ALUMNI AND STUDENT CANON “A thrilling switchback roller coaster of a collection—by turns magical and absurd, nerdy
“A book of inspiring vitality and perception.”
and punk, soulful and furious. Read it/ride it—you’ll have your hands in the air, your
— AI M E E B E N DE R , author of The Butterfly Lampshade
heart in your mouth, the wind in your hair!” — PETE R HO DAVI ES, author of The Fortunes and A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself
“This beautiful collection! Here are stories that challenge form, that attack the status quo,
JACKSON BLISS
that ask urgent questions about love and identity and meaning and demand we sit up and pay attention to our answers. I left Counterfactual Love Stories & Other Experiments renewed
WINNER OF T H E 2020 NOE M I BOOK AWA R D I N PROSE
of experiences in other parts of the world.
and inspired. Jackson Bliss’s boundary-pushing collection is an exquisite reminder that fiction, when written with this much heart and courage, can expand our understanding of what it means to be alive. You need to read this book.” — J U LI E B U NTI N, author of Marlena
“There’s an incredibly powerful attractive force waiting for you in every Jackson Bliss story, an irresistible magnetism powered by his energetic and welcoming voice, by his mathematical structural precision, by the wit and joy and justice that propel his fiction. This is one of the most inviting and innovative collections I’ve read, an endlessly compelling source of righteous adventure and wonder.” — M AT T B E LL , author of Appleseed “Jackson Bliss sends the whole mixed-race, mixed-ability world spinning in these stories. Lucky for us, he has just the right besotted dream language to share his visions and just the right koans to satisfy our need for mystery. Counterfactual Loves Stories & Other Experiments is funny, provocative, and soulful—it’s a wild ride and you should climb onboard.” —VA LE R I E SAY E R S, author of Brain Fever and The Powers
“Energized and energizing, Jackson Bliss’s Counterfactual Love Stories posits fusion and confusion as problem and possibility, from race, gender, and wealth inequality to genre, form, and perspective, all with an eye toward exploring how we might make meaning(s) out of our illegible, hyperbolic now. Every sentence is a surprising and sometimes vulnerable, sometimes satiric bite, data-dense as a shockwave ride through some video game committed to showing us what five minutes into our future will look like.” — L A NC E OL SE N, author of My Red Heaven and Skin Elegies
JOHN MAYNARD (PhD, history, ’88) of Bakersfield, CA (2/21/22) at age 74; served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War; history professor at California State University, Bakersfield; avid photographer of New Orleans and jazz bands; authored three books; loved pumping iron.
& OTHER EXPERIMENTS
FACT, FICTION, AND POLYGAMY: A TALE OF UTAH WAR INTRIGUE, 1857–1858 ― A. G. BROWNE’S THE WARD OF THE THREE GUARDIANS University of Utah Press / Kenneth Alford (MA, international relations, ’82) and William MacKinnon rescue from 150 years of neglect an exciting true tale of international intrigue surrounding Henrietta Polydore, a young Anglo-Italian girl spirited out of an English Catholic convent school in 1854 and transported to Utah Territory by her Mormon-convert mother and aunt to live under an alias in a polygamous household.
A LIST OF THINGS I’VE LOST Vegetarian Alcoholic Press / Tiffany Babb (BA, comparative literature, ’15) explores themes of weather, death and memory in this collection of poetry. She delves into what it means to remember the past by creating connections through elemental communion with objects, nature, family and fading keepsakes, transforming mundanity and trauma into oneness with the present.
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COUNTERFACTUAL LOVE STORIES & OTHER EXPERIMENTS Noemi Press / Jackson Bliss (MA, English, ’12; PhD, literature and creative writing, ’13) explores mixed-race/hapa identity in the American Midwest and the infinite ways in which stories can be told, challenged, celebrated and subverted.
FIONA AND JANE Viking / Jean Chen Ho (PhD student, creative writing and literature) paints an intimate portrait of a decades-long friendship between two Taiwanese American women through a collection of 10 linked stories that explore identity, heartbreak, romance and sexuality.
POVERTY AND THE UNEQUAL SOCIETY IN HONG KONG Penguin Random House / Gary Lai (BA, economics, ’02) ascertains the extent of poverty in Hong Kong in the context
RETURN ENGAGEMENTS: CONTEMPORARY ART’S TRAUMAS OF MODERNITY AND HISTORY IN SÀI GÒN AND PHNOM PENH Duke University Press / Viêt Lê (MA, American studies and ethnicity, ’07; PhD, American studies and ethnicity, ’11) examines contemporary art in Cambodia and Vietnam, rethinking the entwinement of militarization, trauma, diaspora and modernity in Southeast Asian art.
OWN YOUR THOUGHTS, OWN YOUR LIFE: A REVEALING GUIDE TO CLARIFY YOUR THINKING AND TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE Covenant Books / Teresa Schreibeis Neal (MA, history, ’89; PhD, history, ’94) helps readers dig down to the roots of their problems and guides them forward to healthier thinking and a better life.
MICHAEL MAYOCK (BA, psychology, ’67) of South Pasadena, CA (12/27/21) at age 77; served as a member of the Federal Criminal Justice Act Attorney Panel for the U.S. Government. RICHARD MOGAN III (B.A., zoology, ’47) of Rancho Mirage, CA (9/9/2021) at age 97; served in the U.S. Navy in WWII; real estate developer; loved travel, art, bridge, the outdoors, sailing, skiing, tennis, golf, fishing and Trojan football. JAMES MURR (BA, history, ’69) of Santa Barbara, CA (8/4/2021) at age 74; first juvenile home supervision officer in Santa Barbara County; volunteer chaplain at county jail; frequent contributor to Santa Maria Times.
at age 88; served as a dentist in the U.S. Army in Seoul, South Korea, then for 30 years as an orthodontist. JOHANNES SACK (BA, philosophy, ’69) of Del Mar, CA (4/9/2021) at age 72; fled across Iron Curtain from East Germany with his family in 1952; served in Peace Corps in Jamaica; physician in internal medicine and addiction medicine; poet, violinist, pilot, scuba diver, skydiver and ranked bridge player. JERRY SHAFER (PhD, psychology, ’68) of Concord, CA (11/21/21) at age 79; served as a clinical psychologist, helping improve the lives of many; loved playing tennis and poker. PAUL TREJO (BS, naval science, ’47) of Newburgh, IN (9/15/2020) at age 93; served in the U.S. Navy for 40 years, retiring as a captain; earned a graduate engineering degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.
RICHARD NOLA (BA, ethnic studies, ’56) of San Jose, CA (9/2/2021) at age 89; served In U.S. Army Air Corps; founded Vacaville Fruit Co.; loved hunting, fishing, international travel and Trojan football.
THOMAS TURNER (BA, international relations, ’87) of Los Altos Hills, CA (7/17/2021) at age 83; chairman and CEO of Edwards Wood Products; president of Lumber and Mill Employers Association; founding member of Western Pallet Association.
RENALDO PARISI (PhD, dental surgery, ’63; BS, dentistry, ’68) of Pasadena, CA (1/20/2021) at age 84; served in the U.S. Air Force Dental Corps; earned a black belt in Karate Do in Okinawa, Japan; awarded a Legion of Merit; loved travel; passionate about teaching dentistry.
SHERMAN WEISS (BA, telecommunications, ’56) of Los Angeles, CA (2/10/2022) at age 86; served in the U.S. Army Reserve; broadcast on Armed Forces Radio; started an import paintbrush company in 1979; did voice-over work in retirement and volunteered at the Braille Institute.
JUNE (BARCROFT) PROWELL (BS, nursing, ’49) of Davis, CA (3/11/2022) at age 94; worked as a school nurse in San Diego and a pediatric nurse in Oakland.
BRITT WILLIAMS (BA, history, ’62) of San Mateo, CA (8/2/2021) at age 80; head football coach at Aragon High School in San Mateo for 21 seasons; coaching successes included a record of 156-65-5 and five PAL championships; elected to San Mateo County Sports Hall of
BILL RIDGEWAY (BS, dentistry, ’56) of Long Beach, CA (8/20/2021)
