about us

[SEE ALSO dissent origins]

roy bauer •  rebel girl • red emma

Lou's best pal is Boo 

     The DISSENT crew is a colony almost, nestled deep in the Santa Ana Mountains, which daily cast a shadow over two and a half colleges: Irvine Valley College, Saddleback College, and something called ATEP.
     Nobody's sure what ATEP is.
     It's all very mysterious, really. —This "Dissent" thing, I mean.

• B-von-Traven/Chunk-Wheeler/Roy Bauer (chief writer, editor, target of litigation)

     Philosopher & creative sort. Raised—until the age of 5—by a family of electrical wolf artists in the mountains of British Columbia. A conservative radical Eagle Scout, he owns an expensive Taylor 6-string. He used to mountain-bike every day, but he broke some ribs and now he rides a treadmill. (Trabuco Canyon/Lambrose Canyon) (For some family history, see Bauer Family Blog.)

(See The Unabauer Manifesto, OC Weekly, 4/8/99)

• Rebel Girl/the Reb (chief advisor, contributor, caterer)

     Writer and radical and mother. Raised by wolves of an entirely different sort, in the sun, by the harbor, just north of here. Now, during the summer, she runs a successful writing conference in Northern California. Jacques Derrida once borrowed her snorkel. He seemed nice. He’s dead. The Reb's works can be found in some major anthologies. These days, she's editing a collection of writings associated with Orange County. (Modjeska Canyon)

• Red Emma (contributor, snorkler, union thug)

     Writer and union organizer (UCI) and father. Raised by wolves from a place across the ocean. He edits a well-regarded journal and, when not kayaking, writes funnily and caustically (in the OC Weekly and elsewhere) about rat bastards who, naturally, do not like him. He and his bride own a house in the mountains, but he is proud of his yurt. (Modjeska Canyon)

     Oh yeah. Red has a literary interview program on KPFK.

     Some of these people love to hang out in Mexico, though, lately, that's become iffy. That's where B von Traven ended up, you know.

A song I home-recorded c. 2000 about Raghu P. Mahur. 

It's called "You Did A Raghu Thing."

Lisa Alvarez grew up in and around Los Angeles. She earned her MFA from UC Irvine and is a professor of English at Irvine Valley College. Her poetry and prose have appeared in Codex Journal, Faultline, Green Mountains Review, Huizache, Truthdig, and Zócalo Public Square. Alvarez coedited Writer’s Workshop in a Book: The Community of Writers on the Art of Fiction with the late Alan Cheuse and codirects the annual Community of Writers summer conference in Squaw Valley, California. She lives in Modjeska Canyon.
Orange County: A Literary Field Guide - edited by Lisa "Reb" Alvarez and Andrew "Red" Tonkovich

Even by California's standards, the County of Orange teems with abundance: in sweeping topography along the azure Pacific, in sprawling suburbs, in promises of prosperity, and in its self-perpetuated reputation as a citrus-lined paradise. But the acclaimed fertility of this corner of California is not just agricultural or economic, as this new anthology shows. In this literary field guide, more than sixty writers—some well known, others emerging—lead readers on a tour that begins at the coast and heads inland over the Santa Ana Mountains, through the canyons, and into the cities of Anaheim, Irvine, and Orange in search of vistas of truth. Luminaries including Michael Chabon, Philip K. Dick, Steve Martin, and Susan Straight explore the complexities and contradictions of the county, locating readers in a place made in equal measure by 950 square miles of land and the imagination. A foreword by Gustavo Arellano, author of Orange County: A Personal History and the syndicated column ¡Ask a Mexican!, unravels the idealized past and paradoxical present of this much-mythologized locale.

Andrew Tonkovich is the longtime editor of the West Coast literary journal Santa Monica Review and host of Bibliocracy, Pacifica Radio KPFK's weekly books show.

Roy Bauer's big day in court, 21 years ago (defending the Dissent).

All dialogue is straight from transcripts of the actual proceeding; no editing (aside from ellipses)

The DISTRICT sought to shut down Bauer/Dissent. As you can see, the district was soundly defeated.

SOCCCD attorney: Mr. Larsen

Roy's attorney: Carol Sobel (Santa Monica)

Judge: Gary Feess

See Bauer in court