When I set off for Florida Atlantic University (FAU) at Boca Raton in late August 1968, it was a time of divisive political and social issues—a systemic crisis of legitimacy—symbolized by the Vietnam War, the civil rights revolution, the New Left, Students for a Democratic Society, the counterculture, and much else. It was, in other words, the ’60s. FAU (informally known to its first few classes as “Find Another University”) was a new school, not fully formed, although showing some signs of wishing to settle into the bureaucratic Cold War liberal mode of Clark Kerr’s “multiversity.” Its early lack of rigid form made the place interesting for a while. Unimpressed by the behaviorist political scientists with whom I had spoken, I settled on history as a major. Once in classes, I found Dr. William F. Marina by far the most interesting teacher.

As we gradually learned, Bill was local—a native of Miami who had earned his B.A. at the University of Miami. His Ph.D. (just completed) was in American studies at the University of Denver (1968). He had taught at the University of Texas at Arlington from 1962 to 1964 before coming to FAU, where he remained until his retirement in 2003. While teaching in Texas, he had witnessed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For many years, Bill gave an occasional seminar on