Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Observations — 1986, Transitions


Oprah Went National

Haiti’s “Baby Doc” Duvalier fled to France.  Ferdinand Marcos left the Philippines to hide in Hawaii. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger resigned.  Antonin Scalia was appointed. Ronald Reagan denied Arms For Hostages trade. Iran invaded Iraq. Chernobyl happened. Tut tomb was found n Egypt. Voyager 2 sped by Uranus. Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev began their famous chats. The Supreme Court affirmed affirmative action. The U.S. government was shut down.  Hepatitis B vaccine was developed. Microsoft went public. Reggie Jackson hit his 537th home run, breaking Mickey Mantle’s record. The Oprah Winfrey Show went national. The Nobel Peace prize went to Elie Wiesel. The Pulitzer Prize for Literature was awarded to Larry McMurtry for Lonesome Dove.  The Mystery Writers of America gave their top award the Edgar, to L R. Wright for The Suspect.  We also read It by Stephen King, Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, Whirlwind by James Clavell, The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum, Hollywood Husbands by Jackie Collins, Wanderlust by Danielle Steele, I’ll Take Manhattan by Judith Krantz, Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour, The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, and A Perfect Spy by John Le Carré.  We watched Stand By Me, Aliens, Top Gun, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Labrynth, and Platoon.  Out of Africa won the Academy’s best picture award. The Grammy that year went to Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie for “We Are The World.”  Other popular music included “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne And Friends, “Say You, Say Me “by Lionel Ritchie, “I Miss You,” by Klymax, “On my Own” by Patti LaBelle. “Broken Wings,” Mr. Mister, “Party All The Time” by Eddie Murphy. 1986 births include Lady Gaga. Robert Pattinson, Usain Bolt and Shia Labeouf.   Quite a few notables departed the realm:  L. Ron Hubbard, Donna Reed, Cary Grant, Desi Arnaz. James Cagney, Benny Goodman, Forest Tucker, Ray Milland, Gordon McCrae. Rudy Vallee, Kate Smith, Georgia O’Keefe and LiIi Palmer.  If you were around, what were you doing during the year of the fire tiger?

1986 Corvette, Indy 500 Pace Car


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