Bill Payers on Parade Summary and Analysis

Proud and happy moms and dads descend for "Parents' Weekend," a scene repeated on college campuses throughout the country in the fall. At Brown, they arrive in luxury cars or by air to "kidnap" their kids for shopping and restaurant fare. It is a big and profitable weekend for the town of Providence, and Brown is spruced up in order to impress the bill payers.

Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, parents of Zayd, are among the throng. To these two children of the sixties, and former members of the Underground Weathermen, present college life seems dull and shallow, with this generation committed to "self" rather than "humanity." Having been on the FBI's Most Wanted List, and in hiding when Zayd was born, they have now taken their places in more mainstream society, she as a...