Literary Fiction

Camelot Down, Berkeley 1969

by Jim Perkins

Description

During the turbulent 1960s perhaps no place in America mimicked the rise and fall of Camelot like the University of California, Berkeley.

Camelot was a mythical kingdom associated with the legendary King Arthur. According to a 1960 musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and a subsequent hit movie, you couldn’t find a “more congenial spot for happily ever-aftering than the kingdom of Camelot.”

For a period of about ten years, beginning in 1964, students and rights protestors at Cal (as it was known) captured the imagination of an American public seeking a life of happily ever-aftering, insisting that might did not make right; that war was only justifiable to prevent others from going to war; and contemporary human governments and powerful people exemplified the worst aspects of the rule of Might, squelching freedom of speech, the right of lawful assembly and equal opportunities for all.

The erection of People’s Park, built in 1969 on property owned by UC Berkeley, was an attempt to keep the spirit of Camelot alive in America. But the hope of happily ever-aftering in a magical kingdom does not often come to fruition – it didn’t in Camelot and it didn’t in Berkeley.

As a young police officer in 1969, Paul Morris witnessed and was caught up in the destructive and uncontrollable hurricane forces of human dissent that brought Berkeley’s Camelot down. Falling in love with a young female student only made matters worse.

More Information

Author Biography

Camelot Down, Berkeley 1969 is my fifth fiction novel. I am the author of four previous fiction novels: The Red Jacket, (coming of age, youthful adventure and courage); The Wine Red Road (murder in California wine country); Where Once Was Peace (coming of age, search for peace after Vietnam); and Death in the Gallatin Valley (murder in Montana farm country).


I try to locate my fiction stories in real towns where I’ve lived or visited frequently. I draw from a wide variety of work and personal experiences for my writing. I retired from working as a right-of-way agent, buying and selling real estate for Washington State and Whatcom County (Bellingham), at the end of 2010. Prior to working for the government I was an independent real estate agent. I also have worked in a grocery store, as a collections officer for a finance company, at the U.S. Post Office, for the California Highway Patrol, as a restaurant cook and manager, as a newspaper reporter and publisher and as a magazine editor and freelance contributor. 


My fiction website is: greatfictionbyjimperkins.blogspot.com


I also write what I hope is a witty, humorous, sarcastic, social commentary blog called, According to Sam and Jim (accordingtosamandjim.blogspot.com) two days a week.

Bibliographic Information

  • Orginal LanguageEnglish, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese complex
  • Publication Country or regionUnited States
  • FormatPaperback
  • Primary Price 12.50 USD
  • Pages204
  • ReadershipGeneral
  • Publish StatusUnpublished
  • EditionFirst
  • Dimensions6x9 inches

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