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Author
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Topic: 1969: The Year Everything Changed
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cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 01-27-2009 12:10 AM
Could be considered slightly as off-topic but it can certainly help place Apollo 11 in context; see also the review in USA Today; some interesting comments and parallels with 2009. 1969: The Year Everything Changed by Rob Kirkpatrick An original look at a pivotal year in America -- on its fortieth anniversary. For the fortieth anniversary of 1969, Rob Kirkpatrick takes a look back at a year when America witnessed many of the biggest landmark achievements, cataclysmic episodes, and generation-defining events in recent history.1969 was the year that saw Apollo 11 land on the moon, the Cinderella stories of Joe Namath's Jets and the "Miracle Mets," the Harvard student strike and armed standoff at Cornell, the People's Park riots, the first artificial heart transplant and first computer network connection, the Manson family murders and cryptic Zodiac Killer letters, the Woodstock music festival, Easy Rider, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, the Battle of Hamburger Hill, the birth of punk music, the invasion of Led Zeppelin, the occupation of Alcatraz, death at Altamont Speedway, and much more. It was a year that pushed boundaries on stage (Oh! Calcutta!), screen (Midnight Cowboy), and the printed page (Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex), witnessed the genesis of the gay rights movement at Stonewall, and started the era of the "no fault" divorce. Richard Nixon became president, the New Left squared off against the Silent Majority, William Ayers co-founded the Weatherman Organization, and the nationwide Moratorium provided a unifying force in the peace movement. Compelling, timely, and quite simply a blast to read, 1969 chronicles the year through all its ups and downs, in culture and society, sports, music, film, politics, and technology. This is a book for those who survived 1969, or for those who simply want to feel as alive as those who lived through this time of amazing upheaval. About the Author Rob Kirkpatrick is a senior editor with Thomas Dunne Books at St. Martin's Press. He is the author of The Quotable Sixties, Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators, and Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen. He lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut. - Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (January 15, 2009)
- ISBN-10: 1602393664
- ISBN-13: 978-1602393660
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cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 01-30-2009 12:03 AM
Hopefully the book is as good as the video the author posted on YouTube. Apollo 11 was definitively a long time ago and for some obscure reason it does appear as somewhat odd - ahead of its time, probably. Or not in sync with other events. Maybe the topic for another thread? It's strange, very strange... Chris. |
Colin Anderton Member Posts: 151 From: Great Britain Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 01-30-2009 03:09 AM
But were you around in the Sixties? Apollo 11 definitely did NOT seem an event that was ahead of it's time. It felt like a natural conclusion to that magical decade - and, after the rapid progress from Gagarin in 1961 to men on the moon just eight years later, it made us feel that we - the human race, that is - could do anything!This isn't just a sugar-coated retrospective view of the Sixties - it did actually feel like that. There really was magic in the air. Colin.
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cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 01-30-2009 03:38 AM
No, I wasn't "around" (well, turning three during that year!). This may explain that. But then again, the XB-70 also did seem to be ahead of its time, and X-15 and Concorde...Chris. |
Richard Easton Member Posts: 175 From: Winnetka, IL USA Registered: Jun 2006
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posted 01-30-2009 06:14 PM
I agree with Colin. I was thirteen when the Apollo 11 landing took place and it seemed appropriate. I remember reading with eagerness the Life issue about the astronauts and the mission published just prior to Apollo 11. |
spacecraft films Member Posts: 802 From: Columbus, OH USA Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 01-30-2009 08:52 PM
I remember it well and it seemed completely appropriate. At the time we were all still free and it seemed as if the future was something in which anything was possible.Mark |
mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 01-30-2009 09:38 PM
I think things only seemed ahead of their times when viewed in retrospect. But those views are somewhat distorted, I believe. Was Apollo 11 ahead of it's time? Or is the present day space program behind it's time?I don't mean to take away anything from the accomplishments of today's engineers, astronauts, and scientists working on the space program. They are doing truly great things with the resources they are given to work with. But I can't help but feel today's space program is nothing like what it's leaders imagined it should be 40 years ago. |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 01-30-2009 11:32 PM
quote: Originally posted by spacecraft films: At the time we were all still free and it seemed as if the future was something in which anything was possible.
You're no longer free? As written in the book description: "This is a book for those who survived 1969... again! |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 01-30-2009 11:33 PM
quote: Originally posted by mjanovec: I think things only seemed ahead of their times when viewed in retrospect. But those views are somewhat distorted, I believe. Was Apollo 11 ahead of it's time? Or is the present day space program behind it's time?
Good point.Chris. |
ilbasso Member Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 01-31-2009 09:46 AM
The hardware and the program and the astronauts were reflections of the time. The challenge of beating the Russians at all costs gave us a clear and compelling goal and pumped the money into the program. The environment also enabled inspirational leaders to emerge. It helped galvanize the people with a "positive war" (as opposed to a destructive one) that we could win. It was the right program, with the right goal, and the right time.Here's an over-the-top example, but imagine how fast we'd get back to the Moon if we learned that al Qaeda was planning to use it as a base for attack. You can bet that we would reprioritize a lot of things to get the hardware built and the crews trained quickly, and we'd be willing to take a lot more risks than we are now. That's actually the attitude we had back then: we couldn't let the Russians "take the high ground" - we had to get there first. We were very worried that if they established superiority in space, they'd fill it with nuclear weapons aimed at us. It was a very palpable fear for all of us at the time. It drove us to do extraordinary things. We used what we had available and we took advantage of emerging technologies. |
dwmzmm Member Posts: 82 From: Katy, TX USA Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 01-31-2009 07:50 PM
quote: Originally posted by cspg: No, I wasn't "around" (well, turning three during that year!). This may explain that. But then again, the XB-70 also did seem to be ahead of its time, and X-15 and Concorde...
The SR-71/YF-12A (Blackbirds) were definitely ahead of its time; and, yes, I was around during the 1960's....------------------ Dave, NAR # 21853 SR. Challenger 498 Section NAR Advisor |
cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 01-31-2009 11:27 PM
Absolutely!Chris. | |
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