	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Dec-07
William A. Strauss, February 5, 1947 - December 18, 2007

Web Log - December, 2007

William A. Strauss, February 5, 1947 - December 18, 2007

The co-author, with Neil Howe, of foundational books on generational theory, passed away on Tuesday of cancer at age 60.

William A. Strauss

William A. Strauss

Strauss and Howe coauthored several best-selling books on generations, starting with Generations (1991), a history of America told as a sequence of generational biographies. Vice President Al Gore called it "the most simulating book on American history that I have ever read" and sent a copy to every member of Congress. Newt Gingrich called it "an intellectual tour de force."

Their most important work, in my opinion, is The Fourth Turning (1997), which establishes Strauss and Howe as the founding fathers of generational theory. This book presented a new theory of Anglo-American history, from the 1400s through the present, showing that major historical events are driven by generational changes, not by politicians.

For example, we know that today's Boomers, the generation born after WW II, are arrogant and narcissistic, and that those in next generation, Generation-X, are angry and disaffected. What Strauss and Howe discovered, by reading thousands of histories and diaries, is that generations that follow major wars (crisis wars, or "fourth turning" wars) are similar. For example, those in the Reformation Generation that was born after the War of the Roses (1459-87) were also arrogant and narcisstic, and the next generation, the Reprisal Generation, was also angry and disaffected.

By piecing together these bits of evidence, they put together the monumental book Generations. Many readers of this book, especially people who don't understand what's going on in the world, have found this book to be comforting, by each person where he fits in the generational flow.

Going further, The Fourth Turning presents what amounts to a highly readable but rigorous presentation of generational flow for the entire Anglo-American historical timeline.

Previously, Strauss coauthored two books with Lawrence Baskir about the Vietnam War: Chance and Circumstance: The Draft, The War, and the Vietnam Generation (1978), and Reconciliation After Vietnam (1978). Around that time, he served on the staff of the U.S. Senate and President Ford’s White House. It was during this time that Strauss first began to notice that people of different social classes in the same generation are much more similar to one another than people from the same social class in different generations. That led to his partnership with Howe, and authorship of Generations.

In addition to his career as a writer and historian, Strauss is a noted playwright, theater director, and performer. He was co-founder and director of the Capitol Steps, a professional satirical troupe that has performed over 7,000 shows, three PBS specials, and fifty radio shows for NPR stations. The Steps have released 26 albums (most recently, I’m So Indicted) and two books (most recently, Sixteen Scandals), and have performed numerous times off-Broadway, often with Strauss in the cast. Strauss has written three musicals (MaKiddo, Free-the-Music.com, and Anasazi) and two plays (Gray Champions and The Big Bump) about various themes in the books he has co-authored with Howe. And in the summer of 1999, Strauss co-founded the Cappies, a high school “Critics and Awards” program.

A native of San Francisco, William A. Strauss was a graduate of Harvard College (1969), Harvard Law School (1973), and the Kennedy School of Government (1973). He's survived by a wife and four grown children.

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It's hard to believe that anyone's life has been affected by Strauss and Howe's work more than mine. Generational Dynamics grew out of The Fourth Turning theory, and has taken over my life as a total obsession. Outside of working for a living, I rarely do anything anymore unrelated to my web site.

On my web site I sometimes mention the mythical Cassandra. Apollo fell in love with her and gave her the gift of seeing the future. When she spurned his advances, he cursed her: She could still prophesy the future, but nobody would believe her. When her predictions came true, and the soldiers poured out of the Trojan Horse and massacred most of the people in the city, she was reviled and raped.

Strauss and Howe have never talked about this aspect of the work they've done, that I know of, but I have to believe that some form of this has applied to them as well, as it has applied to me. I believe that this is the reason why Strauss and Howe never published any further work on the "fourth turning" theory, but instead focused on the social, workplace and marketplace implications of the rise of the new Millennial generation.

William A. Strauss had many dear friends and followers. Those wishing to express condolences may do so in the Bill Strauss, 1947-2007: With Great Sadness thread of the The Fourth Turning Forum .

Finally, here's a video from a production of the Capitol Steps:

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Dec-07 William A. Strauss, February 5, 1947 - December 18, 2007

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 19-Dec-07
William A. Strauss, February 5, 1947 - December 18, 2007