Donald H. Harrison is the publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.
Harrison began his journalism career in 1962 on the UCLA Daily Bruin. Following graduation he joined the staff of the Associated Press, and later became politics writer for The San Diego Union. Afterwards he pursued a career in tourism, helping to establish San Diego’s Cruise Ship Program as well as Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego. He also wrote for such Jewish publications as the San Diego Jewish Press Heritage and San Diego Jewish Times before starting San Diego Jewish World in 2007.
Don’s latest work is the three-volume Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5.
He is the author of six previous books. Those with links may be obtained on Amazon.
By Donald H. Harrison CARMEL, California – In some parts of the world, particularly Europe, the saint for whom Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo is named is better known than the man nominated for sainthood whose body is buried under the floor next to the altar. But here in California, the reverse […]
Is that a future Catholic saint buried in Mission Carmel? Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SAN LUIS OBISPO, California – In the heart of downtown is an alley that runs between two high brick walls – or, at least, brick are what they once appeared to be. For generations, students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, abetted by tourists, have been covering the walls each
A sticky tradition in San Luis Obispo Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SOLVANG, California –This famed Danish village in central California made bookseller Kathy Mullins and her late husband, Gary, an aerospace engineer, feel welcome after a life in which they crisscrossed the country on assignment for Boeing Aircraft. Their business selling books to tourists and to locals grew, and the Mullins, of
In Solvang, museum pays tribute to Hans Christian Andersen Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison HOLLYWOOD — We went to Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday, July 23, and had the uncanny feeling that we had never left San Diego– at least not the Convention Center area where Comic-Con is currently holding forth. Similiar to the mega event in San Diego, Hollywood Boulevard offers views of people
Finding Jewish stars in Hollywood Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Three commanding officers of the Star Trek television series pondered for a Comic-Con audience on Friday, July 22, what has made the science fiction show remain popular over four decades. William Shatner joined Avery Brooks and Scott Bakula at a press conference at the San Diego Convention
Three generations of commanding officers probe Star Trek’s popularity Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Two years after surprising animator Bill Plympton with his ability to mimic Plympton’s drawing style, 11-year-old Perry Chen is making his debut at Comic-Con as the animator of a 6-minute Holocaust short, Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest. Chen will appear on a panel with his mentor
11-year-old animator’s Holocaust film debuts at Comic-Con Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – It would be hard to estimate how many of the hundreds of persons who attended the outdoor concert of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra on Sunday evening, July 17, at the Allied Gardens Community Center knew the meaning of the Yiddish word haimische, but all of them
TICO makes its audience feel at home at outdoor concert Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Some of the top leadership of the organized Jewish community of San Diego turned out for a service to memorialize Steven Weening, 64, and to comfort his wife, Leslie, who had been a long-serving executive assistant to the director of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, and
Jewish leadership turns out for Steve Weening’s memorial Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego CountyBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Gosh, maybe we should have a local San Diego column called “Jews in the news.” Let’s see, a showdown is coming at the San Diego City Council over Irwin Jacobs’ offer to fund a controversial project to take cars off the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park. …
In San Diego, Jews make news Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Quite often, you want to shout “Mazel Tov” to the people whose accomplishments you admire! Me, I’m lucky to be able also to publish the words. –To Dr. Joel Moskowitz, frequent contributor to San Diego Jewish World, who has received a plaque of appreciation from the San Diego chapter
Mazel tov! Mazel tov! Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison POWAY, California – As the aroma of kosher hot dogs and hamburgers wafted from the barbecues on the parking lot of Ner Tamid Synagogue in the early evening of July 4th, Rabbi Nadav Caine and congregational president Mitchell Freedman, each in turn, contemplated how American ideals reflect those articulated in Jewish
Marking July 4th with Jewish and alternative histories Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USABy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Sometimes, we have to distinguish between goals and tactics. A case in point: A member of our Jewish community is justifiably outraged by the campaign to ban circumcisions as inhumane, and is particularly up-in-arms by a cartoon book depicting mohels as blood-thirsty, bearded torturers – caricatures reminiscent of
Not confusing tactics with the goal in the circumcision controversy Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Mayor Ron Huldai of Tel Aviv, after showing the Oscar-winning short-subject documentary Strangers No More at a private gathering June 30 to promote the work of the Tel Aviv Foundation, found himself discussing a subject that has preoccupied both Israel and the United States recently: what should be done to
Tel Aviv mayor tells of Israel’s illegal immigration Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego CalendarBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Increasingly, Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego) is showing his disdain for Israel and, along with it, the American Jewish communty which holds it dear. Having in the last several years refused to sign a resolution condemning the Goldstone Report, which former South African Judge Richard Goldstone himself later renounced,
Filner again distances himself from Israel Read More »
Donald H. Harrison