It’s been nearly fifty years since I graduated from Cowell College at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1973. Organizers of the Class of ’72 reunion asked me to take part in their Alumni Week events and I will be glad to catch up with old friends.

To lead up to the reunion Florence Nelson recorded this interview with me on January 16 for the Cowell Class of 1972 Alumni Week webpage, “(Nearly) Everything I Know about the Creative Process I Learned at Cowell College: Acting and Writing for the Theater,” in which we touch on We Hereby Refuse, Conscience and the Constitution, and all things Japanese American.

The Alumni Week page features other alumni from the early years of Cowell reflecting on their writing for and engagement with film and theater, including Adilah Barnes (who I knew then as Lovey Barnes), David Stanford, Malcolm Taylor, and Patty Nelson Limerick (with the Banana Slug Theater, now an acclaimed historian of the American West). Florence also has me taking part in two other events:

“How We’re Still Changing the World“
Thursday, April 21, 3:00-5:00 pm
I’m moderating a virtual panel on how we started out protesting the Viet Nam War and volunteering on Daufuskie Island to change the world, but since then our community involvements have become much more diverse and far reaching.

“(Nearly) Everything I Know about the Creative Process I Learned at Cowell College: Writers and Their Writing”
Saturday, April 23, 1:30–3:30 pm
Cowell Fireside Lounge
For this I’ll be joining writers of all stripes and experiences from our classes to hold an open discussion on the writing process, from creativity to publishing, from comics to film and theater. Some of the other participants include David Stanford, Alesa Lightbourne, Ren Weschler, and Cameron Vanderscoff.

Should be fun. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone who shows up at the reunion on April 22-23.