Dead Serious and LIghthearted

often our learning of history is burdened with thick books and tired stories; buried by ¿isms¿ and ¿ologies.¿ This book and its companion volumes present our history in a more accessible and engaging way. They recognize that words are the very currency of American life -our tools of communication and rally; encouragement and persuasion; and observation and critique. Respecting that an understanding of our nation¿s history is a central component to our national community. Lastly, they...
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often our learning of history is burdened with thick books and tired stories; buried by ¿isms¿ and ¿ologies.¿ This book and its companion volumes present our history in a more accessible and engaging way. They recognize that words are the very currency of American life -our tools of communication and rally; encouragement and persuasion; and observation and critique. Respecting that an understanding of our nation¿s history is a central component to our national community. Lastly, they reveal that knowing who said what, where and when is a far lighter way to learn (and for some of us, to relive) our country¿s recent past.These books present the Memorable Words of Modern America ¿ those words which by their prescience, passion, eloquence, or raw wisdom -- reveal our country and frame our history. Included are the fascinating and frivolous, the tragic and momentous; the eloquent and bumbling; the predictions and reflections; the life and laughter, the touching and the endearing ¿ from Ike to Obama, from Lucy to Lady Gaga. The words are carefully presented with each entry followed by an identification of the speaker or writer and the words¿ place, context, meaning, and consequence. The words, the Memorable Words, are presented chronologically, just as they arrived-commingled and disjointed; with each entry and event overlapping or overlaying one another.These books are written without agenda but they appreciate that our country, for the first time in its history, is crowded by the presence of four generations-each dangerously unknowing about the events which formed the perspective of their predecessor or successor generations. This first volume presents the words from 1957, the beginning of Modern America, until 1976 ¿ from American Bandstand to The Godfather, from Lucy to Rocky¿s call of ¿Yo Adrian!¿; from the end of the Fifties through the wildness of the Sixties, from the ascendancy of the Civil Rights, feminist, and environmental movement through the tragedy of Vietnam and the disgrace of Watergate.