top of page

Band in the Wind

Published: Nov. 29, 2018

Band in the Wind

Published Nov. 29, 2018

A coming of age - a coming together - a coming of tragedy . . .  and all they cared about was the music.

​

1990 -  On a moonlit evening in Key West, Florida, the "Journal of Johnny Cipp" is found on a secluded beach. It has been more than twenty-three years since the author disappeared from his home 1500 miles away. His opening journal entry is cryptic in its message."Unlike the lyrics to the rock classic, 'The Summer of '69,' the Jimmy in my band didn't quit, and my Joey didn't get married. In my life, they died. In fact, except for me, they all died . . . and I have never before told our story." Thus begins the saga of the lone survivor of a series of tragic events decades earlier. 

​

1967 - Southeast Queens, New York is in turmoil. Amid the escalating chaos, five young men form a band in hopes of escaping the mounting violence, poverty, and drugs surrounding them. Johnny Cipp, the driving force behind the group, wants to lead them to fame and fortune. Instead, he takes them down a path where one misstep can result in destruction. 

​

It is said that if you remember the 1960's you were not really there. However, this was not a time of peace and love for everyone. In Johnny Cipp's neighborhood, it is a time of violent upheaval - and he remembers every moment of it. His journal weaves an intricate tale of five young men who attempt to escape their chaotic situation with their only available weapons--their loyalty to each other--- and their music. As the band bonds both musically and personally, they come to realize what success means to each of them. To one, it will be a release from the abusive beatings of his father. For another, it will be a chance to be with the girl of his dreams. A third member's goal is a secret. For all of them, their music holds the promise of a brighter future. With each motivated to escape their present situation, they push toward establishing themselves as a professional band. In June of 1967, they got their big break, and it was the beginning of the end. 

                                                       

​

Band in the Wind takes place during the mounting racial tensions of the decade, in a time when New York City's identity is under transformation. At its heart, this is a story about the turbulence of adolescence unfolding during an equally turbulent period in America's history.Steeped in 1960s rock and roll atmosphere, and outfitted with a killer soundtrack, this novel will be perfect for fans of A Bronx Tale, Not Fade Away, Stand by Me ("The Body"), The Commitments, and Eddie and the Cruisers.

​
Sound of Redemption
Band in the Wind - Book 2

Published: April 18, 2019

It is said that if you remember the 1960's, you weren't there. But they were there, and they would never forget. 

 

KEY WEST - June 1990 - Three months after the events of Band in the Wind, the "Journal of Johnny Cipp" has found its way to Maria Romano and Riet Carver. Its pages tell Johnny's heart-wrenching tale. It is a story of guilt for the mistakes he made, chronicling his descent into a decades-long hell of drugs and alcohol. His final journal reveals his thoughts. "They beckon me. The band needs a bass player to give them a backbeat . . . and a friend to share their joy. I will join them, and again we will be complete. We will make music . . . and we will laugh . . . and the band will again be together . . . in the wind . . . forever." 

​

Now Maria and Riet have all the answers. . . or do they?

    Brotherhood of Forever 
Band in theWind - Book 3

By October of 1967, all of the members of the band Those Born Free were dead or missing. They were gone, but not forgotten. In their wake, a cadre of diverse characters seek answers, and in doing so, find their existences irrevocably altered. Uncovering a treasure trove of old band tapes, each finds that the words and music of the lost speak to them—forever changing the paths of their lives.

 

Brotherhood of Forever is an epic tale that relives the last fifty years of America through the eyes of a group of friends whose journey takes them from the streets of New York to the jungles of Vietnam, and from the fields of Woodstock to the pinnacles of rock and roll.

​

 

 

 

 

 

The Other Side of the Wind

​

The Maria Romano Story. May be read as fourth book of the series or independently.

​

5.jpg
guitar close up
3.jpg
1.jpg

WILLIAM  JOHN ROSTRON

5.jpg
Band in the Wind New Covers (2).jpg
1.jpg

Cambria  Series

Band in the Wind Series"

Short Story Compilations with award-winning fiction and nonfiction

Book Trailers

NEW
RELEASE

Band in the Wind

The Other Side of the Wind

A Flamingo Under the Carousel

Heading 1

bottom of page