From Rock Around the Clock to TikTok

Each personal story adds to the long view of a tumultuous and triumphant span of history that saw a world war, the civil rights movement, the birth of rock and roll in their hometown, racial integration, women's rights, space exploration, the Vietnam War, economic booms and busts, and technological advances into a new century that connected the world virtually in ways their parents and grandparents could hardly have imagined. Their stories are both ordinary and extraordinary, and leave the reader with a sense of how the twists and turns, and dreams and realities that everyone experiences can add up to rich lives, with plenty of promise for their futures, their families, and the world.