Author Donna Friess Shares Account of Growing up in Venice

Author and historian Donna Lewis Friess, Ph.D. announces her latest literary accomplishment, Growing Up Venice: Parallel Universes which brings Venice, California’s vibrant story to life in a personally written narrative based upon interviews and historical accountings.

“I truly wanted to capture my experience of growing up in Venice and preserve these potentially lost pieces of Venice history,” said Dr. Friess who grew up on the ocean front in Venice in the midst of California’s 1940’s oil boom.

While honoring the Indigenous People who once lived on its shores, Growing Up Venice begins with her great grandparents’ late 1880’s arrival in Venice Beach and travels through Abbot Kinney’s magical Venice-of-America. Stories span the discovery of oil, the evolution as an artists’ Mecca, fame as a “must see” tourist attraction, through to the arrival of high-tech Silicon Beach.

It depicts Venice in the 1940’s when it was the fourth most productive oil field in California while three giant amusement piers loomed between Venice Beach and Santa Monica.

An important segment of the book is the author’s account of a few hundred holocaust survivors’ who lined the benches along the beach in Venice. Another chapter outlines the silicon tech purchase of land in an area known as Oakwood, the second most dangerous gang area in Los Angeles (second to Watts). Individuals are currently spending millions to purchase historic homes which long ago were owned by the African American support workers to Venice-of-America.

The author of eight books including her autobiography, Cry the Darkness published in seven languages, Friess was determined to bring a lost piece of Los Angeles history to life offering this vibrant story of a remarkably idiosyncratic place in America.

Growing Up Venice is available at Amazon.com in Kindle format, black and white print and hard-back color print or for more information, visit www.drdonnafriess.com.

About the Author:

Donna L. Friess, Ph.D. is a fourth generation Californian, historian, author and life coach. Professor Emeritus of Cypress College and the great granddaughter of an early Southern California pioneering family, Friess is a member of the First Century Families of Los Angeles and The Orange County Pioneer Council. Dr. Friess was nominated for the American President’s Service Award and is a long time member of the U.S. Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime: Technical Training and Advisory Council. Locally, Friess is a member of the Historical Society of San Juan Capistrano, serves as a docent at Mission San Juan Capistrano and is the city appointed chair of the Cultural Heritage Commission. An equestrian and dog enthusiast, world traveler, speed walker, half marathoner and portrait artist, she enjoys a rural lifestyle in San Juan Capistrano with her husband and large family.

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