Life 2.0

The only hero I've ever known, my cousin Richard C. Hoffman, passed away last week. My life is filled with countless memories of Rich and his pivotal role in our family on so many levels. A highly decorated Marine Corps Sergeant, he served two tours in Vietnam, and eventually Agent Orange would wreak havoc on his body. While he wasn't KIA like so many of his friends in 'Nam, he is very much a casualty of that war, decades after he returned home. I have captured some audio of my conversation with "The Sarge" from Veteran's Day 2023, which now provides invaluable insights and recollections from his life.

 

I'm heartbroken that he is gone, but in the same breath, so very glad he was here. I wouldn't be the man I am today without him.

As I prepare to send out a few autographed copies of "Living an Uncommon Life," I realized that I haven't gone through the list of the 21 extraordinary people who are featured in quite some time. So, rolling back the years a bit, with a crib note review of the lessons I learned, and the people who made it all possible to become a perpetual best-seller. 

Against a background of construction noise, it's another attempt to find the obvious buried in the absurd and dispense common sense during uncommon times. It's a trip back to 1937 and the classic "Lost Horizon" via an article by Alan Cohen, who points out the fact that the tone and tenor of life 88 years ago was of doom, gloom, greed, despair, and "end of the world" kinda stuff. You know, like today. In the end, just as in the beginning, no one will care about how you voted. There are no democrats, republicans or "other" in the cemetery, just dead people. 

Capt. James Lovell (USN-Ret.) passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 97. He was one of the early space heroes for millions of people, as we boldly went where no one had gone before-to the moon. He was the commander of Apollo 13, who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering and was made famous by the film of the same name, with Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell. My broadcast colleague Charlie Meyerson permitted me to include audio from an interview he did with Mr. Lovell back in 1987, and the importance of perspective when it comes to how we see the world, and our place in it becomes self-evident.

I've been ignoring the onslaught of AI B.S. for the past few weeks but can longer sit silent as images of Tom Brady attending Ryne Sandberg's funeral (he didn't) Jerry Kramer being honored with a statue outside of Lambeau Field (he wasn't) or Vince Gill sobbing on stage with Joe Walsh (neither of them did) came into my line of sight over and over again. The tipping point is when the AI-generated image of Willie Nelson and John Denver popped up with the headline that "At 92, Willie Nelson shares his TRUE feelings about John Denver!" 

Total clickbait B.S. 

 

As this technology continues to become an invasive species, honing our human intelligence might be the final firewall of common sense for uncommon times.

Renita D. Young is a force of nature and a formidable voice in the media. In this episode, she teams up with her sister, Rhonda Williams, with practical wisdom on how to navigate the turbulent waters during a job loss and the importance of not confusing who you are as a person with what you do for a living in their new book, "Now What? The Ultimate Job Loss Toolkit." When Longfellow said, "The human voice is the organ of the soul," he must have been thinking about Renita, that's for sure.

The anticipation of reconnecting with guys I played college football with back when Gerald Ford was POTUS was off the charts. However, in mere moments, one-half century melted away, and all of us were back in the huddle again, ready to strap it up one more time. But, for me, the lessons of football didn't end when the final whistle blew; in some way, they were just beginning. There are great parallels between the gridiron and real life, and I was once again reminded of how important it is to remember the faces and names that were a part of my life back then, that helped to shape who I am now. 

They say that death comes in threes, and the past few days, we've said goodbye to Ozzy Osborne, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and Hulk Hogan. But those are only the names we know. The average life expectancy is 78.5 years, which is just 28,652 days to find out why you showed up on the planet in the first place. The truth is that 3,500 people die every day in America, and one million around the world per week. Tomorrow, when I attend the wake of a friend who passed away this past week, I will be keeping in mind that how you die isn't nearly as important as how you live.

110 years ago today, July 24th, 1915, The Eastland was bound for a day trip across Lake Michigan filled with employees of The Western Electric Company. Over 2,500 people boarded the boat, docked on the Chicago River, and less than an hour later,  844 men, women, children, and crew were killed in what was the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes. So, how is it possible that over a century later, the name "Neils Petersen" was broadcast in an edit suite at the Oprah Radio Studios in 2008 on a speaker that wasn't even plugged in? One of the most unbelievable experiences of my life, and it's why every July 24th, I make sure to visit Niels and his son Royal, who also perished.

When Sally McQuillen's twenty-one-year-old son died in a boat accident, her greatest fear was realized. Christopher was often drawn to risk and struggled with addiction. In this riveting memoir, Sally captures the wild ride of his jam-packed life and her deep love for him while reflecting on her own childhood and her family’s legacy of alcoholism. 

A powerful conversation with an incredible author and reluctant prophet on what it's like living through unrelenting grief, and finding a measure of purpose in unimaginable loss.