Funny how our culture seems to be in a constant state of renewal – or change – or something.

In Canada, freedom loving, sit on the fence, statesmanship by consensus Canada our government is buying armoured personnel carriers for the RCMP and spending billions on jet fighters we don’t need.

Makes us long for that ‘kinder, gentler time’ as Ronald ‘I Never Met a Jelly Bean I Didn’t Like’ Reagan used to say.

This year, and it is only halfway over, a few more links to that gentler time have slipped off the mortal coil (boy I am all cliches this morning). Here are just a few from ‘My Generation’ who have passed:

• Sally Ride (July 23rd) – ‘Ride Sally Ride!’ – remember those heady days of space exploration when Sally Ride was the first American woman in space? Years before Christie McAulliffe and all that Sally Ride showed young girls everywhere that the skies are indeed the limit. Kind of like Roberta Bondar here in Canada.
• Jon Lord (July 16th) – Ok, hands up everyone who remembers ‘Smoke on The Water!’ from high school dances? Personally I always thought Deep Purple’s best tune was ‘Lazy’ courtesy of Jon Lord’s amazing keyboards!
• Ernest Borgnine (July 8th) – You just knew the dude was tough, but watch ‘Marty’ to see just how amazing this actor was. Heck he was married to Ethel Merman…
• Andy Griffith (July 3rd) – Aw shucks! You knew Andy was ancient but it was always comforting to bundle up on the couch with Mayberry RFD or Matlock when the flu season hit.
• Nora Ephron (June 26th) – When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle – a master of the 1940′s screwball comedy 40 years later. An amazing person as well as writer, Nora Ephron should be held high as a role model for people (not just girls!) everywhere.
• Ray Bradbury (June 5th) – The saddest day of being 10 was when my dog-eared copy of ‘The Martian Chronicles’ slid off the raft into the Straits of Georgia. Well actually it wasn’t my copy, I snitched it off JL and was heading for a hiding when he found out!
• Levon Helm (April 19th) – Kids today might remember Woodstock from old movies and Youtube but Levon Helm and The Band were as famous as Jimi Hendrix for those of us in tie dyed shirts and bell bottom pants in 1969. Rolling Stone ranked Levon Helm #91 of the Top 100 Singers of All Time – ’nuff said!
• Davy Jones (February 29th) – We all knew it was a sham but who didn’t tune in to watch The Monkees!? Girls loved his long hair, guys like me gagged and then tried to emulate his British accent, but it was all in fun and nobody really cared that the Russkies were planning to drop a hydrogen bomb down the steeple of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Campbellton.

“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace.”
- John F. Kennedy

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