For quite a few years now, the joke has gone something like this: If you remember the Sixties you weren’t there.
Fair enough in some ways, we suppose.
But then there’s the music. No doubt like the music of every generation, the soundtrack of our lives was largely shaped in our early years and continues today to evoke memories and transport us back to the unforgettable moments of our youth.
Or, as the title poem in WHAT BUT THE MUSIC puts it:
“What but the music might have orchestratedforgotten revolutions and unforgettable kisses?What but the music underscored every presumedtriumph and defeat, drew us into church basementsand into cheap apartments in bad neighborhoods,ripped down walls, egged us on, played us out?”
In WHAT BUT THE MUSIC: Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives scores of talented writers explore that soundtrack, artist by artist, and song by song. And, through the magic of YouTube and other similar sites, each poem and personal essay includes a suggested link (we call it “The Jukebox”) to the music itself, the perfect accompaniment to the writing.
You can try it out here.
Category Archives: Poetry
Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives
THE FUNERAL AT MINGUS, TEXAS
Of course, What Remains is concerned with the most serious of subjects, but that doesn’t mean it’s without humor, as in Sheryl Nelms’ account of a Texas funeral brimming with the deceased’s personal style.
Sheryl L. Nelms
THE FUNERAL AT MINGUS, TEXAS
they said
Bobbie Lou
paid for them to do it
her way at the cemetery
blue tarp
roof
live band
and her
right there
in her pink coffin
on the stand
over the grave
while they
line danced
did the Cotton-Eyed Joe
and swigged
cases
of Pearl
and Lone Star
that she bought before she died
then tossed
their empties
into the hole
before they lowered
her away
Filed under Poetry
The “man who [wrote] like Neruda.”
Three Tamales for the Señor by the late James Tipton is a captivating collection of his short fiction, but many know Jim as a widely published and highly regarded poet as well (consider that Isabelle Allende called him “the man who writes like Neruda”).Here’s a taste of his poetry, recorded just weeks before his death from cancer.https://www.amazon.com/Three…/dp/B088KTHLXP/ref=sr_1_5…
Filed under Poetry
Three Tamales for the Señor and Other Stories By James Tipton
“James (Jim) Tipton was a man so alive, so aware, so immersed in life, that it seems nothing escaped his attention: not the changing sound of rain, not the soft whisper of a butterfly’s wing, not the shadow of sadness behind a smile, nor the tremor of joy beneath a frown. He saw and loved all of it, and the stories collected in this book give testament to the depth and breadth of his understanding.”– Rachel (RJ) McMillen Author of the Dan Connor Mystery Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Three…/dp/B088KTHLXP/ref=sr_1_1…
From the Eric Hoffer Book Awards:
“What Remains: The Many Ways We Say Goodbye An Anthology, Sandi Gelles-Cole and Kenneth Salzmann (editors), Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises – Who knew that as many ways as humans are unique so are the ways they say goodbye to those they loved. This anthology of accomplished writers from all over the world shares how people mark that final passage. What compels a person to be buried in a mushroom suit to help with decomposing the body as a green solution? How does a creatively carved casket become ones last gift? These stories of final farewell will resonate.”https://www.amazon.com/…/173358…/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0…
What Remains garners awards
All results from the 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award judging are now in and we are pleased to let you know that What Remains: The Many Ways We Say Goodbye has garnered yet another award.
The new award is in addition to the collection having been picked out of a field of some 2,500 books last week and shortlisted for the Grand Prize.
This time, it is the ebook edition of What Remains that is being honored. It is one of three Honorable Mentions in the Nonfiction eBook category.
Thank you once more for helping to make the anthology a (multiple) prize-winning book!
What But the Music e-book now available at Amazon — Only $0.99 Until March 14
Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives, Poems and Essays
In What But the Music, dozens of highly accomplished and widely honored writers and poets—largely Baby Boomers, but also some who came into the world a little bit before or a little bit after the years that demarcate that generation—consider the songs and artists who helped create the soundtrack of their lives.The evocative poems and personal essays in this collection recall many of the expected musicians who shaped the sounds of the 1950s through the 1970s, with (as might be expected) a heavy dose of Sixties music throughout. Of course, the Beatles and Rolling Stones are included, and so are everyone from Lesley Gore to Lou Reed, the Dave Clark 5 to the Fugs, Aretha Franklin to Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Ian, B.B. King, and Frank Sinatra. Les Paul and Mary Ford are to be found…
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Filed under Poetry
What But the Music e-book now available at Amazon — Only $0.99 Until March 14
Baby Boomers Write About the Soundtrack of Their Lives, Poems and Essays
In What But the Music, dozens of highly accomplished and widely honored writers and poets—largely Baby Boomers, but also some who came into the world a little bit before or a little bit after the years that demarcate that generation—consider the songs and artists who helped create the soundtrack of their lives.The evocative poems and personal essays in this collection recall many of the expected musicians who shaped the sounds of the 1950s through the 1970s, with (as might be expected) a heavy dose of Sixties music throughout. Of course, the Beatles and Rolling Stones are included, and so are everyone from Lesley Gore to Lou Reed, the Dave Clark 5 to the Fugs, Aretha Franklin to Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Ian, B.B. King, and Frank Sinatra. Les Paul and Mary Ford are to be found in here. So are Buddy Holly and Dolly Parton and Miles Davis. Ben E. King and Helen Reddy. Edith Piaf and Bruce Springsteen.And so many more icons of the age.But readers are likely to be surprised from time to time, when they happen across tributes to such people as Claudio Abbado, John Williams, Al Hibbler, or Nolan Strong and the Diablos—surprised, that is, until they settle into the memories and realize that those musicians too are a part of the soundtrack of our lives. In assembling the anthology, we never knew who or what might come our way next. And that was one of the delights we experienced working with such a talented group of writers. We hope it will also be a delight for each reader, and we are pretty sure it will.So dust off the turntable and crank up the sounds. Enjoy.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KZFN54R/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1…
A perfect gift for Grandparents Day 9/13
We thought when it first came out that CHILD OF MY CHILD would make a great gift for discerning grandparents, and past decade has borne out that assumption. After ten years, it remains a fresh and timely anthology for the grandpparents you want to celebrate!
And here’s some background on the holiday.
Filed under Books, essays, grandfather, grandmother, grandparents, Poetry
“The Darkroom”featured on Autumn Sky
I am happy to see the always interesting Autumn Sky Poetry Daily is back from hiatus, and happy to have my poem “The Darkroom” featured on the site today.
The Darkroom by Kenneth Salzmann
Filed under Poetry
kensalzmann 