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Upon meeting me, people quickly learn that I was simply born too late. About 25 years, I think. I'm just in the wrong generation, at the wrong end of the baby boom, and no matter how hard I try, I can't get back where I belong. God knows I have tried.
This is where Mary Travers comes in. For those of you in your correct generation Mary Travers is Mary of Peter, Paul and Mary fame. My parents had (as everyone surely did) several Peter, Paul, and Mary albums though no hippies, they. So Mary's trumpety voice was imprinted on my neurological system early and deeply.
As a result, upon hearing her voice today, I am instantly transported back to my days of protesting the Viet Nam War by throwing bags of red paint at the local recruiting office, Free Loving, Shouting down Lyndon Johnson, campaigning hard for Robert Kennedy, and cheering on the Apollo program. Then I stop myself and remember I was only a preschooler.
How DO you do that, Mary?