By Mr. Duke

April 14, 2007 7:08 PM | Link to this

Hey Vick: You are right, Vonnegut represents some of the LAST of a dying breed of a generation that did many, many, many good things in their lifetime. I know they have been labeled as “The Greatest Generation”, but I have to admit that there is a lot of truth to that. Growing up in a worldwide great economic depression, where often finding something to eat was really a big deal. As young lads and lassies, fighting, dying, and ultimately winning probably the greatest world war in the history of mankind, where a real threat to a democratic way of life was eminent. Sacrificing to rebuild a devastated Europe and Japan, who happened to be the former enemy, because it was the right thing to do. Then, ultimately building one of the greatest economic systems of all time, at any time. And they did it without complaining, or whining, or “chest beating”. They pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps and accomplished those many things, and more, because it created a better way of life for themselves, and most importantly, for their families. That generation became the standard barrier for the “family unit”, of which all of us today are the direct beneficiaries. No, that generation was NOT perfect in many ways. For instance, if you ask a black person how great was the 1950’s, you probably will receive different feedback of “The Greatest Generation.” Of course, people like Kurt Vonnegut, and Norman Mailer among others, were very astute and influential in pointing out the flaws and misdirections of their generation. That’s certainly one of the beautiful attributes about that generation’s attitude. They worked hard to accomplish much, but they could often accept criticism WITHOUT feeling victimized. The word “compromise” was NOT considered a bad word in Kurt Vonnegut’s generation. Unlike today, compromise was considered a strength, something that “wise” people did. I’m sure by his own generation, Kurt Vonnegut was considered to be a bit anti-establishment. It is only the following generations that could truly appreciate his perspective on life, and the social/political/industrial missteps that occured. Of course, that is often the trademark of greatness. Very few great writers, artists, politicians, etc. are considered “great” by their own peer group. While Vonnegut did have a great deal of recognition and accolades during his lifetime, much of it was from a younger generation. I have kind of an interesting perspective about Kurt Vonnegut. One of my college roommates, who grew up in Schnectady(sp?) N.Y., had a father who worked in the public relations department at the world headquarters of General Electric. One of the father’s best friends was Kurt Vonnegut, who also worked in G.E.’s P.R. dept. The two started out together after WWII as writers and communicators. Much of Vonnegut’s early works, were based on his experiences working at G.E. My roommate had many stories about Vonnegut, via his father, about how his perspective was often different than the mainstream establishment. Of course, as avid readers of Vonnegut’s works, we know that. We will miss him for a long, long time. I’m often concerned that younger generations don’t appreciate intellectual thoughts of such people. Today’s generations seem to think that “sensationalism” represents intellectualism. Not true!! Read some Vonnegut, and think about it. You will be both entertained and enlightened. Again, we will miss him alot!!

By Barbara Delaney

April 13, 2007 1:41 AM | Link to this

What a loss, a great man and a great novelist. Who could ever forget “The Church of God of the Utterly Indifferent”, and “chrono-syclastic infundibula”? So very sad. And so it goes.