Ramona Teacher Launches Memoir Examining His American Experience

A local author and longtime teacher at Ramona High School is set launch his memoir of the quintessential American experience at a book signing event this weekend at Unicorn Books in Ramona.

“Pride and Memory” traces the author’s life through some of the most important events in recent American history.

Dante Cosentino has seen and partook in some of the most pivotal moments of the nation’s history and living through its most crucial periods. His new book, “Pride and Memory,” is a memoir that tells the true story of the son of a poor immigrant family growing up in the wealthiest town in the United States and embarking on a quest for identity and a shot at the American Dream.

The book event will be 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23 at Unicorn Books and Gifts, 738 Main Street. 

About the Book

Some years ago, Cosentino was driving across the United States with his sixteen year old son. During the trip, he told him stories of his life experiences. One of them was about his participation in the Martin Luther King, Jr. March the day after the assassination, a particularly tense event where the demonstrators were surrounded by military forces. Cosentino’s son was unaware of this facet of his life, and made the author realize how little his own son knew about him, and that his experiences at the forefront of historic moments must be recollected and shared for not only posterity’s sake, but also to develop a better appreciation for America’s past.

Seen through the lens of the son of immigrants, and spanning more than three quarters of a century and taking place across the nation as well as Europe, the book shows the defects and possibilities of the American Dream.

About the Author

As a long time Ramona resident, Dante Cosentino was a teacher at Ramona High School for twenty years as well as a member of the Ramona School Board. 

Dante Cosentino was born in Greenwich, Connecticut to Italian immigrant parents. He worked many jobs from drill press operator, to professor in college. 

He studied at Wayne State University, the New School for Social Research, Hunter College, San Francisco State University, San Diego State University and the University of California Santa Barbara, He received his B.A. From San Francisco State. His graduate work includes four Master Degrees. He finished all the course work for a PhD in philosophy at the University of California. 

Cosentino’s work has been published in poetry magazines and his essay on self deception has been published in a professional philosophy journal (The Philosophy Research Archives). 

A press release from Unicorn Books contributed to this post.