The Lucky Generation
The Life, Loves and Times of a (Slightly Mad) Baby Boomer
by
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LIFE ,LOVES AND TIMES OF A (SLIGHTLY MAD )BABY BOOMER by Brian Sumner
ON DEPRESSION
So far as I’m concerned , Life had been an Island of Bliss in a Sea of ennui… I awake. Its 2.35am ... I feel like shit. I’m desperate and confused . . I cant sleep... Its a familiar pattern and a frightening one and I think I’m going insane . .. Night after night I had lain awake , small and frightened , I’m anxious and depressed .. I ‘m in a Catatonic state.. I returned to the Psychiatrist who asked if I had suicidal thoughts .I lied and said “No”.
Clearly the pain of a Depression is unimaginable to those who have not suffered , and it kills in many cases .….This is w
hen suicide started to become a real option. .Life in the famous Priory Hospital near London.ON 40s and 50s .. Baby Boomers have lead a life of unprecedented freedom, safety and affluence .Conceived following the rubble of wartime and the deaths of so many sons and fathers , we have enjoyed very different times . So many of us have Money, Television, Computers , Mobile telephones , foreign holidays and travel, consumer comforts , and so on. We have seen Man land on the Moon and experienced no world wars in our lifetimes.…We are the Lucky generation..CONTINUES...… It was born into a world where the ‘Workhouse ‘ still existed and Social security was only just being invented . … .
ON THE 60S and 70s..Real Rock Groupies we were ... .The Mod and Rocker riots in Brighton Hastings and Clacton were just around the corner . We were there too . . We used to go to Brighton and sleep under the famous Pier , staying out all night and getting high on ‘Purple Hearts ‘..Pirate radio ships ..Tragedy was just around the corner -Rog and Howies accident occurred on the notorious N7 two lane highway...by the mid seventies men and women were having sex with anyone they fancied as a result(of the pill). Sex was fun and recreational..
ON RUGBY…‘
….On my first Easter(RUGBY) Tour, we stayed at the legendary Actress Dora Bryan’s hotel in Brighton. She , her husband and the Chihuahua were in the lounge to greet us ...‘Where’s the Bar ‘ and we all piled in and got started . It was 3pm.Dora must have begun to fear the worst …At 11pm she rather optimistically closed the Bar ..but they clearly had not had a Touring Rugby team there before …CONTINUES …I felt so proud as I walked up to the legendary rugby ground(TWICKENHAM) carrying my kit! My careful fitness plans were ruined when , after going to bed early , my girlfriend had kept me awake all night shagging ! ..CONTINUES … The ‘Vets’ are (Veteran )Rugby players who have seen better days ! They are the best drinkers in the Club - for them , the social side of the game is the thing really. They have been fitter ( training is rather frowned upon) .Vets don’t realise how slow they have become! In their minds , they still have IT!
ON SEX….There were some disappointments on the way , but eventually I managed to persuade a woman to have Sex with me . I was 17. I adored her and had looked upon her as ‘Forbidden fruit ‘. She was beautiful- and very sexy. .....To be honest, I’ve never really been sure about Casual Sex. It can be a bit of a Minefield if you ask me. With a stranger there were , and always are , things that might blow up in your face .. Ten minutes later she is all over me and we are shagging each others Brains out in my Bed . And she was good .Very good . ...
ON MARRIAGE …… Someone once said ‘You shouldn’t marry someone you can live with , you should marry someone you can’t live without.’ .. Life’s statistics seem to make a mockery of our cultural dedication to monogamy. Marriage break-up is rife....Nowadays more women are independent minded and , crucially , often financially independent and can make a life choice of their own. Baby Boomers .. aspirations are generally much higher. If they are unhappy over a long period they just wont stand for it . So , it seems that the old marriage model is breaking down ..Of course we men are quite different from women in many ways ..for example ..
Until the early 19th century, English and European law allowed for a husband to complain to a magistrate about his wife’s ‘nagging’ ..the ducking stool being the punishment.
ON WORK ..some tips for the budding Entrepreneur!..
ON RELIGION … My journey from ‘Born again Christian to Atheist.. having been brought up a strict Christian , I ultimately determined to make my own mind up.. No ‘Pascal Wager ‘ for me.. I now regard God as a rather unlikely phenomenon …
THE ACTOR..
… ‘What makes you think I’ll do it , that I’ll be any good or even that they will have me? ‘ I said , hoping they wouldn’t have me. I hadn’t acted since my school days 20 years before.
‘ Because they are desperate ‘ she continued .
‘What’s the part? ‘ I asked
‘Malcolm in ‘Bedroom Farce‘ ‘ she continued. ‘He makes a cabinet and it falls apart at the end and its supposed to be very funny . It sounds like the part’s tailor made for you ‘ . This was one of those moments when one has the opportunity to step forward and take a risk . Get out of ones ‘Comfort Zone’. .Paraphrasing Eric Morecambe ..
‘Yes , I remember my lines , but not necessarily in the right order’… I am , however , about to be in a couple of scenes with Meryl Streep and Richard E Grant , in the film ‘The Iron Lady ‘ about Thatcher. Oh yes !
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About the Book
The Author was born just post the second world war-a member of the so called ‘Baby Boomer ‘ Generation in London .During the book he describes to us what life was like growing up in those far off , and very different ,days . Whilst at its core the Book is autobiographical , it is much more than that. It has both comedy and tragedy and is full of well researched facts on many of the events of the 50s , 60s and 70s and beyond that have touched his life and the prevailing ‘Zeitgeist ‘ of those years .It seeks to inform in many areas. Brian is a successful businessman and entrepreneur , having been a Director of several Bank Subsidiaries and founded three companies. He shares the business lessons that came to guide him in his career. There have been hardships – he has suffered from a severe clinical depression - and the book opens with his moving and harrowing account of what this debilitating illness can be like at its most extreme.
The book goes on, in an extremely frank and honest way , to describe his hilarious early experiences as a teenager looking for sex and love , his story of his accomplished work and rugby football careers , his topsy turvy experiences of sailing , skiing and amateur dramatics , his views on marriage and fatherhood , and relationships with women in general , again providing us with both insight and humour throughout ! He discusses his strange journey from ‘Born again ‘ Christian , to Atheism, and the forces that drove him from the one extreme to the other.
Along Brian’s lifetime journey we laugh and cry with the author , who has enjoyed much success , happiness and fulfilment in his life in spite of the ever present danger of Depression .
About the Author
The Author was born in south London in 1947 and was educated at the City Of London School and Manchester Business School. He is a Freeman of the City of London. He went into Banking and Financial Services in London in the 60s and rose to subsidiary Director then Managing Director in Lloyds , TSB and NM Rothschild Banks. In the past he has founded three successful financial services businesses. He played first class rugby for Blackheath , Wasps , Kent and Wilmslow in the 60s and 70s .His hobbies are Golf , Tennis , Skiing , Sailing and serious Amateur dramatics .He is now a part time company director and Investor and lives in Cheshire, UK . This is his first book .