Jay Hunter Morris knows that talent alone does not necessarily lead to success. And, it certainly will not land you in a starring role at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. That takes a lot more work. And, as someone who can be called a late or young-baby boomer, he has worked for quite a while to make his dream come true.

Tenor Jay Hunter Morris at the Metropolitan Opera.

“I’ve been surrounded by phenomenally talented people for years … people I admire, people who have mentored me,” he says.

He knows the competition. So, he works harder, pushing his natural talent farther and farther. Long, exhausting hours of rehearsal.

After years of determination and hard work, usually as a backup opera tenor, Jay is taking to the stage of The Met in the starring role of Siegfried in Richard Wagner‘s formidable opera, Götterdämmerungor Twilight of the Gods.

He is starring with soprano legend Deborah Voigt who plays Brünnhilde. The operatic performance is a staggering five hours long and is the conclusion of Wagner’s fabled, four-epic Ring Cycle about treachery, death, deception, mythical gods, magic swords, love, hate, dense forests with strange creatures and dragons.

Jay got his big career break late in 2011. He was called in to replace the original tenor for “Siegfried,” who had become ill. Jay knew the part, and his performance at The Met in New York was spellbinding. Audiences – whether at The Met or watching HD telecasts around the world – were thrilled. Critics called his singing and acting, “A genuine triumph.”

Words like “genuine” and “authentic” are easily used to describe Jay Hunter Morris, whether watching him sing, perform or just visiting over dinner.

It has been a long road for Jay since growing up in Paris, Texas, where his father – who died when Jay was age 12 – was a Southern Baptist music minister, and his mother a church organist. But, the humble and real roots and dreams of his upbringing firmly ground him, even today.

We recently sat in a New York restaurant, bragging about our respective wives, children and personal things that matter most in our lives.

“My voice hurts, my brain hurts, my body hurts … I hurt all over,” he said, slumping in our booth at Lincoln. Why?! He has just finished another eight-hour day of rehearsing on stage with The Met’s orchestra and the other singers. But, all of his energy and sparkle returned when he talked about his actress-wife Meg and son, Cooper Jack. Grounding on what’s important to life and a shared knowing that pretension gets us nowhere.

I think that one of the many things that thrilled audiences about Jay’s performance of Siegfried – whether they watched in person at The Met in New York or in theaters globally on live HD television – was his believability, he accessibility. He brought the character to life. Most audiences had never seen or heard him before but his Siegfried was dramatic, exciting and the stuff of which makes for overnight legend.

Heck, I don’t care whether you enjoy opera or not, Jay’s “Ziggy” (as he calls his character) reminds me a little of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” with his own style of sparkle, energy and thrilling voice. I also believe it’s only a matter of time before Jay Hunter Morris develops a crossover second career as motion picture star.

How does he muster the stamina for such a demanding operatic role?

“It’s storytelling,” Jay says. “I know this story so well … I’ve sung it so many times that when the stage lights come on and the orchestra begins, I just find myself in Ziggy and sing the story.” With a lot of passion, I might add.

Not since the late Luciano Pavarotti have I found a tenor’s voice so captivating, so rich, so passionate. On stage, he is all charisma. Similar to Pavarotti’s magic but all his own.

Tickets to be there at The Met to witness Götterdämmerung are sold out. But The Met’s live HD global telecast of Götterdämmerung is Saturday, February 11, and probably showing in a nearby movie theatre. It is something not to be missed.

Connect with Jay on Twitter: @JayHunterMorris

(Photos by Gil Lavi)

David Henderson

My mother was much too young when fast-moving breast cancer claimed her life in 1983. In a span of less than two months, the cancer metastasized to her brain. I can only imagine how painful it must have been for her but she kept her grace and thoughtfulness toward others until the end.

When I think of her final weeks, I also think of the hundreds-of-thousands of other women who have suffered that awful disease and wonder why a cure has not been found over these many decades.

Even though we lived in northern Virginia — where for many years my mother was a well-known elementary school principal in Fairfax County — it was her wish to be buried in the family plot on a hill overlooking a small eastern Kentucky town called Louisa.

But on a recent trip there, I came to a sad conclusion: for generations in this country, a prideful way of life was engrained into much of the American culture, regardless of whether someone, even an entire family, was financially poor or not. People were usually defined by the respect they showed to others. Some of that has disappeared.

Rubbish and old furniture piled on the porch ... the now-dilapidated house where my grandmother once lived.

My mother had grown up in a quaint, beautifully maintained small house on Locke Avenue in Louisa, a street lined with trees. Nearly every house was kept with pride by its owners. My grandmother’s home was surrounded by an always immaculately maintained lawn with many, many flowers, ferns, and herbs. I remember the giant zinnias and fresh dill to this day. My grandmother said her secret to gardening was to use coffee grounds as fertilizer. It must have worked.

Few residents of Louisa, Kentucky, in those days had much money. Many were poor but few people knew it because they had grown up knowing the meaning of pride.

A once prosperous department store, now run-down and closed.

My grandmother was the manager of the largest business in town, a department store called The Bargain Store. And, she was a remarkable businesswoman. As a kid, I watched her politely approach a working man who was looking at some new boots. His were worn out. I heard her quietly and respectfully suggest that he just take the boots and give them a try … and to not be concerned with the cost. She didn’t write anything down, there was no IOU. She just gave him the boots.

Afterward, I asked my grandmother about it. All she would say was that the man had a big family and needed the boots for work. She didn’t say another word. I learned from my mother that whenever my grandmother did something like that, she always paid for such items out of her own pocket the moment the needy customer left the store. My grandmother never talked about that, either. But I did learn that the man who got the new boots returned each week with a small amount — whatever he could afford — until he had paid for the boots. A poor man rich with pride. And with honor. And, he wasn’t the only one she quietly helped.

Downtown Louisa, Kentucky, is neglected and mostly out-of-business.

That was how things were in Louisa a half century ago.

Maybe I never allowed myself to know how to grieve but I never quite got over my mother’s untimely death. For at least the last 20 years, I have felt a need to visit her resting place for no other reason that just to be there for a few quiet and private moments.

I was sharing those feelings earlier this year with my daughter, Anna, who was three-years-old when my mother — her grandmother — died, but still remembers her. Anna said she would like to go to Louisa, too, which thrilled me, because when our children grow up, we treasure time with them as never before.

After the 450-mile drive to Louisa, we entered a town I neither recognized nor found appealing.

Louisa is run down, boarded-up, and dilapidated. It is as if there had been an intentional effort to erase or tear down any of the charm of a small town. Many of the tall trees are gone. Many homes are replaced by prefabricated garages for pickup trucks with oversized tires, and machines shops. The downtown is abandoned, including the department store that had been turned into a failed video store. It was as if pride, as a spirit, had given up and fled.

Anna spends a quiet moment at her grandmother's grave.

Anna and I escaped and drove up the hill to the cemetery. Unlike the town, the sprawling cemetery was well-maintained, just as I remembered it from my youth, and the times since then when we have put loved ones to rest there.

We visited the family plot, including my mother’s grave. And, we said prayers and had private moments to remember, knowing of course that souls have long since left this place. Only the marble markers, the headstones, the flowers, and other symbols of remembrance are left there, along with the quiet. We each placed small stones on the grave markers to signify we had been there and would never forget … and then, Anna and I knew.

We had said our goodbyes, with finality. It was time to return home.
 

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The Encyclopedia Britannica, the oldest English-language encyclopedia still in print, is going out of print and moving solely into the digital age. I suppose many of us baby boomers might view it as another end of an era.

In continuous print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1768, Encyclopedia Britannica announced recently it will end publication of its printed editions and continue only with digital versions available online for a nominal charge.

The Encyclopedia Britannica lasted so long because it was credible and trusted. It was vetted by scholars and academics.

From the benefit of our grown-up hindsight, maybe the Encyclopedia was not perfect or complete. But is has always been well-written. The expertly authenticated articles sparked curiosity and knowledge among readers, including many young boomers. This was how many of us and then our children learned about the world. The stories were written and edited by experts. It was a costly business model.

Today, the whole notion of seasoned, skilled and trained editors is vanishing. It’s too expensive. Vanishing in mainstream print and broadcast media, and vanishing at online news and information resources.

At the other end of the credibility scale from Encyclopedia Britannica is Wikipedia.org, which apparently has never had editors but rather administrators with enough latitude on their own for personal bias, anger, ignorance and lack of knowledge to influence decisions over what appears and what does not.

Worse yet, the administrators for Wikipedia.org have no journalistic or editorial training! But, they are the decision-makers for information that goes online that we – you and I – are supposed to assume is accurate. Are we being conned?

We pay a price when things and facts are not checked-out. Information becomes less credible, less trusted and less of value. We are not as informed as we might have been.

Mainstream news media in America’s free society – unlike the old Soviet Union and Nazi Germany – has provided us the ability to learn more or less who reports, edits and publishes news and information. That’s called transparency, openness, accountability. Not so in the dark and virtually unaccountable environment of Wikipedia.org.

A friend who grew up behind the Iron Curtain pointed this out to me, suggesting that Wikipedia’s style reminded him of the old Soviet style of journalism.

Wikipedia was founded by Jimmy Wales, a former options and futures trader. The concept is clever but increasingly there are questions about the ethical standards, veracity, credibility and prejudices of this somewhat shadowy information resource. Who is the cast of characters behind the secrecy of Wikipedia? Who is pulling the levers over what appears and what does not. What is deemed “notable” and what is not?

The profile of a widely known women’s rights advocate was rejected by a Wikipedia administrator who alleged that a link used as a citation to a press release on the website of an International Religious organization was “copyright infringement.” Wikipedia.org is full of such links to provide citations and evidence. Upon examination, the excuse by the administrator not to post the profile was ill-informed and inaccurate. I learned that Wikipedia does not admit to its own mistakes.

Nothing on the website or the press release used for the citation mentioned copyright, and I wondered whether his own bias was being revealed. So I dug into learning the true identity of the administrator. Most are computer geeks, not the literary sort.

This Wikipedia administrator lives in England. He claims to be a computer guy who still works with MsDos, an operating system from the 1980s. He has no editorial or academic experience. There is nothing in his online bio that suggests that he ever attended higher education. He is a typical Wikipedia administrator who rejects some information yet approves profiles of criminals without ever checking factual accuracy. He apparently approves or rejects to suit his personal fancy.

Click here to read the Wikipedia administrator’s credentials on his own website.

I learned that the administrators had rejected the profile of a well-known U.S. TV network correspondent and author of several books. The reason given was, “not notable.” Wikipedia’s criteria for determining what is “notable” is not revealed, and therefore open to personal bias.

Citing Wikipedia’s “the human factor” of such unpaid administrators is why an increasing number of journalists, online content managers and others are questioning the current and long-term credibility and value of Wikipedia.

Encyclopedia Britannia has had a highly respected editorial board over the years to assure excellence. Wikipedia.org has none. Encyclopedia Britannia has had well-known editorial guidelines. Wikipedia.org has none.

If Wikipedia is hobbled by a lack of enlightened ethical and journalistic criteria for a new age of information, skilled editors and knowledgeable experts, what value is it as an online tool to provide substantive value? Who really can trust the accuracy of Wikipedia?

Is that the information we baby boomers grew up in and remember? No, not in my opinion.

Do we, as parents, want our children relying on something like Wikipedia for their school assignments? Remember, Encyclopedia Britannica will still be online … and it can be trusted.

Photo by Cecil Brathwaite. www.cecilbrathwaite.com

It was the placing of so many live evergreen holiday wreaths with red ribbons that got me thinking yet again about Arlington National Cemetery. Word had gotten around the Washington, DC, area, and 15,000 volunteers showed up one weekend in early December to help place the wreaths that had arrived in twenty semi-tractor trailer trucks from Maine. 100,000 wreaths.

Photo by Cecil Brathwaite. www.cecilbrathwaite.com

My wife and I had driven by, and the sight of so many simple symbols of dignified remembrance … well, it was powerful.

Owner Morrill Worcester of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, started the tradition with 5,000 wreaths twenty years ago, and it caught on. This year though, there have never been so many wreaths at Arlington. Rows upon rows.

The sight of the wreaths brought me back to the Cemetery for a visit early on a cold December morning. Cecil Brathwaite, my friend and a respected photographer in Washington, accompanied me.

Arlington National Cemetery always seemed to have a connection in my life, growing up just a few miles away. My mother, sister, and I would watch 4th of July fireworks in Washington by spreading out a blanket on the cemetery hill. I found my love for bicycling on the twisting roads among the sea of headstones and ancient trees.

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As the world has changed over these many decades since I was a kid, the Cemetery has always remained sacred ground. Respectfully quiet. Voices always in whisper. Except during funerals. Then, the sounds of horse hooves, a firing party, calls to attention, a bugler. Followed by quiet again, or the flickering of the perpetual torch at President Kennedy’s grave site, or the sharp click of heels by a sentry at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Now, again, there are Maine holiday wreaths there, too.

What really struck me this visit was the number of military funerals. Cecil and I saw several, and he commented, quietly, that he would never photograph such a solemn and private moment of honoring the dead. It would be intrusive, it would not be right.

Arlington National Cemetery is much larger today than when I was a kid. It is sprawling southward towards the Pentagon. The need for more burial areas from more wars. More military honor guards, the constant sound of caissons, firing parties, Taps. More wreaths.

Steve Jobs once said:

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Jobs was one of us. He was a baby boomer, just like the past few presidents, Bill Gates, and many other leaders in the digital era and captains of industry … and just like many of us, in some respects.

Let us not forget that America’s largest demographic group – baby boomers – has reshaped the country for better or worse. But Jobs was different. He was unlike any of his peers in technology or corporate America.

While others in technology were and still are caught up in the machinations of tech stuff, Jobs knew that the only thing that really mattered was how we might perceive and value his innovations. He dreamed, questioned, challenged himself and others … and gave the country and the world good things intended to bring value to our lives.

Jobs said, “A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.”

Many of us learned of his passing on one of his technology devices.

Jobs grew up in the pop culture of the San Francisco area and was shaped by the free-thinking liberalism dominant there in the 60s and 70s. He dated Joan Baez, tried LSD and kept emotional ties to the period in which he grew up. Viewed as a corporate outsider, he built Apple in the reflection of his unconventionality.

Jobs became wealthy through his inventions, ownership of Apple, Disney and Pixar. Yet, in today’s world defined by corporate greed and corruption, Jobs was again different. He focused on the idea of “taste.” It was a word he used often. Jobs crafted his genius and lasting legacy through the distinctive simplicity, elegance and taste he insisted on in every Apple product. And, his focus has changed the world for the better.

Addressing a graduating class at Stanford in 2005, Jobs seemed to foresee his own destiny:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

David Henderson

If you are a baby boomer and anything like me, chances are you are carrying around a spare part or two. In my case, it’s a right knee replacement … about eleven ounces of titanium. And that doesn’t go down well with the people at the Transportation Security Administration, a.k.a. airport security.

In the U.S. — a country which does not embrace profiling at airports even though most of the bad guys in recent years have been easy to fit into a profile — we are being subjected to increased and more invasive TSA inspections at airports when we have joint replacements. But that’s just in the U.S.

Leaving Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport recently — unquestionably the most security-conscious airport in the world, and probably the most efficient — my right knee of course beeped as I walked through security. A polite young woman took my passport and boarding pass, and asked me to take a seat in a row of chairs lined up against a wall.

Within a couple of minutes, another woman approached me to ask a precise set of questions, including where had I been in Israel and what was the purpose of my visit. She seemed to know the answers already and looked me straight in the eye as she listened to my responses. She then thanked me, and told me I could go.

There was no pat-down, intrusive or otherwise … no metal-detecting wand … no swabbing for explosives … no rude TSA treatment.

America gets the TSA rub-down.

Something similar happened in Munich’s airport last year. I walked through the upright metal detector and informed the inspector that I had a right knee replacement. He looked me straight in the face and immediately asked me for the name of the company that made the knee prosthetic. I replied, “BioMet.” He smiled, thanked me, and said I was free to go.

What happened at Tel Aviv and Munich… as well as other international airports where security is intense… is called, intelligence. The inspectors use profiling and are trained to ask precise questions. If a person flinches in a response, then there’s another level of screening. I didn’t fit the profile of a bad guy… and I didn’t flinch.

Incidentally, passengers are not asked to remove shoes … whether in Tel Aviv, Munich, Frankfurt or most other major world airports.

Americans from all sides of the aisle are raising questions about Homeland Security’s newest level of airport screening. It is becoming more rude, more invasive of privacy, and more of a hassle while, at the same time, demonstrating less of an intelligent approach.

When a veteran flight attendant and cancer survivor who has flown for more than 30 years is forced by TSA to reveal her prosthetic breast, things have gone too far.

Not only are people over age fifty being singled out simply because of age-caused joint replacements, but young children are being singled out, and airline pilots are up in arms. I mean, are we really afraid that someone who’s about to take the stick of the airplane and in whose lives we put our hands is going to sneak something dangerous through security?!? We all should be outraged.

Long lines at New Orleans airport.

Even Glenn Beck said recently, “How is it the freest country in the history of the world is now subjecting their citizens to panty pat-downs?”

Actually, the TSA procedure is no longer a “pat-down.” It’s a firm rub-down by TSA agents who refuse to use fresh gloves for each passenger.

At the same time, much of the rest of the world … in countries that have been confronting terror attacks far longer than here in the U.S. … there is a more intelligent approach to airport security. They profile and look for people who actually could be a threat. They are constantly on-guard, watching for danger, and not pre-occupied over whether you’ve taken your laptop out of its case, or whether your tube of toothpaste exceeds the regs.

We have become a process-oriented country while much of the rest of the civilized world is focusing on critical thinking and intelligence in their approach to staying safe. As a result, the baby boomer with spare parts is one of those victims being singled out for the roughest treatment by TSA.

And here’s an epilogue: my colleague and co-founder of BoomerCafé, Greg Dobbs, just made a quick trip to Australia, so quick that he didn’t even carry a suitcase, just a laptop carry-on. And when I sent him this story, here’s what he told me in response:

“Leaving Australia, I was able to take all the toothpaste I wanted through security; I mean, I had a big fat tube of the stuff that would have failed the test in the U.S. but guess what. No one complained. And joy of joys: I didn’t have to take off my shoes!!!”

Sure, we’re probably somewhat safer because of airport searches. But Greg’s note is more testimony that TSA has taken things too far.

One of the nice benefits of being baby boomers is that we have observed time passing. Hey, look at the bright side! We know stuff. Let me share a recent experience.

Mob at Montmartre.

Paris has changed dramatically since my last visit ten years ago and strikingly in the last thirty or so years. For me, Paris has lost much of its magic and glamour as it has become more Americanized, complete with noisy tours, trash and trinkets at popular tourism spots, and fast food.

It’s harder to find a really outstanding café or brasserie, although Le Pré aux Clercs in Saint Germain is still truly special. But, it’s an exception. The overall quality of what was once French food has diminished, replaced by the ordinary to just-okay fast and mass produced food.

But it is the insane noise and the crowds of tourists … many from the U.S. … that make Paris less attractive. Notre Dame … Louvre … Musee d’Orsay … Tour Eiffel … Montmartre. They’re elbow-to-elbow with tourists.

And sometimes, awfully noisy ones. It’s a curious phenomenon that many Americans abroad cannot seem to be able to converse except with a loud voice in an otherwise quiet setting, like a church, museum or gallery. Here’s a tip – Europe is quieter than America.

Ah, but Normandy is different, and the town of Bayeux special. Even though many tourists visit Bayeux, there’s more tranquility. It is quieter and that’s what I seek for a restful holiday.

Bayeux is just eight miles from the D-Day invasion beaches but was spared during the battles, partly because General Eisenhower recognized the importance of this medieval village, with its 11th Century cathedral, ancient houses, canal, and the priceless Bayeux Tapestry which depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England.

Bayeux's Freedom Tree

This may seem a bit odd but it is a tree in Bayeux — just a plane tree, which some would call a sycamore — that pulls me back to the town. I have visited it many times. It is a massive “arbre de la Liberté” or “freedom tree,” planted by the locals after the French revolution more than 200 years ago next to the cathedral.

Before a fence was erected around the tree to protect its roots, I would see local residents walk by, kiss their own hands and then gently pat their kissed hands against the tree. I suppose we share the same feeling under those massive limbs. It’s like the tree actually has a heartbeat and those mighty limbs spread for an embrace.

But even in Bayeux, while far from impossible, finding good restaurants has become more of a challenge. La Fringale on the main street, rue Saint-Jean, is superb but in my opinion the restaurant literally across the street, La Table du Terroir, is among the worst in France.

Bayeux's ancient canal

The hotel Le Lion D’or, a former coach inn dating to the 18th Century, has a fabulous restaurant and outstanding rooms that emphasize a quiet environment (except when occupied by groups of American bicyclists). Many photos adorn the walls of the study, photos of the famous people who have been guests, from Tom Hanks and John Wayne to nobility and heads of state.

Just to walk through the narrow streets of this village brings back the magic of a former time in France, a magic lost these days in Paris. There is a Monet scene at every curve of the canal, whether an old abandoned boat, the water wheel of a mill, or some ancient building that has sagged for centuries over the water.

I sit on a bench in the town park — large and square and lined with plane trees — with the excuse to read a book … but the real reason is to drink in the primal energy of this place.

The train ride takes just two hours from Paris but the environment takes me back to the France of my memories.

I am walking in one of the saddest and most peaceful places I know. Before me are the grave markers of fallen American servicemen and women … white marble markers of 9,387 who died during the D-Day invasion and the ensuing battles. The place is the Normandy American Cemetery, above Omaha Beach.

While I am not related to any of the fallen who are resting here, the place has a spiritual draw. I have visited several times over three decades. I believe it is holy ground because of what it stands for.

Couples, families, and individuals walk quietly, respectfully among the graves and along walkways lined with pine trees. Steven Spielberg captured the majesty of this place so well in the reflective opening of scene of “Saving Private Ryan.”

My wife remarks that while their earthly remains are here, their souls long ago left this soil and were welcomed by God and all the angels. I think she’s right.

There are flowers at the foot of the cross for Pvt. Anthony J. Chiappinelli from Rhode Island, who died July 27, 1944. And, a note that tells a story. It reads, “Until we meet Daddy. Love, Anne.”

The fallen lying in rest here were of our parents’ generation. And, America was a very different place then … largely rural and isolated from the rest of the world until the war came along. It was a simpler time.

The invasion at Normandy had very clear purpose – good versus evil – and that purpose galvanized the country. Hitler and his Nazis were evil in every imaginable way. The objective of the invasion was to put an end to the evil, and that was accomplished less than a year later with victory in Europe.

But, has our generation … a baby boomer-led country … learned any lessons? I can’t help but reflect on such things when I visit this place where the world was changed in 1944.

In World War II, America defeated Hitler and the Nazis. Conflicts today are more complex, intentions murky, and agenda-driven initiatives labeled “war on terror.” We invade countries without clear purpose or objectives. We remain in far-off places for years, trying to figure out what we are doing between fighting elusive enemies that always seem to change and helping people who often want us to go home.

A pressing and dangerous threat metastasizes below our border, in Mexico, where drug gangs run rampant. Thousands have been murdered.

At the same time, we run our country to the verge of bankruptcy trying to pay for wars and tax cuts to make rich people happy while bridges rust, the country’s infrastructure ages, politicians play for votes and money and a former standup comedian stands on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and urges his followers to “restore America,” code words for its own kind of extremism.

I stand, looking out over Omaha Beach and think about how those honored souls in this cemetery inspired not only a nation but the world for years to come. And, they brought peace, at least for a while. Have we baby boomers done as well?
 

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I was watching “The Big Chill” again the other day… for the umpteenth time … with my wife, and I realized that the film was released in 1983 … 27 years ago! Everything about the film was charmed – the cast, the storyline, the setting, the time in our lives as baby boomers, and … the music. Just as “The Big Chill” has become a classic, so has its soundtrack. What a contrast from today’s music.

Now, let me say something … at the risk of sounding like my parents sounded when I was a teen … something that is blatantly socially incorrect: I think much of today’s popular music (or whatever it is called) is pure crap. Nearly all of it sounds the same. There is such a dark sameness in the themes of today’s popular music – guns, violence, abuse, sex, degradation of women. Crap with few redeeming qualities.

Working out at the Y this afternoon, listening to my iPod, I decided that maybe it is time to update my Top 10 list of great songs from the baby boomer generation.

But before I do, just let me take my ball cap off in sincere tribute to Steve Jobs for conceiving of the iPod. At a time early in this decade when illegal music-sharing was rampant, and the Record Industry Association of America in Washington, D.C., couldn’t think of any constructive solution but to sue children for sharing songs, Jobs was creating the iPod and a brilliant music management system called iTunes, where you can organize your music library and purchase music. Jobs is a titan. I have two iPods, by the way.

Now, back to my revised Top 10, plus a little commentary about why:

1. Every Picture Tells a Story – Rod Stewart. Some of us knew the life of adventure in the 70s and traveling ‘round the world on the spur of the moment that Stewart describes. Remembering those times, it is a wonder we are still alive.

2. Laughing – David Crosby. The lyrics are about questioning myth and conventional wisdom. It was recorded by the awesome engineer Steve Barncard during a magical session in the San Francisco area and featured Jerry Garcia and a breathy cameo by Joni.

3. Bitch – The Rolling Stones. Hard-driving rock.

4. Refuge of the Roads – Joni. It was a trip along the coast, north of San Francisco, in 1972.

5. Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett. Even today, there is nothing like a hot lady driving a classic early Mustang.

6. Long May You Run – Neil Young. Did you know this? Young wrote the story about his beloved car, a hearse he called Mort.

7. Bang The Drum Softly – Emmylou Harris. A haunting song of heartbreak from the Vietnam War, it’s just as meaningful today with the senseless war in Iraq. She grew up in Lorton, Virginia, not far from where I grew up. Damn… wish I knew it at the time. She’s still hot.

8. Roll Me Away – Bob Seger. I have wondered how many people have heard this song and begun questioning the value of a mundane life.

9. Abraham, Martin and John – Dion and the Belmonts. Dion summed up the emotion of the 60s better than anyone.

10. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye. Who can sit still when they hear this? Is this the theme song of the boomer generation?

Well, that’s my Top 10. No crap! Just classic rock. How about your favorites?

Talk show host Jim Bohannon (left) with David E. Henderson

BoomerCafé co-founder and publisher David E. Henderson’s new book, “Making News in the Digital Era,” is of particular relevance to baby boomers because it helps to decipher what’s happening in today’s complex world of online social media. A communications strategist and journalist by profession, it’s David’s 4th book on the media and how any organization or person can build awareness:

By David E. Henderson

I like radio talk show host Jim Bohannon (in photo on the right). Always have. He’s one of the classiest people on radio today, and Jim’s been on radio for years … with a large and loyal following, coast-to-coast.

The late night Jim Bohannon Show airs around 11 p.m. on hundreds of radio stations in many places, and his program America in the Morning wakes up Americans nationwide to news and information in dozens of cities and towns. His guests include world thought-leaders, political and corporate leaders … and, people like me.

For a guy like me, with a new book to promote (“Making News in the Digital Era“), it’s a dream program … a full hour to discuss issues contained in the book and take calls from listeners, all live.

Jim’s program airs weekday nights on the Westwood One Radio Network and originates from the CBS News studios in Washington, D.C.

His Web site delivers on-demand streaming audio of all programs, including my segment on October 7, 2009. Click here.

Now, let me share a little about my new book …

How can you make any sense of today’s dizzying ways to communicate … the media, the online world and things like social media? What has real value, what’s merely a passing trend?

Actor Rainn Wilson from NBC’s “The Office,” a friend, sums up the value of “Making News in the Digital Era“ when he says:

“Henderson gets it. He knows the online media world and has interesting things to say. Besides, he’s the dude who got me on Twitter.”

Rainn turned to me earlier this year for tips about how to use Twitter to promote his new spiritually based social media gathering place, SoulPancake.com. Since then, Rainn has attracted a staggering one and a half million followers on Twitter (@RainnWilson) and SoulPancake.com is a big success.

Why did Rainn turn to me? I suppose because as an accomplished media strategist and expert in a new medium that many use but few understand, I’ve spent years working to make sense of changing trends in communications.

“Making News in the Digital Era” is packed with timely, practical examples and guidance for anyone who wants to easily understand today’s complex and changing media world and generate attention, whether for a small business, major corporation or for themselves.

In today’s scramble for competitive leadership, the status is no longer quo. Today’s organizations, large and small, are seeking the best ways to bypass mainstream media to communicate their news, their way, directly and effectively, to their publics. “Making News in the Digital Era” has the answers.

Incidentally, you can check out a free preview from the book – a story about how Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, has used the Internet to build his large shoe business – by clicking here.

“Making News in the Digital Era” by David E. Henderson is available now at bookstores online and everywhere. ISBN 978-1440153075. Published September 2009 by iUniverse.

Writer David E. Henderson is online at www.davidhenderson.com.