As the possessor of a 1965 liberal arts degree in French literature and philosophy, mine was that generation of 19 year olds, found only in metropolitan New York, whose world view and sensibilities were informed by James Baldwin, Albert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, Frantz Fanon, Thelonius Monk, Don Shirley, Nancy Wilson, Bach, Beethoven, Pacheco, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Tito Puente, Nina Simone, Dave Brubeck, Kal Tjader, Chico Hamilton, Maynard Ferguson, The MJQ, Ramsey Lewis, Fats Domino, and the list goes on.  Poetry, eggheads, and elegance were in favor. This was the pre-hippy, tail end of the beat generation when no one socio-economic group ruled the culture of this minuscule demographic of cosmopolitan youth.  We were responsive to anything that made sense under analysis.  Questioning the foundations of authority was encouraged and failed, 19th century values, like bowling pins, stood waiting to be toppled.  Evidently, only someone from this uniquely molded and positioned generation who is a descendant of circum Caribbean Créoles and Criollos, can connect the dots to unveil the heretofore hidden history contained in these three volumes.