 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Donna Lewis Friess | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 16, 1943 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Professor, author, activist |
| Subject | Child abuse prevention |
Donna Lewis Friess (born January 16, 1943) is an American author and activist for children's rights.
Donna Jean Lewis Friess was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Raymond W. Lewis, Jr., was an aerospace designer [1] and her mother, Dorothy Borwick Lewis McIntyre a recreation director. [1] As a child victim of incest at her father's hands, [1] she sought to get away from her father's control as soon as she was able. She attended Santa Monica City College [1] and was awarded an academic scholarship to the University of Southern California, where she received her bachelor's degree in communication. She moved into the Alpha Gamma Delta house which she states was "the beginning of the rest of [her] life." [1] She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1964, then moved to Orange County. [1]
Friess enrolled in a doctoral program in psychology at the United States International University in San Diego, California, (now Alliant University) and received her doctoral degree of philosophy in psychology in June 1993. Her dissertation was an interview study of the Women Leaders of the Movement to Stop Child Sexual Abuse.[ citation needed ]
In 1966, Friess began her full-time career as a college professor at Cypress College [2] where she remained for 44 years, until her retirement in December 2010.
In 1989, Friess' sister and niece learned that a four year old family member was being molested by Friess' father. A 15-month-long court trial took place in Santa Monica, California Superior Court, resulting in a guilty verdict. [3] [1] In 1994, Friess participated in Governor Pete Wilson's two-day Crime Summit [4] and was invited to attend the bill signings of new laws to protect women and children. One such law was the “Chemical Castration bill,” calling for the legal use of the drug Depo-Provera, on paroled repeat sex offenders in order to decrease their sexual desire. That bill was signed into law on September 17, 1996. [5]
Reporter Lynn Smith of the Los Angeles Times published a comprehensive account of the court trial and the family's abuse which was released as a cover story for the Los Angeles Times Magazine , [6] August 4, 1991.
Friess' autobiography, Cry the Darkness: One Woman's Triumph over the Tragedy of Incest , [7] was released in 1993. The media interest [8] led to Friess being asked to speak at survivors' events and before mental health organizations. By 1998, Cry the Darkness had been published in six more languages. [9]
In 2006, Friess was an appointee by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve on an advisory council regarding victim sensitive issues for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Friess served as the California Co-Chairperson for the successful passage of the first federal victim's rights bill which was signed by President George W. Bush in 2004. Friess has continued to serve on the Justice Department's Office of Victims Affairs Technical Training and Advisory Council [10] since 2004.
Friess was a founding board member for Laura's House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence in California, 1994, and Mothers Against Child Sexual Abuse in 1995. She was a member of the American Coalition Against Child Abuse, One Voice, California Psychological Association, and Child Abuse Listening and Mediation of Santa Barbara.[ citation needed ] She served on the WomanSage board of directors from 2011 to 2016. [11]
Retired from Cypress College December 10, 2021, Dr. Friess soon began volunteering through the City of San Juan Capistrano as a Loss of a Loved One Support Group Leader which she did for nine years. Donna has volunteered as a docent at Mission San Juan Capistrano since 2017.Donna is a frequent guest on podcasts, for historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution where she is serves as second Vice Regent for the San Clemente Chapter of the DAR. Her recent podcast on Hey Boomer can be found on Youtube Monday, November 13, 2023.
Writing awards for Cry the Darkness include: University of Irvine, Friends of the Library Author's Award, 1996, Winner - Indie Excellence Award 2014; [12] and Honorable Mention in Paris International Book Festival, 2014. [13]
In 2009 Dr Donna Friess was named Orange County Teacher of the Year by Cypress College. She was nominated for the American President’s Service Award in 1996. Though she did not receive the award, the nomination in itself was an honor. Donna was appointed to the U.S. Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime: technical Training and Advisory Council. She has sat on that board for the past 15 years.
Dr. Friess was named to the City of San Juan Capistrano’s Wall of Recognition on November 7, 2023. Capistrano Dispatch, November 14, 2023.’Council Approves List of 2023 Inductees for Wall of Recognition,” Shawn Raymundo. “Friess is a former college professor and local author who in 2018 published a 250 page book, Capistrano Trails: Ride for the Brand,, in 2020 she published Growing Up Venice: Parallel Universes recalling her experiences growing up in the California beach town of Venice. For nearly a decade, Friess facilitated a grief and support group for those who have lost a loved one. She also volunteers as a docent for the last seven years at the Mission where she teaches groups of kids."
Donna with her husband of 59 years, Ken were the subject of the Cover Story in Neighbors of San Juan Capistrano November 2023 published by Best Version Media. Publisher Linda Hakim. This magazine is mailed to every home in the city of San Juan Capistrano,
Friess married Kenneth Friess, who was active in local politics in historic San Juan Capistrano becoming a four term mayor. [14] They had three children.
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(March 2018) |
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by the Spanish Empire on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September 8, 1771, as the fourth of what would become twenty-one Spanish missions in California. San Gabriel Arcángel was named after the Archangel Gabriel and often referred to as the "Godmother of the Pueblo of Los Angeles."
Mission San Juan Capistrano is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial Las Californias by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan Order, it was named for Saint John of Capistrano. The Spanish Colonial Baroque style church was located in the Alta California province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Mission was founded less than 60 yards from the village of Acjacheme. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, and returned to the Roman Catholic Church by the United States government in 1865. The Mission was damaged over the years by a number of natural disasters, but restoration and renovation efforts date from around 1910. It functions today as a museum.
San Juan Capistrano is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 35,253 at the 2020 Census.
Putuidem, alternative spelling Putiidhem or Putuidhem, was a large native village of the Acjachemen people, also known as Juaneño since their relocation to Mission San Juan Capistrano. Putuidem was a mother village, a community that spawned other villages of the tribe.
Southern California Edison (SCE), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electric utility company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of approximately 50,000 square miles.
Capistrano Beach or Capo Beach, is a coastal neighborhood in the city of Dana Point in Orange County, California. It is bordered by San Clemente to the south and Doheny State Beach to the north.
JSerra Catholic High School is a private coeducational Catholic high school located in San Juan Capistrano, California. Named after Saint Junípero Serra, the school was founded by parents in 2003 and is an independent school sanctioned by the Diocese of Orange.
The Diocese of Orange is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church that covers all of Orange County, California, in the United States. It is sometimes referred to as the Diocese of Orange in California, to avoid confusion with the Diocese of Orange in Orange, France, which was dissolved in 1801.
The San Juan Capistrano Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of 1 mi 1,232 yd (2.736 km) run on the turf track held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in June. The event currently offers a purse of $100,000. It is one of the longest graded grass races in the United States.
Mabel Alvarez was an American painter. Her works, often introspective and spiritual in nature, and her style is considered a contributing factor to the Southern California Modernism and California Impressionism movement.
The Acjachemen are an Indigenous people of California. Published maps often identify their ancestral lands as extending from the beach to the mountains, south from what is now known as Aliso Creek in Orange County to the Las Pulgas Canyon in the northwestern part of San Diego County. However, sources also show that Acjachemen people shared sites with other Indigenous nations as far north as Puvunga in contemporary Long Beach.
Judith Lewis Herman is an American psychiatrist, researcher, teacher, and author who has focused on the understanding and treatment of incest and traumatic stress.
San Juan Capistrano station is a train station in San Juan Capistrano, California, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, and Metrolink, a commuter railroad. The station has a single side platform serving the single track of the SCRRA's Orange Subdivision.
Shari Lynn Karney is an American attorney, incest-survivor activist, and former bar exam preparation company owner.
Modesta Ávila was a Californio ranchera and protester, best known for being the first convicted felon and first state prisoner in Orange County, California. Ávila had only received a minor warning in 1889 for placing an obstruction on the tracks to protest against the Santa Fe Railroad being built through her property without adequate compensation, but she continued to taunt the authorities, and was eventually arrested four months later.
Cry the Darkness: One Woman's Triumph over the Tragedy of Incest is an autobiographical account by Donna L. Friess that details her father's sexual abuse of her and her niece, and how Friess has dealt with it. The book was published in 1993 by Health Communications.
The 2018 Orange County Board of Supervisors elections was on June 5, 2018, as part of the primary election on June 5, 2018. Three of the five seats of the Orange County, California Board of Supervisors were up for election.
Alicia Monson is an American long-distance runner who primarily competes in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. She holds the North American record over the 5000 m, 10,000 m, and two mile distances, all set as part of the On Athletics Club under coach Dathan Ritzenhein.
Sean Michael Rhyan is an American football guard for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
