June 1997
...And That's
My Opinionã
by Sandy Goldman
It was my birthday. I was
65. It was 10:30 in the morning and I was shaving (I'm retired you know). What
do you think when it's your birthday and you look in the mirror when you're
shaving (or to be 90's correct, combing your hair)? At first I thought I saw my
father (but that's for another story).
The stereo was on and the
music wafted through the house and the words ricocheted off the walls. It was
Sinatra. "When I was 17, it was a very good year", he sang, "for
small town girls and we hid in the village green." When I was 17, we hid
at Waveland Park. We called it Greenberg Gardens (would not be politically
correct in the 90s). They weren't small town girls, those Lakeview High School
students. Margie, Arden, Nancy, Gerry; I wonder where they are on their 65th
birthdays. Grandmothers all, I suppose.
" It was a very good
year".
It was 1949. Five years
from the end of Word War II and one year to the beginning of the Korean War. I
was a high school student, athlete, sports Editor of the school paper and
agitator in training. Northwestern beat California in the Rose Bowl 20-14. RCA
introduced the 45-RPM record (non-existent in the 90s) and we could afford
inexpensive records. The Berlin airlift, 8 months old, recorded a plane a
minute every day until it ended on May 12. Joe Louis retired. Jake La Motta
knocked out Marcel Cedan for the middleweight title and Ezzard Charles beat
Jersey Joe Wolcott for the heavyweight title. Rita Hayworth married Aly Khan
and broke every boy's heart. Over 480,000 United Mine Workers went out on a
strike, which lasted 42 days. Broderick Crawford won the Academy Award for his
role as a Charismatic, dictatorial Southern politician in "All the Kings
Men". The number of drive-in theaters doubled to 2,200. We no longer
needed the village green or Waveland Park. Konrad Adenauer became the first
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. In Chicago, the population
reached 3,621,000 while the metro area reached 5,600,000. The Greyhound Bus
Terminal on Randolph Street (long since gone) had its grand opening. Terminal
restaurants and shops covered the whole city block. The Midwest Stock Exchange
was opened.
What do you think of when
it's your birthday and you're 65 years old and you look in the mirror and the
stereo plays and the music wafts through the room and the words ricochet off
the walls.
"When I was 21, it was
a very good year".
It was 1953. I was a junior
at Lake Forest College: a leftist, liberal, Marxist, existentialist. I was
becoming a better agitator. In two years, I would get my first permanent job
and my first real paycheck with deductions and withholding. Scratch Marxist!
Soon the others ideologies would fall or at least draw to the middle.
It was a time, Sinatra
sings, for "city girls with perfumed hair". I never had a chance at
that! Soon I would meet the girl I would eventually marry and we would stay
married (not a constant in the 90s).
Dwight Eisenhower was
inaugurated as the 34th President and for the first time, we saw it
on TV. Walt Disney premiered " Peter Pan". On March 5th
Joseph Stalin died and Nikita Kruschev became Secretary of the Community Party.
A vaccine against polio was announced by Dr. Jonas Salk and eventually this
crippling disease would be virtually eliminated. In baseball the Boston Braves
moved to Milwaukee. And in the decade to come more teams would relocate. Rocky
Marciano floored Jersey Joe Wolcott in 2 minutes 25 seconds. Hollywood
introduced 3D movies and we all watched through funny looking cardboard
glasses. The French continued to fall in Indo-China; a portent of things to
come. On June 2nd Queen Elizabeth was officially crowned in a
centuries old coronation. And thus she began a love affair with the world.
Egypt proclaimed a Republic, ending the 148-year-old dynasty of Mohammed Ali.
Gone was King Farouk and on the scene was Gamal Abdul Nassar. A limited Korean
Armistice was signed. The shooting stopped; the tension did not. General Mark
Clark advocated using A-bombs if the Koreans broke the truce. Miss Jacqueline
Lee Bouvier married Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy. And thus began Camelot.
Joe DiMaggio married Marilyn Monroe and thus began an everlasting love affair.
Rick, Ozzie, David and Harriet Nelson were America's favorite TV family. A few
homes in N.Y. received a color TV version of Bizet's opera, Carmen.
As chairman of the House
Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisc.) and
his followers were beginning one of the darkest moments in U.S. history. After
refusing to comply with a subpoena, former President Harry Truman warned
Americans " to protect themselves against the onslaught of fear and
hysteria, being manipulated in the country for political purposes."
(Something here about repeating history) Some months later, we would watch
Edward R. Murrow dissect the Senator, accusing him of dealing in half-truths,
innuendo and confusion. And then we watched in rapt attention the famous
Army-McCarthy hearings. On the campuses of America, it replaced Crusader
Rabbit. Eventually, the Senate voted 67-22 to condemn rather than censure the
Senator. On Dec. 3rd, Iowa scientists announced they had achieve the
first human pregnancy, using frozen sperm.
The City of Chicago
published a new planning manual called Chicago Tomorrow. It included a
number of plans for Chicago's future development. Richard Daley was elected
Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee, the most powerful
political organization in the Chicago area. In two years Chicago would have the
world's first McDonalds.
What do you think of when
it's your birthday and you're 65 years old and you look in the mirror and the
stereo plays and the music wafts through the room and the words ricochet off
the walls.
"When I was 35, it was
a very good year."
It was 1967. It was four
years after the assassination of J.F.K.; five years after the Cuban missile
crisis; six years after the introduction of the Twist and Chubby Checkers.
Elvis Presley married his long-time girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu. In the
first Super Bowl, Green Bay beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. UCLA beat Dayton
79-64 for the NCAA title. Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA crown. Boston Red Sox
beat St. Louis for the World Series. In New York, 10,000 hippies gathered in
Central Park; most were under 30 years old. The over 30 crowd went to the Fifth
Avenue Easter Day Parade.
The Six-Day War between
Israel and Egypt resulted on conditions still unsettled in 1997. A little known
prelate was named Archbishop of Krakow: Karol Wotjyla. President Johnson named
a commission, headed by Illinois Governor, Otto Kerner to study the cause of
race riots sweeping the country. On Aug. 1st, Stokely Carmichael,
former chairman of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, and H. Rapp
Brown, current Chairman, called for a "Black Revolution" in America.
On August 24th, George Lincoln Rockwell, avowed racist and leader of
the American Nazi Party, was killed by one of his own followers who sought
control. On August 30, Thurgood Marshall was appointed the first African
American member of the Supreme Court. What a month!
Anti draft rallies were
held all over America. Draft card were turned in or set on fire. In New York
546 people, including Dr. Benjamin Spock, were arrested trying to close down an
Army Induction Center. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King was a year away.
So was the Democratic Convention in Chicago.
The first microwave oven
was introduced. It revolutionized cooking. The hit movie was "The
Graduate", about an ernest young man (Dustin Hoffman) bumbling his way
into an affair with a seductive older woman (Anne Bancroft) and her daughter.
Who will ever forget those legs? The Queen Mary made her last voyage; the Queen
Elizabeth 2 (QE2) was launched and the Concorde flew, the worlds' first
supersonic airplane.
Chicago had a record
23" snowfall and the city was paralyzed for days. Over 27,000,000
passengers arrived and departed at O'Hare International Airport in 1967 Chicago
was named one of 63 cities to take part in the Model Cities Program of HUD. The
Hyde Park Urban Renewal Project was completed. A huge fire destroyed McCormick
Place on the eve of the opening of the Housewares Show. Richard J. Daley was
elected to his fourth term as mayor. Four years later he wold be elected to an
unprecedented fifth term. The City Council extended its open housing ordinance
to ban discrimination by anyone engaged in the sale or rental of housing.
In two years (1969) we
would have the first RPCC Hi Neighbor Day Carnival. Three hundred fifty people
came out of their winter caves and volunteered for 10 days and they did it for
more than 10 years. It was great: camaraderie, commonality, and civility. (We
could use some of that in the 90s). The opposition of some residents and
Aldermanic pressure ended it. It is still missed! Too Bad!
What do you think of when
it's your birthday and you're 65 years old and you look in the mirror and the
stereo plays and the music wafts through the room and the words ricochet off
the walls.
It was 1982 and I was 50.
It was a very good year - or was it?
AIDS was first identified.
Claus Von Bulow was found guilty of killing his wife. Downsizing, mergers,
conglomerate takeovers resulted in the termination of my employment. In two
years, I would become an entrepreneur with a wonderful partner. We would open a
business -- Video Advantage. It would thrive for many years. The N.Y. Mets gave
George Foster a $10 million contract for 5 years, the second biggest in sports
history. The DeLorean Automobile Manufacturing plan went into receivership.
John Belushi died of an
overdose. Satchel Paige, the first African-American pitcher in the American
League, and an outstanding performer in the Negro League, died. NFL players
started the first strike in 63 years. It lasted 57 days. John Hinckley, who
tried to assassinate Ronald Regan, was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
He remains in prison to this date. Lloyd Weber's "Cats" opened on
Broadway. China reported a population of 1.008 Billion the largest in the
world. The U.S. banned travel to Cuba and cigar smokers cried! The first
successful permanent artificial heart transplant was accomplished.
What do you think of when
it's your birthday and you're 65 years old and you look in the mirror and the
stereo plays and the music wafts through the room and the words ricochet off
the walls?
It was 1992 and it was a
very good year.
Jay Leno took over the
Tonight Show. Women's fashion became eclectic: skirts of every length, width,
fabric and design. The movie hit of the year was Basic Instinct with Sharon
Stone. Do you suppose there was a connection?
Bill Clinton denied the
accusations of Genifer Flowers. He and Al Gore were nominated by the Democrats;
Ross Perot dropped out. The GOP nominated Bush and Quayle. Clinton won 42%;
Bush 38%; Perot 19%. US reported its first decline in the economy since 1982.
U.S. troops took over the airport in Sarajevo. The Pentagon began an
investigation into the Tailhook Convention and reports of sexual harassment. A
record 46 women ran for Congress, four were elected. One of them was Illinois
Sen. Carol Moseley Brown.
Macy's and TWA filed for
bankruptcy and unemployment was at 7.1%, the highest in 15 years. A copy of the
first Superman comic book sold for $82,500. Chicago's Loop was flooded when a
rupture in an underground freight tunnel filled building sub basements and
basements with more than 134 million gallons of water from the Chicago River.
It was three years since
Ron Grais and the Howard Paulina Development Corp (HPDC) predecessor of
DevCorp, announced the exciting new plans for the $43 million mixed-use Howard
Street Retail Transit Center at Howard and Clark. Groundbreaking was planned
for spring of 1989. Other players were the CTA, Rubloff Inc. and the Project
for Public Spaces. It was expected to spark the revival of Rogers Park.
And the song goes on.
"It was a very good year." There is something about "the autumn
of the years" and "my life as vintage wine, from fine old kegs, from
the brim to the dregs".
I look back down the path
of 30 years of community involvement: a driven young man now a less driven
Senior Citizen. I look back to Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts; PTA and YMCA; Pop
Warner Football, Leone Beach Parents Assoc. and boys and girls swimming teams;
several political campaigns and local school councils; Teen Club, neighborhood
parades and fundraising for a number of organizations and institutions. Major
networks developed -- of fast friends, legionary acquaintances, interesting
contacts -- colleagues all.
Fine wine, from the kegs to
the dregs.
I have been Chairman of 10
Hi-Neighbor Day Carnivals as well as Las Vegas Nights, Fashion Shows and
Halloween Dances. I was Third, Second, First Vice President and then President
of the RPCC. " Fine wine". And now I'm the Editor of Rogers Park
2000. "Vintage wine!"
When necessary, I've been
opinionated, cynical, controversial, combative and certainly egomaniacal. I've
been outspoken and critical; unbridled, unfettered, untethered; uninhibited,
straight talking, look you in the eye, tell it as it is, never ducking
controversy. There have been bouquets and there have been brickbats. But I'm
reminded that one should not forget how to smile, laugh and enjoy life. I know
I can not please everyone!
What do you think of when
it's your birthday and you're 65 years old and you look in the mirror and the
stereo plays and the music wafts through the room and the words ricochet off
the walls?
It was Sinatra. But the
words had changed --"My way", he sang, "I did it my way
"... and that is where my thoughts were....
To be continued...someday,
sometime.
...And that's my opinion.
And I'm Sandy Goldman
Send
me your e-mail address or those of others who would be interested and I'll add
them to my rapidly growing distribution list.
To Email Me: smgoldman@ameritech.net