Born in 1976: The Bicentennial Child
Growing Up on Possibility
Born the summer America turned 200, they grew up on possibility.
The story
Wes Dorrance's father had a hand on the back of the bike seat, and then he didn't, and nobody told him. That is the whole trick of teaching a kid to ride, and it is also the whole trick of this book: someone lets go, and you keep going.
Born in 1976: The Bicentennial Child is a first-person life story of a boy born in August 1976 in Arvada, a suburb west of Denver. His father is a machinist who came out from Nebraska to work at the nearby plant. His mother checks groceries. Wes grows up with a junk drawer, a Broncos sticker, and a younger sister who pays him a quarter to fill her wading pool.
The book follows him through a ten-year-old's certainty about John Elway after The Drive, a summer afternoon when the sky turns green over the foothills, and a driver's-ed car with a second brake pedal. He takes a job at an airport rental-car counter and meets a woman on the stairs at the Rockpile, carrying a beer in each hand. He becomes an insurance adjuster and climbs a ladder to a roof in his early twenties.
There is a blizzard on the night his child is born, a billboard that reads Insurance Said No, Call Chad, a pandemic of claims by video, and a computer that says the roof is fine.
Each chapter takes its title from the language of insurance, from Date of Loss to Total Loss to Claim Closed. A timeline of 1976, famous people born that year, and a look at what the year means elsewhere are included at the back.
It is a thoughtful gift for any child of the Bicentennial.
A few things that happened in 1976
- 1976 β Atari sold to Warner Communications
- 1976-01-18 β Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl X
- 1976-01-21 β Concorde begins passenger service
- 1976-01-27 β First slam dunk contest held in Denver
- 1976-02-03 β Bill Gates writes his Open Letter to Hobbyists
Also born in 1976
- Reese Witherspoon β Won the Best Actress Oscar for Walk the Line (2005); starred in Legally Blonde (2001) and produced Big Little Lies.
- Peyton Manning β Record five-time NFL MVP who won Super Bowl XLI with the Colts and Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos in his final game; Pro Football Hall of Fame 2021.
- Tim Duncan β Won five NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs, two league MVP awards, and three Finals MVP awards.
- Benedict Cumberbatch β Starred in Sherlock and as Marvel's Doctor Strange; Oscar-nominated for The Imitation Game and The Power of the Dog.
- Ronaldo β Brazilian striker who won the 2002 World Cup with eight goals and was named FIFA World Player of the Year three times.