The Boomers. The River. The Book.

Our generation is pedal pushers, crop-tops, bell bottoms, tie-dye and leisure suits. We are acid-washed jeans, shoulder pads and big hair. We are wait until marriage and make love/ not war. We are don't trust anyone over thirty. We are The Total Woman, The Feminine Mystique and The Joy of Sex. We are Beatles, The Supremes, and Rolling Stones, Tina Turner and Elton John, "Treat her Like a Lady." and "I Am Woman Hear Me Roar."  

 

In this anthology, readers will find poems, stories, memoir and essays by writers of the Ohio River Valley born between 1946-1964. The writing is organized into five themes—the river, the boom generation, coming of age, coming of age-ing and home. You'll find writing that is lush, witty, provocative and universal.  

 

You might wonder about the car our home page. With the help of a family car buff, we have identified this auto as a 1960 Chevy Impala coupe, representative of our era, on the streets long before any of us could drive. One of our poets, Sheri L. Wright, took this photo while on a drive through the countryside. The vehicle is vintage but still stylish, as we boomers strive to be.

 

While assembling The Boom Project book, the curators/co-editors have learned one true thing—our generation  contains multitudes. Not all of us remember where we were when President Kennedy or Bobby Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated. We don’t all remember the Kent State massacre or the 1968 Democratic convention or the moon landing or Nixon’s resignation. Some of us remember the days before Roe vs. Wade—the whisperings about alleged pregnant girls taking six-month absences or quick trips  to New York City.  Some of us remember the Vietnam war; others choose to bury it. Some of us were too young to protest on the streets. At least one of us wore a nickel-plated POW bracelet, to rebel her parents’ support of the war, until her wrist turned green and the bracelet broke in half.  

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Saunter between poem and story and memoir and essay.  Enjoy the journey!