(5 of 5)
For better or worse, we occupy the middle ground in the war of the generations. "We may be the only ones left in American society who can see what's great and what's bull," says Frank Conroy, 34, the author of Stop-Time. "We have no ax to grind." We are the only ones who understand both languages, the only ones who can explain the young to the old, the old to the young. Our job, in the end, may be only that of translator, but this may now be the most important job of all. We may not be loud, and our voices may be muted even now. But we are no longer silent—if only because we now have reason to speak.