Publisher's Synopsis
This is a book by an accidental author. Written by one of the foremost conflict management trainers, the pieces were penned across four decades of business travel. While he was training groups ranging from fighter pilots to cowboys to the psychiatric staff around Charles Manson, Michael Vandergriff wrote short pieces at airports and on planes to relax. In recent years and toward the end of a seven-year caregiving journey, Michael found a box of his creations and began the construction of this book. Forever a fan of Shel Silverstein and James Thurber, he taught himself to draw in 2020 and completed all illustrations. The content is a rollercoaster across twelve stages of Boomer life. The short pieces inspire, amuse, dismay, disgust, uplift, and provide insights. The book also celebrates the delightfully caustic characters (Bast*rds) in the Boomer generation, making a case that a wide range of opinions is of great value to us all.Inside the Boomer Bast*rd: Chapters 1-4: the nostalgia of youth, school years, dating and marriage. Chapter 5: the pain all Boomers hoped to avoid-divorce. Chapters 6-7: early jobs through retirement and the challenges of parenting. Chapters 8-9: Bast*rds vs Blessings, contrasting Boomers who rant through their senior years with those who grow older with grace, compassion, and understanding. Chapters 10-12: addresses senior reboots, battles in healthcare and, ultimately, what we leave behind.
