This is the story of how Baja California becomes the fifty-first state of the United States. It's a compendium of events that presents the possibilities of Baja's road to eventual secession from Mexico. Most incidents in this book are real, albeit tweaked a bit to carry the story line. Moreover, the author's vast experiences in Baja California are distinctive as he has lived through many of the events; and has used others' specifics to make up the narrative. The majority of the characters are also real, even though most of the names have been changed. They, nonetheless exists. Occurrences that formulate the book are also authentic but timelines were changed for this story; from the massive floods that occurred in the seventies in California, Nevada, Arizona, and in Baja, to today's immigration problems, ecological challenges, drug cartels issues, secession meetings, off-road events, and the possibilities of terrorists' attempts in recent years. Lastly, part of the book deals with the author's own ideas as to how Baja California should be governed, and how the political climate should change in the United States, suggesting specific solutions that take into consideration, term limits, environmental dilemmas, immigration solutions, economic growth and even unusual occurrences that elected an unlikely individual to become the President United States. In short, 51st is as timely as today's headlines and provides a template for a greater America.
About the Author: Elias Vidal, born in Peru, South America as Luis Elias Vidal Peralta, arrived in the United States with his parents and sibling in 1954. Elias (Lucho) didn't speak a word of English except to say, as he often likes to point out, "I only knew two words in English, "Yes" and "No." However, it didn't take him long to learn English. "I loved sports and wanted to play, but I couldn't understand what the coaches and other players were telling me. I was also a good student but could not show them. At first I was embarrassed, but my father and mother did not allow me to have any excuses or to feel sorry for myself. 'Learn the language as fast and as pure as you can and show them that you are an educated person.' My parents kept driving the point across and it worked. Before long I became a good communicator and a pretty good Jock." Within six months, Elias was conversing with his friends, coaches and teachers. However, little did he know or expected that one day, he would become a musician, playing in Rock 'n Roll, Jazz, Country and Western bands and in clubs; develop into a fine film and television actor, produce and direct movies and television and turned out to be an author, writing a number of articles for publications, publishing three sporting magazines, developing a number of scripts, and recently finishing his first fictional novel. At the tender age of 69, he is still learning, seeking new venues to express himself and tell wonderful stories. This book in particular took well over ten years to bring to fruition, all the while, he continued to observe, listen, hear the good, the bad and the ugly and formulate what has now become his first fictional narrative: "The 51st State."