Did we baby boomers really have it so good? 

      This was a question I set out to answer when I retired after a 40-year career in journalism. I decided to use the piles of material I had collected to write a memoir charting my progress through the second half of the 20th century. It took me seven years. 

     This talk starts with my childhood in Wimbledon, not long after the end of war. It is a tough time of mourning and rationing, though these deprrivations provide lasting lessons. And, as the dull colours give way to the golds and reds of the Coronation, we learn that things can, after all, get better.  

     A little later on, after failing spectacularly at two forbidding schools, I take advantage of free college education and find a brand new university willing to give me - and many others - a chance.

     My first job is as a reporter in a small country town, where my editor instils in me the value of simple writing, honest reporting, and a punning headline.  

     Finally, towards the end of the millennium, I take advantage of the extraordinary advances in technology and medical science – from the miracle of modern medicines to the ability to phone home from the top of a bus. 

     My conclusion is that we have been a lucky generation - an assertion that often provokes some llively disagreement.