Under The Padre's Thumb

Under the Padre's Thumb begins when acclaimed sculptor Centario Cienfuegos uses a popular Internet site to auction off the 90-foot-long hollow arm from an aborted colossus statue of early California missionary Junipero Serra. Whacked out survivalist and cafe owner Buster Charmfoot buys the arm for his restaurant and installs in on a picturesque cliff overlooking a backwater California resort lake. This triggers a war over public art between the county officials, local bikers, eco-activists, and the Hunu-dano Pomo Native American Tribe, who are building a casino in the sculpture's shadow. Global media jackals descend on the town and stir the story as the crisis foments local chaos and class wars. Finally, the tense situation becomes a national concern and stumbling lawmakers bypass the political solution, leading to an elevated confrontation between an unarmed protestor and a squad of U.S. Navy SEALs.
About the Author: John Hewitt was born and raised in Southern California's cultural mix. He received a degree in history and political science from Santa Clara University and served an undistinguished stint in the Army Reserves before becoming a newspaper reporter. He has been a parent, a pilot, and a traveller through many foreign countries. A graduate of Columbia University's School of Journalism, he then went on to work for seven television stations as a reporter and producer. This led him to the university faculty positions at Stanford and San Francisco State University, teaching broadcast journalism and international broadcast systems. He has also lectured at universities in Jamaica, Jordan, Thailand and Malaysia. He is the author of textbooks on broadcast news, documentary production and television news photography. For the past 40 years, he has also been an independent documentary producer, traveling throughout the United States, and to parts of Canada, Mexico, and Cambodia for projects. The latest film that he co-produced, Deadline Every Second, followed photojournalists in eight countries around the world as they completed routine and sometimes dangerous assignments. His other films have explored the world of blues musicians, childhood problems with ADHD drugs, political reconciliation in Cambodia, and cultural conflicts in Mexico - United States relations. His work has appeared internationally, at public broadcast stations in the United States and at various film festivals. His first novel, Stranger in Baja, followed a naïve intern's career at a shady religious radio station in Cabo San Lucas Mexico. It reflected his desire to get behind the façade that hides the conflicts in cities. He currently lives in the village of Mill Valley, California, north of the Golden Gate Bridge.