Speaker Biographies

Marianne Camp enrolled in Chabot College in 1968 and, already being active in the anti-Viet Nam war movement, joined SDS on campus where she met Paul Frumpkin. After cutting sugar cane in Cuba in 1969 to support the Revolution, Marianne returned to Hayward, where she met David Hillis and joined with Paul and others to establish the Country Press Collective. It was seen as a vehicle to share information about different progressive movements locally. After the final issue of the Country Press, Marianne returned to school to get her BA in Child Development and eventually her masters in the Diversity in Leadership Program at Cal State East Bay. Marianne retired from teaching after 35 years in HUSD.

Paul Frumkin was born in San Francisco in the late 1940s. My family moved to South Hayward in 1952, because my parents loved the 'sunshine' of the East Bay. My Father sold 'shoes,’ my Mom was a 'homemaker’ (she, did, go back to work in her early '50s). Literally, I grew-up between two 'sets' of railroad tracks, in a vibrant neighborhood of culturally and ethnic diversity, working people. I am a Tennyson High School graduate (1966 – Lancer Forever) – playing in a Rock/Blues Band. For me, one of the biggest issues was the police harassment happening at Weekes Park, our neighborhood park! As youth, we were growing up in very exciting times, working at Hunt's Cannery (where, many of our families and friends worked). We skipped high school classes and went to demonstrations at San Francisco Auto Row and UC Berkeley to be part of the 'Free Speech Movement.’ I enrolled at Chabot Community College (Art and Philosophy), and became Chair/Co-Chair of Students for a Democratic Society (SDC). We formed a coalition with the Chicano Student Union (CSU) and the Black Student Union (BSU). We were part of a broad-based national movement, working on a number of different fronts! Our issues were many, including: supporting Farmworkers through the Grape Boycott; pushing for Ethnic Studies; supporting gender and LGBTQ rights early on; fighting for equity and social justice; promoting the lowering the voting age to 18 years from 21. Our friends, who couldn't vote, were dying in Vietnam; and, of course, we were against the Vietnam War! One local outcome was the establishment/publication/distribution of the Country Press Newspaper. As I got older, I became ‘legitimate’ – becoming a 'due process' student advocate; served on a number of 'governmental' commissions and 'community organizations’; served on the Hayward School Board; and, now, retired! Si Se Puede!

David Hillis moved to Hayward at age 8 and stayed for 43 years, 17 of those as an attorney. Besides taking classes at Chabot and Cal State, his early years were spent with the Little Princess 109 light show, the Hayward Switchboard, and supporting the farmworker grape boycott and various antiwar efforts. His more mature years found him deeply involved in the Michael Sweeney political machine in Hayward. He worked on the Country Press every issue, as a writer and late-night layout functionary. He is somewhat embarrassed his FBI file is only 13 pages long. It's harder to smash the state than you think.