Boomer Highlight: Steve Jobs

I'm starting a new series of blogs. These are on Baby Boomers we can be proud of. These are members of our generation who have not only succeeded but have also contributed to our society and have set an example for all of us to follow.

Today: Steve Jobs, Inventor, Entrepreneur and Artist

He was our generation's Henry Ford with a touch of Thomas Edison and Pablo Picasso thrown in.

Steve Jobs didn't just start Apple computers. He didn't just revolutionize the home computer. He created a whole new work environment. He opened up new worlds for the everyday citizens and provided them with an electronic universe they could tap into from an ordinary desk in a modest den in their home.

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955, smack in the middle of the Baby Boom. He was given up for adoption and raised by his adoptive parents in what would later be known as Silicon Valley.

He spent only one semester in college, although he dropped in on classes for another 18 months at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. One of those courses was calligraphy, which would play a role in his business life.

Jobs worked at low-level positions at Hewlett Packard and Atari. His life at age 20 was not really the stuff of legends.

When he was 21, he co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak. By the time Jobs died of cancer earlier this month, Apple had surpassed ExxonMobil as the world's most valuable company.

Jobs was not an easy person to work for. He could be demanding, relentless and unsympathetic.

But he had qualities that put him far above almost everybody in his generation. Qualities that led him to be a transformative figure during his relatively short life.

Jobs was certainly an inventor. Much like Edison, he saw things differently than most people. He could think beyond the obvious and imagine what most others couldn't fathom.

Jobs was confident in his vision. He didn't need input and he didn't seek it. His view of what was to come was never watered down by consultants or committees.

That would have been great enough, but Jobs was more than an inventor. He also had an entrepreneurial side much akin to Ford. The automaker's greatest gift was his utilization of the assembly line in the early 20th century, so cars could become affordable to everyday Americans.

Jobs did much the same with the home computer. He made the boxy, complicated machines of the 1970s easy to understand and fun to use. The Apple II in 1977 was just the start. The MacIntosh, introduced in 1984, was the beginning of a revolution.

Jobs had great instincts. He knew the original Mac had flaws, so while the rest of the world was racing to catch up, he plowed ahead. He kept improving his machines and he did something unusual, and somewhat risky, for the computer world. He didn't allow his Apples to interface with other computers.

He created a separate world from the "p-c's." If you had an Apple, you had to use Apple software and Apple products. This closed-circuit world worked. He created a community that wasn't infected by the outside world.

This pattern continued until his death. You see it in the iPhone and with iTunes. Same with the iMacs. You even see it at Pixar, the company he developed when he was persona non gratis at Apple.

Cutting edge. User friendly. Highly functioning. Those characteristics are found in all his products.

However, there was one more element that led to Jobs' success. One that is sometimes overlooked.

Steve Jobs was also an artist. His products not only work well. They are beautiful.

Hold up an iPhone, open up an iMac laptop or turn on an iPad and people go "oooooh." They are cool and they are sleek.

Jobs added streamlining to computers. He splashed in color. He even used that calligraphy class on his computer's fonts and their keyboards.

You can go on and on. How Jobs revolutionized the music industry with the iPod. How he turned the mobile device world on its ear with the iPhone.

Steve Jobs allowed people to carry all the entertainment and information they need in the palm of their hand. He changed the way we work and live.

When you watch a movie on a hand-held device, you can thank Steve Jobs. When your bosses allow you to work from home, you can thank Steve Jobs.

It is sad that he died at the age of 56. He had so much more to offer, so much more to bring us.

He was a blazing star in our generation and we won't see the likes of him again in our lifetime.

Boomer Highlight: Tom Hanks

I'm starting a new series of blogs. These are on Baby Boomers we can be proud of. These are members of our generation who have not only succeeded but have also contributed to our society and have set an example for all of us to follow.

Today: Tom Hanks, Oscar-winning actor

Have you ever read about Tom Hanks being arrested? Driving drunk? Cheating on his wife? Throwing a fit on the set of a film?

No, you haven't.

Granted nobody should do any of those things, but in this day of oversized egos and bad public behavior, it's refreshing to find an actor of Tom Hanks' stature who actually hasn't.

Hanks is the model of what we would like to see in a Hollywood star.

He's modest. He's understated. He's funny. He's good at what he does. And he lives a life with high standards.

Tom Hanks was born in 1956 in Concord, California -- a middle-income suburb east of San Francisco. His parents divorced when he was 5 and Hanks, along with his brother and sister, was raised by his father, who worked as a chef. The family moved around before settling in Oakland.

That's where Hanks attended Skyline High. After graduating in 1974, he went to a community college in nearby Hayward before transferring to the theater program at Sacramento State.

He spent the next three summers acting in various productions of Shakespeare plays, according to biography.com. In 1978, he won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Proteus in "The Two Gentlemen of Verona."

Hanks dropped out of college in 1980 and with his modest training moved to New York. He landed a small role in the slasher film, "He Knows You're Alone."

Then came his big break. He was spotted by an ABC talent scout and cast in the television comedy, "Bosom Buddies." The show itself was forgettable, but Hanks' acting abilities weren't.

After the show was cancelled two years later, Hanks got guest roles on shows such as "Happy Days," "Taxi" and "Family Ties." Ron Howard noticed Hanks and cast him in the lead male role of the movie, "Splash," starring Daryl Hannah as a mermaid.

Hanks starred in several widely panned movies, including "Bachelor Party," before being cast by director Penny Marshall in her comedy, "Big." That movie charmed audiences and critics and brought Hanks his first Academy Award nomination for best actor.

Hanks still had to work hard, though. Over the next few years, he starred in modestly accomplished movies such as "Joe Versus The Volcano" and "Bonfire of the Vanities."

In 1993, he had the lead roles in two huge hits, "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Philadelphia." The latter role garnered him the best actor Oscar.

The following year, he starred in "Forrest Gump" and snagged another Oscar.

Since then, he has had a string of hits, including "Apollo 13," "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Da Vinci Code." He also had done the voice of "Woody" in the "Toy Story" movies. His films have earned an estimated $4 billion in the U.S. market alone.

However, Hanks' accomplishments go beyond his acting roles. He has produced and directed. He also has taken on projects and causes.

After "Apollo 13," he got interested in space travel and produced and directed the HBO mini-series, "From The Earth To The Moon." He's also a member of the National Space Society and has an asteroid named after him.

The well-known actor also has paid tribute on numerous occasions to the so-called "Greatest Generation" that pulled itself out of the Great Depression and battled on two fronts in "World War Two."

Hanks has had relatively little bad publicity by Hollywood standards. He and his first wife did divorce in 1987 after nine years of marriage and two children. In a 2006 interview, Hanks admitted to having an affair with current wife, Rita Wilson, while he was still married to his first wife. He called the affair "nothing to celebrate."

Hanks has been married to Wilson since 1988. They also have two children.

In public appearances, Hanks is likable, self-effacing and kind. He has stated in interviews that his acting in his early career wasn't all that good and he worked hard to improve. He has also blamed what he called his poor decision making for some of the movie flops he's been involved in.

Refreshing. Somebody as well known as Hanks actually admitting shortcomings and not blaming others for failures.

Hanks hasn't been afraid to speak his mind, although it's mostly done in a positive way. He has supported Democratic candidates, including President Obama. He also owns an electric car and is a vocal proponent of same-sex marriage.

Hanks is sort of like the nation's class president. He's a popular, nice big guy on campus.

Someone worth emulating and certainly a Baby Boomer to be proud of.

Boomer Highlight: Mike Mullen

I'm starting a new series of blogs. These are on Baby Boomers we can be proud of. These are members of our generation who have not only succeeded but have also contributed to our society and have set an example for all of us to follow.

Today: Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

It's not often a Navy admiral will appear on a comedy-based talk show.

But there was Mike Mullen the other night, chatting away with Comedy Central's Jon Stewart.

The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is certainly intelligent. No surprise there.

But he also proved to be funny, humble, conversational and insightful. At least that's what I picked up from the interview.

Admiral Mullen was born in 1947. His parents were in the entertainment business. His father was a successful Hollywood publicist.

In 1964, at the age of 17, Mullen told his parents he was joining the Navy. The admiral told Stewart his parents supported that decision and off he went.

Mullen's accomplishments, as listed on the joint chiefs' website, is impressive.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968, he was stationed aboard the USS Collett. The ensign was assigned as an anti-submarine officer. His ship patrolled the Western Pacific and participated in combat operations off the coast of Vietnam.

Mullen served on six other warships over the years, three as a commanding officer. As an admiral, he commanded the USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group and U.S. Second Fleet.

He eventually rose to chief of naval operations with a chair on the joint chiefs. In 2007, he was appointed chairman of that group.

His duties now include advising the president, the secretary of defense, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. All this during a time when the United States is withdrawing soldiers from Iraq and increasing its number of troops in Afghanistan.

Mullen also has a master of sciences degree in operation research from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. He also graduated from the advanced management program at Harvard Business School.

Yet, on the Stewart show, he seemed like a guy you'd like to chat with at a barbecue.

Stewart recalled how on a goodwill trip to Afghanistan he noticed how much the soldiers there liked to talk with Mullen. The admiral responded by talking about how awesome today's soldiers are.

Stewart joked about the soldiers supposedly carrying Mullen around and throwing rose petals at his feet. Mullen responded, "That usually only happens once a trip."

The admiral retires at the end of this month. He and Deborah, his wife of 41 years, plan to enjoy some well-deserved rest and relaxation.

Yes, successful and influential. Yet, civil with a proper perspective, too.

Mike Mullen. A Baby Boomer we can be proud of.