his work on M*A*S*H, his career entailed so much more, from the classic Broadway play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum to movies such as The Thrill of It All and The Wrong Box to his work on Your Show of Shows. He was a great satirist, with the gift of a sharp wit Gelbart's career lasted over sixty years with good reason. He was a very funny, bright man whose talent for comedy lent itself well to different media.

A Blast From the Past: Generation Jones Does Not Exist

Okay, I have never "reprinted" one of my blog entries before, but yesterday I received a comment that claimed I am not a Gen Xer. Instead the individual insisted I am a member of Generation Jones. Here I must point out that not only am I very proud to be a member of Generation X, but I do not believe a "Generation Jones" even exists. Here then is part one of a series I did a couple of years ago entitled "Defining Generation X." This one was entitled, "Generation Jones Does Not Exist." Here I offer my arguments as to why anyone born from 1961 to 1977 should be considered part of Generation X. For those of you who want to read the whole series, it's here.


About ten to sixteen years ago the media was talking a lot about Generation X. This was the up and coming generation that was, at the time, roughly in their twenties. Madison Avenue seemed intent on selling products to Gen X. Hollywood was intent on making movies for Gen X (more often than not failing--just look at Reality Bites). If the Sixties was all about the Baby Boomers, it seemed as if the Nineties would be about us.

Unfortunately, there were a few problems with all of this. First, no one seemed to know exactly what Generation X was. Different sources would cite the generation as being born between 1961 and 1972 to being born roughly between 1965 and 1980.There was absolutely no consensus as to when Generation X was born. In fact, there still isn't. Second, the media seemed to be intent on fitting Generation X into a preconceived stereotype that simply did not fix the average Gen Xer. Worse yet, they seemed intent on marketing to that stereotype instead of the actual members of Generation X! Already knowing that Gen Xers were slackers who dressed in flannel, listened to Nirvana, and were hip when it came to pop culture, they fashioned commercials and movies around that stereotype, never stopping to think that this may not be the way that Gen Xers really were.

Of course, the third problem that the mass media had with regards to Generation X was the generation themselves. As the first generation raised in front of the television from birth and exposed to more mass media than any generation before it, one thing that has seemed to hold true about the media's stereotype of Gen X is their knowing cynicism. Not only does the generation tend to look upon mass marketing and even such commercial products as television and movies with a bit of scepticism in my experience as an Xer, but we tend to dislike any kind of label. This is a natural extension of the generation's cynicism, tending to view labels as simply another means of Madison Avenue, Hollywood, and other groups to peg someone as something they might not be in order to simply sell them things.

Given the fact that no one is quite sure what Generation X is and that Generation X themselves have resisted being pegged, defining Generation X is then a very difficult proposition. Indeed, the question must be raised as to whether any generation can be defined. Does any generation have a set of defining attributes that characterise the generation as a whole? Ultimately, it would seem that such things as family background, gender, ethnicity, religion, where was one was born, and many other factors would seem to be more important to shaping individuals than when they were born. Indeed, while many may be aware that, going by when they were born, they are Baby Boomers or Gen Xers, but they generally don't use that to define themselves. In some respects, then, it would seem that generations really aren't that important when it comes to defining individuals.

That having been said, while the generation in which one was born may not be as important as one's family background and so on, I think it is possible to say that each generation does have characteristics that generally define it. If human beings are largely shaped by their environment, then it would seem that we as people are then shaped by the events occurring around us, the things we experience as children, and so on. If that is the case, then it would seem to me possible that the events at any given time and the various pop culture artefacts then prominent in society could give a generation a set of very general characteristics that help define that generation. That having been said, it then becomes possible to define Generation X.

Here I must add a bit of admonition. If generations are largely shaped by cultural influences (the media, events at the time, et. al.), then I think it is safe to say that what holds true for a generation in one country may not hold true for others. That is, Generation X here in the States (and perhaps Canada as well, the two nations being so intertwined) would not be the same as Generation X in the United Kingdom, if the United Kingdom can even be said to have a "Generation X." What I say here then hold trues only for the United States and perhaps Canada as well.

Of course, it might be a good idea before even trying to define the generation to examine the origins of the term "Generation X" and other terms for the generation. As I said before, it seems to be true that most Gen Xers do not particularly care for the term Generation X. Indeed, my best friend absolutely abhors the term. He prefers to call us "the Star Wars Generation". That having been said, "Generation X" has become the most common term used for our generation. As it is, the term did not start with us, but was coined even as we were being born. The term was first used in a study conducted by journalist Jane Deverson in Britain for Women's Own magazine. Deverson's study was ultimately rejected by the magazine, but Deverson went ahead and published her study in collaboration with fellow journalist Charles Hamblett. Entitled Generation X: Today's Generation Talking About Itself, the book was essentially a collection of interviews conducted in an 18 month period from January 1963 with young people in Britain. As to the nature of Deverson and Hamblett's "Generation X," they largely engaged in premarital intercourse, tended not to believe in God, didn't like the Queen, and distrusted their parents. Sound familiar?

Even in Britain "Generation X" would not become the dominant term for a generation (born roughly between 1925 and 1944) that in America would come to be called "the Silent Generation." It would become the name of a popular punk rock group. In 1976 Billy Idol and Tony James formed a band which they called "Generation X," no doubt appropriating Deverson and Hamblett's term for themselves. As the name of a band and not a term for a generation, "Generation X" was not yet applied to those previously considered late Baby Boomers and members of what has been called "the Baby Bust (after the decline in births following 1963)."

This brings us to a Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland. Coupland used the term "Generation X" in his book Generation X: Tales for an Accelarated Culture, first published in 1991. There he applied the term to a generation following the baby boom, born between 1960 to 1965, which was at that point coming into its own identity but at the same time feeling overshadowed by the Baby Boomers. Coupland did not take the term from Deverson and Hamblett (he was apparently ignorant of their work), but rather developed it based on a term from the 1983 book Class by Paul Fussell. In that book Fussell used the term "Category X" to refer to a group of people who ignore social strata and simply drop out of the class system to live life according to their own rules. Coupland felt that this was the primary characteristic of "Generation X." Coupland's term caught on with the media, who expanded upon his definition of "Geneartion X" to stereotype it as a generation of slackers.

While "Generation X" has become the most popular term for the generation, from the beginning it has co-existed with other terms. The term "MTV generation" predates "Generation X," being used as early as the Eighties. It comes from the cable channel, MTV (short for Music Television), which was launched on August 1, 1981. It always seemed to me that many have objected to the term "MTV Generation," not the least of all Gen Xers themselves. While MTV was an important pop cultural development at the time, I know of no Gen Xer who believes that it was a transformative event that changed the entire generation. Another similar problem is that technically the oldest Gen Xers had already entered adulthood, albeit very recently, at the time of the channel's launch or were about to enter adulthood. Its overall impact on Gen X would then seem to be minimal.

Another term used for Gen x was "the Baby Bust," for the dramatic decline in births that followed the Baby Boom. This term rapidly fell out of use, probably because for many the oldeset Gen Xers (born 1961 to 1964) would technically have been born in the final years of the Baby Boom, hence the term could not be applicable to them. William Strauss and Neil Howe called the generation "the 13th generation." I'll discuss that in detail later, but let's just say that it never caught on. Another term used of Gen X has been "the Slacker Generation," from the generational stereotype of the average Gen Xer as a slacker. I won't go into why this is untrue at the moment, but the sheer negativity of the term is probably why it never caught on. For better or worse and even though Gen Xers generally hate the term, "Generation X" has remained the most popular name for the generation.

Initially Coupland placed "Generation X" as being born between 1960 and 1965, although he also said that his book was meant to demonstrate a lack of a single description for the group more than anything else. He has also said that Generation X is not a chronological age, "but a way of looking at the world." That having been said, since many people born in approximately the same period of history often tend to have a shared sense of values and world views, I think it is safe to say that when they are born does play a role in determining when the attitudes of the generation. This presents a probelm for Generation X, as no one seems to be able to agree as to when they were born.

Despite the fact that Coupland would say that being "Generation X" is more about a way of looking at the world than an actual, chronological age, he would revise the general age of Generation X to include anyone who was in their twenties between 1987 and 1991. This would include everyone born from 1958 to 1971. It seems to me that for the most part that the media would generally skew Generation X somewhat younger. I have seen the media state that the first Generation Xers were born in 1961, 1963, and even as late as 1965.

It would seem that to make sense of all this that it would be a good idea to turn the United States Census Bureau for help in determining precisely when Generation X was born. The United States Census Bureau tends to use the term "birth cohorts" rather than "generations," but the concept is roughly the same. The Census Bureau also tends to ignore such commonly used terms as "Silent Generation" and "Generation X," preferring to use their own terms. The exception to this is the Baby Boom, which they see as being born from 1946 to 1964. They divide the Baby Boomers into Leading Edge Boomers (born from 1946 to 1957) and Trailing Edge Boomers (born from 1958 to 1964). Those born from 1965 to 1977 are part of the Baby Bust (II) cohort. The Census Bureau's birth cohorts would seem to be based entirely on the number of births at any given time. It is true that a baby boom took place from 1946 to 1964. It is also true that this boom peaked in 1957, allowing the Bureau to divide the Baby Boom cohort into two periods (one being pre-peak and the other post-peak). The problem with this is that it ignores the shared experiences common to people born around the same time. Baby Boomers born in 1946 would have become adults before the advent of Saturday morning cartoons. In the Sixties some of them would have taken part in the protests against the Vietnam War and some of them would take Dr. Timothy Leary's advice to "turn on, tune in, and drop out." On the other hand, those born in 1964 would grow up watching Saturday morning cartoons, never knowing a world without them. And while some might have "turned on, tuned in, and dropped out," none of them took part in protests against the Vietnam War (I don't recall seeing any five year olds taking part in the protests in the old news footage...).

More useful is the book Generations by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Strauss and Howe eschew the term "Generation X" in favour of the term "13th Generation," so called because it is the 13th generation to live under the United States flag (going back to the first generation, that of Ben Franklin). Rather than simply look at birth rates as the Census Bureau does, they look to cultural trends as well. They saw the influences on the 13th Generation as being an increase in divorce, an increase in women in the work place, declining birth rates, and what is sometimes called "devil child films (movies such as Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and It's Alive that deal with children as demonic antagonists)." They place the 13th Generation as being born between 1961 and 1981. While I don't really care for the term "13th Generation," I cannot argue with either Strauss and Howe's reasoning (as the movie Fight Club observes, with reference to the increase in the divorce rate, we were a generaton of men raised by women--not true of myself, but of many of my comtemporaries) or the age range they give for the generation. And that age group does generally have the same cultural experiences in common and hence similar viewpoints.

In an article entitled "Proceed with Caution" in the July 16, 1990 issue, Time Magazine posited the existence of a generation following the Baby Boomers. They did not give this generation a name, simply referring to them as "twentysomethings." The article notes that many of these twentysomethings were born in what was usually considered the tail end of the Baby Boom, but actually had very little in common with the Boomers and had much more in common with other twentysomethigs. They place the age of this generation in a range spanning from 18 to 29 years of age. In other words, this generation would have been born between 1961 and 1972. According to the article, a dominant force in the lives of the twentysomething was the poor job market, economic strain, the rising divorce rate, the centrality of televison as a medium, drug use, and homelessness. At the same time the article offers what could be the earliest stereotype of Generation X as slackers. It claims that the generation shys away from 70 hour work weeks and have no desire to change the world. It posits that the generation has a desire to keep life simple and do things in modest ways. It does offer some things positive to say about the generation, positing that they hold family life and local activism dear.

Here I should also offer my best friend's view of Generation X, a generation he prefers to call the "Star Wars Generation." My best friend is not a sociologist or historian, nor has he ever been published as a writer (he doesn't even have a blog, being somewhat computer illiterate). But he is an expert on pop culture whose knowledge of the subject is as labyrinthine as my own (We have our specialties. He tends to know more about movies than I do, but I know more about television. I know more about Golden Age comic books, but he knows more about Seventies comic books.). My best friend believes that the Star Wars Generation was roughly born between 1960 and 1977. His acid test for whether one belongs to the generation is whether one was old enough to have been present in a theatre when Star Wars made its debut in May 1977, even if it was only as a baby. Admittedly, this is hard to take seriously, but my best friend has other reasons for choosing this age range as well. Namely, we all came of age in an era when the economy was under strain and jobs were difficult to find. Even those who completed college were hard pressed to find any job, let alone one that paid well. The Star Wars Generation was the first generation that was literally overwhelmed by pop culture. It came at us through such media as television (finally in its prime as we were born), independent TV stations, FM radio, the movies, and video games. For my best friend the pivotal pop cultural event was the premiere of the film Star Wars, which transformed pop culture the same way that The Beatles' arrival in Amrica (which he views as the pivotal pop cultural event of the Baby Boom) did 14 years earlier. I find it very difficult to argue with my best friend's reasoning...

Yet others deny that Geneartion X was born between 1961 and 1981. Around 2000 pop cutlure expert Jonathan Pontell claimed that he had identified yet another geneartion which he termed "Generation Jones." He chose this label because he views the generation as being large and anonymous, and also based his name for this so-called generation on the slang term "jones," which originally referrred to the craving for drugs among addicts but came to mean a craving for anything--in the case of Pontell's alleged "Generation Jones" it refers to the craving for unfulfilled expectations. Pontell places his so-called "Generation Jones" as being born between 1954 and 1965. He points to the rising divorce rate, the women's movement, the civil rights movement, the gas shortages of the Seventies, and the Watergate scandal as events that shaped his "Generation Jones." Pontell's concept of "Generation Jones" has received coverage in the media, in newspapers such as The Denver Post, The Denver Post, The San Diego Union Tribune, on cable networks such as CNN, MSNBC, and the BBC, and on such various outlets as the Talk Radio News Service. Googling the term "Generation Jones" one will find pages on which individuals do identify with the term "Generation Jones." Between the media coverage and the apparent existence of people who identify themselves as "Jonesers," there would seem to be some legitimacy to the concept.

That having been said, I have some serious objections to Pontell's concept of "Generation Jones," even if it is hard to dismiss entirely. I feel that he may be placing too much importance on certain cultural events and too little importance on others. While the rising divorce rate and the women's movement did have an impact on many people, that impact was much, much less on those born in 1954 than those born in 1965. That is, more people born in 1965 are children of divorce than those born in 1954. Furthermore, those born in 1954 came of age when the economy was still fairly robust in the Seventies. They walked into good jobs as they graduated from college, even from high school. Contrast that with those born in 1965 who often found themselves working at McDonalds or video stores even after graduating college! They came of age in the Eighties when a depression was on (okay, I know a lot of historians and political commentators will try to claim there was no depression in the Eighties, but then what do you call economic conditions in which there is low inflation and a very high rate of unemployment?). As to pop culture, those born in 1954 were adults when Star Wars came on the scene and in their first ten years of life there was no such thing as a Saturday morning cartoon block! In their late teens and early twenties, disco was the most popular music form. Contrast that to the heavy metal that returned to popularity just as those born 1965 were in their teens and entering their twenties. Another problem I have with the concept of "Generation Jones" is that Pontell first expressed his theories on this generation in 2000. This so-called generation's youngest members would have been 35 at the time! Contrast that with Generation X, who received their most popular name in 1991 when its youngest members were only 15 years of age. I've no idea when the phrase "Baby Boomer" originated, but the earliest I could find its use in the archives of Time Magazine was a January 21, 1974 article on Bob Dylan. This means that its earliest use could have been when the youngest Boomers were only 14. Of course, this only reflects its first appearance in Time Magazine. It could have been used much earlier; indeed, it's been in use as long I can remember. At any rate, all of this begs the question, "If 'Generation Jones' exists at all, then why did it take so long for someone to discover it?"

A more serious objection I have to the label "Generation Jones" is that while googling the term does reveal individuals who do identify with it, I have yet to meet even one such individual in person. My contemporaries born from 1961 to 1964 tend to identify themselves as either Boomers (which is less common in my experience) or Xers (more common in my experience). Those born in 1965 inevitably identify themselves as Xers. To me this presents a very serious challenge to Pontell's entire thesis. Admittedly, I think we can all agree that there are differences between the older Boomers (those born from 1945 to 1952 and experienced the Vietnam War protests, the Hippie movement, and psychedelia) and the younger Boomers (those born from 1953 to 1960 and experienced Watergate, gas shortages, and disco). In fact, I think we could legitimately speak of a "Beatles wave" of Boomers (the older Boomers) and a "Led Zeppelin wave" of Boomers (the younger Boomers). Despite some differences, both "Beatle wave" and "Led Zeppelin wave" Boomers share a number of important experiences (experiencing network television from its infacy to its maturation, good economic times, and so on), allowing for certain common interests to exist between the oldest and the youngest. In fact, I would dare say that there exists more common ground between "Beatles wave" Boomers (1945 to 1952) and "Led Zeppelin wave" Boomers (1953 to 1960) than there is between "Led Zeppelin wave" Boomers and the oldest Gen Xers (1961 to 1965). Given the profound differences that exist between "Led Zeppelin wave" Boomers and older Gen Xers and the rarity of individuals who identify with the term "Generation Jones," I think it is safe to conclude that Pontell is wrong. Those born before 1961 were just more Baby Boomers. Those born after 1961 were Gen Xers. Quite simply, Generation Jones does not exist.

Anyhow, given disagreement over the age range of Generation X and even whether there should be a generation placed between the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers (the alleged Jonesers), it is difficult to determine when the Generation began and when it ended. I submit that my best friend may be right, that it began anywhere from 1961 to 1962 and ended in 1977 (I won't be so precise as to say May 1977...). My reasoning is simple. First, I once said that Generation X was the first generation to never know a Saturday morning without cartoons as children. This might seem trivial to some, but it seems an important point to me. Baby Boomers are often apt to start conversations between themselves with "Where were you when JFK was shot?" or "What were you doing when you first heard (fill in the blank with an appropriate song)?" Gen Xers are more likely to start conversations with, "Do you remember the cartoon where (fill in the blank with whatever cartoon you remember)?" Gen X pop culture, whether we are discussing Richard Linklater and Kevin Smith films or various rock songs, are rife with references to Saturday morning cartoons. Second, an experience shared by Generation X is that many had difficulty finding jobs upon coming of age. Taking into account that the depression of the Eighties started roughly around 1981 and ended roughly around 1992, the oldest Gen Xers would have been born around 1961 (making them around twenty in 1981) and the youngest would have been born around 1972. Given that the economy was still a little shaky for a couple of years after the depression's end around 1992, we could perhaps extend the end of Gen X from 1972 to 1977. Third, people born between 1961 and 1977 had greater access to pop culture than previous generations. While there were only three television networks when the majority of us were growing up, the fact that there were a huge number of independent stations made up for it. These independent stations aired an inordinate number of reruns, sometimes dating to several years before our births, as well as movies made decades before we were born. This gave Generaton X more familiarity with films from the Thirties and Forties than even their seniors born in the Baby Boom and a greater knowledge of television shows than their juniors born in Generation Y (independent stations having gone the way of the dinosaur just as the oldest of them were in their teens). Indeed, a complaint that my Baby Boomer older sister has about me is that I prefer "old stuff" when it comes to TV shows, movies, and music! To say that Gen X was born in 1961 and 1976 then allows for the common cultural experiences necessary to any given generation.

Of course, just as there are differences between the "Beatles wave" Boomers and "Led Zeppelin wave" Boomers, there are going to be differences between older Xers and younger Xers. In Saturday Morning Fever by Timothy and Kevin Burke (highly recommended, mind you), the authors note that some pundit (though they don't clarify whom, it was the aforementioned Howe and Strauss) made a distinction between an "Atari wave" of Xers and a "Nintendo wave" of Xers, although they noted that they could also be called "the Herculoids wave" or "Wacky Races wave" and "the Ghostbuster wave" or "Joe Wave," after various cartoons. I tend to agree with them, Saturday morning cartoons being a major part of all Gen Xers' childhoods, although I would prefer the terms "Space Ghost wave (superhero cartoons being dominant in the younger years of older Xers)" and "Scooby-Doo wave (comedies being more dominant in the younger years of younger Xers)." To me, Saturday morning cartoons were much more an experience common to Gen Xers than video games (which really didn't come about until the oldest of us were nearly grown). Whatever term you prefer, there are some differences between older and younger Xers. My best friend and I have noted that older Xers tended to be nostalgic about shows like Underdog and The Man From U.N.C.L.E, while expressing ignorance of Transformers and MacGyver. Younger Xers tend to be exactly the opposite. While they have much in common, they also tend to be very different as well.

That having been said, the "Space Ghost wave" and "Scooby-Doo wave" of Gen X probably have more in common than "Beatles wave" and "Led Zeppelin wave" Boomers do. In fact, I daresay that enough common ground exists among people born from 1961 to 1977 that we can adequately determine the defining characteristics of Generation X. Knowing that, we can go forward and determine what Generation X and, conversely, what it is not.