Burning Banks and Roasting Marshmallows

About the Book

This chronicle of student unrest, set during 1970 on the unlikely palm graced and sun-kissed Santa Barbara campus of the University of California, follows young Dan Marleau and friends through personal and political upheavals that begin on campus with the firing of a popular professor and spread off campus to the infamous burning of the Bank of American in Isla Vista. Those who lived through the Vietnam War era will be swept into a portrayal evoking measures of angst, anger, and bitterness alongside nostalgia, humor, and resilience. Those who are too young to have lived through this period will find areas of identification with characters who face circumstances and challenges that remain relevant in a time of continued military entanglements, corporate excesses, political divisions, and global terrorism. Numerous photographs taken by the author complement the narrative.

About the Author

As a photographer and undergraduate student at the University of California at Santa Barbara during 1970, Desilet’s experiences of the key events serve as the foundation for this docu/drama story. He subsequently earned a Master’s degree in communication from the University of Colorado at Boulder and during the last four decades has published essays and books in philosophy, communication, and media culture. With his varied background, Desilet brings to this narrative, through its characters, a many-layered treatment of the complex and extraordinarily divided American social and political landscape of the Vietnam war-torn era. For more on the author and this book visit the author’s web site at www.gregorydesilet.com.