The Man in Black

Johnny Cash was born 85 years ago today.

The Silent Generation, born before the conclusion of the Second War but too young to participate, lived in the shadow of their older cousins and siblings for the first half of their lives.

Then the Baby Boom started to mature, Vietnam intensified, racial segregation was unveiled as racial injustice.

Here's the deal: the Baby Boom provided the ground troops to those struggles but who gave it inspiration?  Who provided cover when the "Greatest Generation" called them cowards and agitators?  Who was it that had been laying the ground work for the justice movements of the mid and late 1960's since the early 1950's?

It was members of the Silent Generation.

The Presidency was never held by a member of the Silent Generation but they provided many leaders who made our nation a better place.  Even if you disagree with every argument or position laid out by someone on this list, we benefit from their service as a "loyal opposition."

"As iron sharpens iron, so one many sharpens another."

Lenny Bruce (1925-1966) Comedian, Social Critic 

William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-    ) Columnist, Author 

Johnny Carson (1925-2005) TV Talk Show Host 

Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) Senator, US Attorney General, Presidential Candidate 

Paul Newman (1925-    ) Actor 

Gore Vidal (1925-    ) Author 

Malcolm X (1925-1965) Black Muslim Leader 

Alan Ginsberg (1926-1997) Poet 

Alan Greenspan (1926-    ) Federal Reserve Chair 

Hugh Hefner (1926-    ) Publisher 

Timothy Lahaye (1926-    ) Minister, Bestselling Author 

Jerry Lewis (1926-    ) Comedian 

Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) Actress 

Harry Belafonte (1927-    ) Singer 

Caesar Chavez (1927-1993) Labor Organizer, United Farm Workers 

Bob Fosse (1927-1987) Jazz Dancer, Choreographer, Director 

Sidney Poitier (1927-    ) Actor 

Andy Warhol (1927-1987) Artist 

Michael Harrington (1928-1989) Author, Social Critic 

Jack Kevorkian (1928-    ) Physician, Assisted Suicide Advocate 

Shirley Temple Black (1928-    ) Actress, Ambassador  

Grace Kelly (1929-1982) Actress 

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) Minister, Civil Rights Leader 

Neil Armstrong (1930-    ) Astronaut, First man on the moon 

Warren Buffet (1930-    ) Investor 

Mario Cuomo (1930-    ) Gov. of New York, Democrat Leader 

Clint Eastwood (1930-    ) Actor 

Sandra Day O’Conner (1930-    ) First Woman Supreme Court Justice 

Ross Perot (1930-    ) Entrepreneur, Presidential Candidate 

Pat Robertson (1930-    ) Religious Broadcasting Executive, Presidential Candidate 

Bancroft, Anne (1931-2005) Actress 

James Dean (1931-1955) Actor 

James Earl Jones (1931-    ) Actor 

Bernard F. Law (1931-    ) Former Roman Catholic Archbishop 

Mickey Mantle (1931-1995) Baseball Player 

Willie Mays (1931-    ) Baseball Player 

Dan Rather (1931-    ) TV Journalist 

Barbara Walters (1931-    ) TV Journalist 

Edward M. Kennedy (1932-    ) Senator 

Elvis Presley (1932-1977) Singer 

Donald Rumsfeld (1932-    ) Defense Secretary 

John Updike (1932-    ) Author 

Jerry Falwell (1933-    ) Minister, Evangelist, Founder of Moral Majority 

Dianne Fienstein (1933-    ) Senator 

Susan Sontag (1933-2004) Critic, Essayist, Novelist 

Henry Aaron (1934-    ) Baseball Player 

Pat Boone (1934-    ) Singer 

Shirley MacLaine (1934-    ) Actress 

Ralph Nadar (1934-    ) Consumer Advocate, Presidential Candidate 

Bill Russell (1934-    ) Basketball Player, First Black Pro Basketball Coach 

Norman Shwarzkopf (1934-    ) Gulf War General 

Bart Starr (1934    ) NFL Quaterback 

Gloria Steinem (1934-    ) Author, Feminist 

John Sweeny (1934-    ) AFL-CIO President 

Woody Allen (1935-    ) Actor, Director 

Eldridge Cleaver (1935-1998) Black Panthers Leader, Social Critic 

Jack Kemp (1935-    ) VP Candidate, HUD Secretary, NFL Quarterback 

Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999) Professional Basketball Player 

James Dobson (1936-    ) Focus on the Family, Founder 

Elizabeth Hanford Dole (1936-    ) Senator, Red Cross head, Cabinet Member 

Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989) Political Activist 

Buddy Holly (1936-1959) Musician 

Michael Landon (1936-1991) Actor 

John McCain (1936-    ) Senator 

Bill Cosby (1937-    ) Comedian 

Jane Fonda (1937-    ) Actress, Activist 

Dustin Hoffman (1937-    ) Actor 

Colin Powell (1937-    ) Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman

Robert Redford (1937-    ) Actor 

Janet Reno (1937-    ) First Woman US Attorney General 

Ted Turner (1938-    ) TV Executive, Philanthropist 

Natalie Wood (1938-1981) Actress 

Russell Means (1939-    ) Indian Rights 

Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) Assassinated John Kennedy 

Harry Reid (1939-    ) Senate Minority Leader 

Tom Brokaw (1940-    ) TV Journalist 

Nancy Pelosi (1940-    ) House Minority Leader 

Joan Baez (1941-    ) Singer 

Stockley Carmichael (1941- 1998) Black Power Activist 

Dick Cheney (1941-    ) Vice President 

Bob Dylan (1941-    ) Musician, Songwriter 

Jesse Jackson (1941-    ) Minister, Civil Rights Leader 

Martha Stewart (1941-    ) Homemaking Advisor, Entrepreneur, TV Personality 

Muhammad Ali (1942-    ) Boxer 

Michael Eisner (1942-    ) Disney CEO 

Harrison Ford (1942-    ) Actor 

Bill Frist (1942-    ) Senate Majority Leader 

Dennis Hastert (1942-    ) Speaker of the House 

Garrison Keillor (1942-    ) Author, Broadcaster 

Calvin Klein (1942-    ) Fashion Designer 

Kate Michelman (1942-    ) Abortion Rights Activist 

Barbara Streisand (1942-    ) Singer Actress

And let us not forget the Man in Black (1932-2003) Singer:  

We all miss him, Willie, Merle, Bobby, and the rest of us

and we try not to resent those who love him now, but ignored him when he was alive.

Maybe he'd think I'm taking the whole thing too seriously and I should talk more about dogs.