Background
Paul Lyons was born on October 24, 1942, in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He is the son of Bernard Lyons, a supermarket manager, and Matilda (Waroft) Lyons, a secretary.
New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Rutgers University
101 N Merion Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, United States
Bryn Mawr College
1801 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States
Temple University
101 Vera King Farris Dr, Galloway, NJ 08205, United States
Stockton University
Arc of Atlantic County (logotype)
(In the midst of the Vietnam war, sit-ins, counter-culture...)
In the midst of the Vietnam war, sit-ins, counter-culture, and campus rallies, the 1966 graduating class of a South New Jersey coast high school came of age on the margins of political and cultural upheaval. Rather than presenting the stereotype of Sixties youth scene, this study reveals this group to be conservative teenagers shaped by mainstream loyalties to God, Country, and Family. These "Coasters"?white, middle-class, suburban baby-boomers?were spectators of rather than participants in the decade's activism. Yet, even as they were missed by the powerful currents of the times, their lives were touched by those currents more than is suggested by the stereotype of Richard Nixon's "Silent Majority." Paul Lyons interviewed 47 members of the class of 1966, recording recollections of their school days, politics, work, family life, community, and expectations for future careers and family. Each chapter is complemented by personal profiles of individual "Coasters." Removed from both the urban experience and that of the elite suburbs, these teenagers disprove popular cultural assumptions that all baby boomers, with few exceptions, went to Woodstock, protested against the Vietnam War, engaged in drug experimentation, or joined the hippie counter-culture. Instead, Lyons' study explores how their then relative ambivalence to political and cultural rebellion did not preclude many "Coasters" from indirectly incorporating over the years certain core Sixties values on issues of race, gender, mobility, and patriotism. In the midst of the Vietnam war, sit-ins, counter-culture, and campus rallies, the 1966 graduating class of a South New Jersey coast high school came of age on the margins of political and cultural upheaval. Rather than presenting the stereotype of Sixties youth scene, this study reveals this group to be conservative teenagers shaped by mainstream loyalties to God, Country, and Family. These "Coasters"?white, middle-class, suburban baby-boomers?were spectators of rather than participants in the decade's activism. Yet, even as they were missed by the powerful currents of the times, their lives were touched by those currents more than is suggested by the stereotype of Richard Nixon's "Silent Majority." Paul Lyons interviewed 47 members of the class of 1966, recording recollections of their school days, politics, work, family life, community, and expectations for future careers and family. Each chapter is complemented by personal profiles of individual "Coasters." Removed from both the urban experience and that of the elite suburbs, these teenagers disprove popular cultural assumptions that all baby boomers, with few exceptions, went to Woodstock, protested against the Vietnam War, engaged in drug experimentation, or joined the hippie counter-culture. Instead, Lyons' study explores how their then relative ambivalence to political and cultural rebellion did not preclude many "Coasters" from indirectly incorporating over the years certain core Sixties values on issues of race, gender, mobility, and patriotism.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566392144/?tag=2022091-20
1994
(Paul Lyons closely examines two equally important movemen...)
Paul Lyons closely examines two equally important movements of the early Sixties, the New Left and the New Right, both sides equally critical of existing society and both utopian in their visions, and describes the ways in which the historical reality of the Sixties has been dramatically distorted by popular political and social images. New Left, New Right, and the Legacy of the Sixties points to the oversimplification of this generation - not only were there those who served and those who protested, but those who did neither, "the silent majority," a group often overlooked but deeply affected. Examining the careers of such conservative figures as William F. Buckley, Jr., Barry Goldwater, and David Keene, Lyons demonstrates that while the New Left was rallying in the streets, the New Right was building a platform of its own, one that would enable the movement to take center stage by the Eighties with the election of Ronald Reagan. Lyons concludes that despite all of the progress initiated by the political momentum of the Sixties, we as Americans are still plagued by debates about issues like multiculturalism, Afrocentrism, and affirmative action, and in order to effectively address these issues today, we must acknowledge and accept the contributions made by both movements.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566394775/?tag=2022091-20
1996
(At the heart of the tumult that marked the 1960s was the ...)
At the heart of the tumult that marked the 1960s was the unprecedented scale of student protest on university campuses around the world. Identifying themselves as the New Left, as distinguished from the Old Left socialists who engineered the historic labor protests of the 1930s, these young idealists quickly became the voice and conscience of their generation. The People of This Generation is the first comprehensive case study of the history of the New Left in a Northeast urban environment. Paul Lyons examines how campus and community activists interacted with the urban political environment, especially the pacifist Quaker tradition and the rising ethnic populism of police chief and later mayor Frank Rizzo. Moving away from the memoirs and overviews that have dominated histories of the period, Lyons uses this detailed metropolitan study as a prism for revealing the New Left's successes and failures and for gauging how the energy generated by local activism cultivated the allegiance of countless citizens. Lyons explores why groups dominated by the Old Left had limited success in offering inspiration to a new generation driven by the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War. The number and diversity of colleges in this unique metropolitan area allow for rich comparisons of distinctly different campus cultures, and Lyons shows how both student demographics and institutional philosophies determined the pace and trajectory of radicalization. Turning his attention off campus, Lyons highlights the significance of the antiwar Philadelphia Resistance and the antiracist People for Human Rights—Philadelphia's most significant New Left organizations—revealing that the New Left was influenced by both its urban and campus milieus. Combining in-depth archival research, rich personal anecdote, insightful treatment of the ideals that propelled student radicalism, and careful attention to the varied groups that nurtured it, The People of This Generation offers a moving history of urban America during what was perhaps the most turbulent decade in living memory.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DZHYYBQ/?tag=2022091-20
(This book offers a rare opportunity to read about how a s...)
This book offers a rare opportunity to read about how a scholar's teaching informs his research, in this case an examination of the nature of American conservatism. It is based on an interdisciplinary senior seminar Lyons taught in Spring 2006. His teaching log, including student comments from an electronic conferencing system, gives a vivid sense of the daily frustrations and triumphs. Lyons reflects on some of the most difficult issues in higher education today, such as how to handle racism and political passions in the classroom, as well as how a teacher presents his own political convictions. Lyons begins with the premise that most universities have been negligent in helping undergraduates understand a movement that has shaped the political landscape for half a century. In addition, in a series of essays that frame the teaching log, he makes the case that conservatives have too often failed to adhere to basic, Burkean principles, and that the best of conservatism has often appeared as a form of liberalism from thinkers such as Hannah Arendt, Reinhold Niebuhr, and George Kennan. The essays also cover the history of conservatism, conservative use of the city-on-a-hill metaphor, and an examination of how the promise of Camelot sophistication was subverted by a resurgence of right-wing populism.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UR6YBM/?tag=2022091-20
Paul Lyons was born on October 24, 1942, in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He is the son of Bernard Lyons, a supermarket manager, and Matilda (Waroft) Lyons, a secretary.
Lyons received his bachelor's degree from the Rutgers University in 1964, as well as his master's degree 3 years later. He finally obtained doctor's degree from the Bryn Mawr College in 1980.
Lyons's career began in 1967 when he was appointed as an instructor in history at Temple University, working there for 4 years. He then held the position of a history teacher at a middle school in Philadelphia, from 1971 to 1980. He was working at the Stockton College (now Stockton University) as a professor of social work for a long time beginning from 1980. In addition, Lyons was a member of the executive committee and of the board of directors of the Arc of Atlantic County - a leading provider of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities - from 1993.
Lyons's writings include the books titled Philadelphia Communists, 1936-1956, Class of ‘66: Living in Suburban Middle America and New Left, New Right, and the Legacy of the Sixties. He is also a contributor to other books, as well as to academic journals.
(Paul Lyons closely examines two equally important movemen...)
1996(In the midst of the Vietnam war, sit-ins, counter-culture...)
1994(This book offers a rare opportunity to read about how a s...)
(At the heart of the tumult that marked the 1960s was the ...)
Quotations: “I write, first of all, for myself, to satisfy my curiosity about historical situations that I see as essential to understanding and, therefore, responding to conditions which shape our lives. Of course, I also seek to influence others— readers—to take my analysis and my perspective into account."
Lyons is a member of the Organization of American Historians and the Northfield Education Association.
Lyons works in the morning and writes until he gives out, usually around noon. He can rewrite and edit in short spurts, but he needs a stretch of time, at least three weeks, to build up a head of steam over an article or book chapter.
Lyons was married to Janet Aruck from July 2, 1966. Unfortunately, Janet died on April 8, 1971. Lyons then married Mary Hardwick on May 21, 1977. That marriage produced a son Max. Lyons has also 2 stepchildren.