Topic is “Watching Walter Cronkite, Reflections on Growing Up in the 1950s and 1960s”
Hunterdon Medical Center cardiologist, Austin Ken Kutscher, will read from his newly published book, “Watching Walter Cronkite, Reflections on Growing Up in the 1950s and 1960s,” on June 7 from 6:30-8 p.m. in the auditorium at Hunterdon Medical Center.
In the memoir, Dr. Kutscher reflects on how our lives were shaped by the transforming events of the 1950s and 1960s. “As we celebrate our first African-American president, Barack Obama, in a world where American soldiers are still fighting wars halfway across the globe and where the threat of nuclear weapons still exists, generations both young and old need to understand the past events that were so instrumental in shaping our lives today,” explained Dr. Kutscher.
The book had its beginning when Dr. Kutcher was serving as mayor of Flemington and realized his daughter was part of a generation, born after 1980, unaware of issues that have been the foundation of their parents’ ideals. Using the historical events of the era of the 50s and 60s as a backdrop, Dr. Kutscher has fashioned a moving memoir of his experiences as a public school and college student, as he tried to make his mark in the world after his mother had died of breast cancer. He shares not only his personal joys and sorrows, but also the parallel adolescent reminiscences of his wife, Mary Ellen. Their personal journeys are representative of everyday Baby Boomers, who never were featured on the CBS Evening News.
Watching Walter Cronkite helps the reader recall the array of events that unfolded nightly on their TV screens—including the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr., the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, the anti-war movement, the counter-culture, the Woodstock Festival, and the crowning achievement of the 1960s—the Apollo XI moon landing.
The event will include guest speaker Bill Tucker, an Emmy-award winning correspondent for CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight. Mr. Tucker will present an overview of how the news has changed over the years. Dr. Kutscher will read from his memoir and sign books at the event. A dessert reception will follow.
The fee for the event is $35 and includes a hard-cover book. Proceeds will be donated to the Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation and designated for Cardiovascular Services. To register, call Veronica Sydlowski at 908-788-6134.