Thanks first and foremost to the many Millennials, Boomers, and others who shared their stories, patiently answered my many questions, filled out my invasive survey, and lent their expertise. There are too many of you to list, but your words and experiences shaped every inch of this text. I want to extend particular gratitude to the folks who agreed to appear in the book: Jeff Robinson, Maddie Campbell, Justin Pinn, Matt Dubin, Gray Kimbrough, Rhiannon Cook, Takeru Nagayoshi, Prita and Evan Piekara, Constance Luo, Ray, Emily Galvin-Almanza, Reid Cramer, Signe-Mary McKernan, Joy Ladin, Nathalie Nguyen, Antonia Dean, Jung Hyun Choi, Mollie Cohen D’Agostino, Satya Doyle Byock, Steph Larsen, Aaron Bos-Lun, Elena Valeriote, Meehan Crist, Natalie Liddle, Sebastian Elison, Jolie Theall, Cassidy Theall, Jean Twenge, Faith Gingrich-Goetz, Kendra, Erika Lindsey, Dave Rini, Stephanie Coontz, and Amanda Gomez.
To Julia Cheiffetz at One Signal, an inspired guide and ideas-woman, without whom this project would have never existed. Thank you for taking this on and making it happen.
To Nicholas Ciani, whose editorial guidance was invaluable and project management unparalleled; thanks, Nick, for the astute feedback, and for keeping all the cats herded.
To Debbie Berne, whose fabulous graphics, illustrations, and design make this book a much more enjoyable and accessible read.
To Gail Ross of Ross Yoon Agency, a tireless advocate, enthusiastic cheerleader, and all-around excellent Boomer. I am very glad you are in my corner.
To Will McGrew, my research assistant and indispensable numbers guy, who gathered, organized, and explained the reams of data that became OK Boomer.
To Sarah Wildman, whose incisive edits were profoundly useful, and whose direction was central to the final product.
To Ben Kalin, fact-checker extraordinaire, whose diligence has hopefully made me look many magnitudes less foolish than I otherwise would have.
To Janet Byrne, whose copyedits made this entire thing readable.
To Julie Rubenstein, Anne Dana, and Priscilla Camacho, you were all consistent and excellent sounding boards, determining everything from the color of the cover to the quote for the epigraph. The group chat and FaceTime sessions also just generally kept me sane throughout this entire process.
To the women who talked through this project from its inception and helped me to determine its course, particularly Irin Carmon, Rachel Dry, Shannon Browne, and Diane Lucas.
To Pat Wiedenkeller and Jane Carr at CNN, who make me a better writer and who helped spark the broader conversation about generation warfare.
To Mom and Dad, who were pretty great Boomer parents to two (I hope) not-stereotypical Millennials. Mom, thank you for your reflections about your generation, for sending me great information to use in the book, and for a lifetime of unwavering encouragement and support. Dad, thank you for your thoughts along the way and, contrary to Boomer stereotypes, your argument that maybe Millennials should be a little more militant given how badly we’ve been screwed.
To Chrissy, my favorite Millennial, whose jokes about Boomers were too cutting to make the book, but who is always a source of inspiration, encouragement, and humor.
And finally, always, to my love and my best editor, Ty McCormick. You make everything you touch, including this manuscript (and the last one), so much better. Thank you for the edits and more edits, the coffee in bed every morning, the long walks and endless conversations. If you ever got sick of hearing about this project, you never let on. Thank you for your endless patience and your bottomless love. There are not words for how lucky I am to have you as a partner. I love you.