I have wondered whether the inaugural address about the torch being passed to a new generation was THE formative event for the baby boomer generation. JFK spoke of his generation, but I felt it my generation for years to come. 

Perhaps it was a comment on the march of time as generation succeeds generation.

I have also been touched by the retrospectives on Gettysberg and the observation that a host of European royal families watched with keen interest the progress of the American civil war. And the idea that Lincoln was, in part, addressing that open question of whether a nation so conceived would long endure.

What an extraordinary gift we have had in both leaders, both with the power to inspire passion for the work of a generation.

This is NO commentary on the current flock of leaders in Washington. I have undaunted faith that somewhere in there will emerge lasting leadership for this next generation.

Ginny



Virginia G. Maurer, M.A., J.D.
Professor of Business Law and Legal Studies
Director, Poe Center for Business Ethics
Darden Restaurants Professor of Diversity Management
Warrington College of Business
352 256 0295 (cell)
352 376 2867 (home)


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From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Karla Fox [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 4:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 50 years ago today

Thanks, Nim, for starting this chain.

This anniversary is so traumatic for me, after all these years, that I had spent the first part of today pretending that I didn't realize its special significance.

However, as I read the comments, it has been a catharsis for me, and it may be instructive to younger Association members who do not have independent memories of that event.

I was in band class when the school principal came on the PA system and told us what had happened.  This was in a very conservative area of Columbia, South Carolina.  The shock and grief of my fellow band members was immediate and overwhelming.  Strangely, the thing I remember the most about the experience was the absolute pall of silence that fell everywhere.  Our band had been playing loudly before the announcement.  Afterwards, 100 people put away their instruments and most of the school went home on buses (the rest of the day was cancelled), and you could have heard a pin drop throughout the whole school.  The only sound was an occasional sob.  I walked home from school, several blocks, and there was utter silence.  A few cars were on the road, driving slowly; people passed and nodded, but did not speak.  It seemed even the birds were not singing. The rest of the next few days, my family and friends spend in grief: it did not matter who any of them has voted for.  I really believe that our country changed a little forever after that day.

I am so glad that we went to the Kennedy Library at our last annual meeting.  It is very evocative.

Karla
Karla Fox, Emeritus Professor
University of Connecticut
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From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Michael Bixbys [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 3:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 50 years ago today

Ah, you youngsters.   I was in my 3rd year of college, walking across the "diag" on the University of Michigan campus when I saw a bunch of folks gathered and listening to a transistor radio.  They told me what had happened and I went back to my room and watched the days events unfold, as Walter Cronkite gave us the sad news.
     JFK was definitely my first political hero, especially since he had come to the UM campus during his campaign and announced, late one night on the steps of the Michigan Union, that he would start something called the Peace Corps if elected.  Less than 5 years later, one month after graduating from law school, my wife Sharon (we had been married for two weeks) and I joined the Peace Corps.  We did feel, as JFK said, that "the torch has been passed" to a new generation.
Michael

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 22, 2013, at 11:00 AM, "Razook, Nim M." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone - I guess I'm a little surprised that no one has said anything today  about JFK.  He was an amazingly popular president, especially to young people - even to kids in Cherokee, Oklahoma (1963 pop. = 2500).  I was 14 and in class when Principal Frank Cuzalina announced via the intercom that President Kennedy had been assassinated.  I was heartbroken.  One of my best friends made things even worse when he said out loud that he wouldn't have voted for Kennedy anyhow.  I can honestly say that my relationship was never the same with that friend.  It sounds pretty petty now, but it's also true.  Nim