Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison

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.

Rabbi Scott Meltzer Introduces B’nai Mitzvah to the Joy of Giving

Beginning in 2014, Rabbi and Mrs. Meltzer invested $100 per month in the Kiva organization until they had built up a credit of approximately $8,000. They pored over lists of worthy borrowers, who were vetted by Kiva’s microloan partners throughout the world.  The Meltzers then decided to which borrowers they wished to make interest-free repayable loans. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Oh, the Mishaps that Greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Her San Diego Visit!

No sooner than Cleator took over the office as acting mayor, he broke the news to me that Queen Elizabeth II of England would be visiting San Diego, and that I, as communications director, would be in charge of the city’s press arrangements for the traveling and local media. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA

Jewish Musician and Cultural Leader Eileen Wingard Reminisces About Her Career

Violinist Eileen Wingard was never the star of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. Such billings belong to conductors like Zoltan Rozsnyai, Peter Eros, David Atherton, Yoav Talmi, and Jung-Ho Pak, all of whom she played under during a career stretching from 1967 through 2004. Or perhaps the stars are donors like Irwin and Joan Jacobs, who in 2002 gave the San Diego Symphony an amazing gift of $120 million, the largest ever given to an orchestra in America. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Novel Incorporates Vignettes about Patrons of a Jerusalem Café

Ehrlich’s Café Shira is an imaginative series of vignettes that take place in an establishment much like Café Tmol Shilshom, wherein the regulars at each table have their own stories. Sometimes they are interwoven with the stories of waitresses Rutha and Rona and café owner Avigdor; other times, they are in a world of their own, made known to us only by the remarkable insight and intuition of the hard-working, extremely empathetic Rutha. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East

Larry Schwartz: Organizer of AFT Local 1931

A large crowd gathered on December 1, 1995, to rename the Quad at San Diego City College as Schwartz Square.  The gathering was in honor of history professor and American Federation of Teachers #1931 President Larry Schwartz.  He had died at age 62 of a brain tumor ten months prior to the ceremony. The dedication plaque there reads: “In memory of Larry Schwartz. He inspired students, challenged colleagues, and shared the passion and action of his time.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

A Guide for the Aging

Stand-up comedians know that audiences will laugh at jokes made about the subjects which make them the most uncomfortable, including their body shapes, their sexual activity (or lack of it) and the infirmaries of age. Janet Pitler, with a Jewish knack for self-deprecating humor, puts such material into 61 poems which Bob D’Amico illustrates with imaginative cartoons.  The result: an opportunity for those of us who are aging (and who isn’t?) to laugh at ourselves – either in the quiet of our reading chair, or possibly reciting the poems aloud with our friends. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Trivia, Humor & Satire

A Jewish Tour of Balboa Park

The San Diego Zoo is known as one of the world’s premier institutions for the conservation of endangered wildlife species. Along with its sister San Diego Safari Park, located in the San Pasqual Valley, the San Diego Zoo is considered one of the best, if not the very best, zoos in the world. Of particular Jewish interest is the fact that the San Diego Zoo has served as a big brother to the Tisch Family Zoo in Jerusalem, which also is known as the Jerusalem Zoo. Many of the exhibits in Jerusalem are modeled on those in San Diego and both zoos have received generous financial contributions from San Diegans. {Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Stan Andrews: A Foolish Hero?

Some will call Stan Andrews a hero because he fought and gave his life for Israel during that country’s War of Independence.  Others will call him a fool because he lusted after combat with the same recklessness that he pursued and casually bedded women. The truth lies somewhere in between the two assessments.  Through meticulous research, the authors pieced together a complex portrait of a young man who was an accomplished writer, portraitist, and pilot.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Before Melvin, Padres had 11 players, 2 coaches with at least one Jewish parent

Since the team’s induction into Major League Baseball in 1969 until 2021, the Padres counted 11 players and two coaches on its rosters who had at least one Jewish parent. In 2022, Bob Melvin became the team’s first manager with a Jewish parent. [Donald H. Harrison]

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AAA-Writers and photographers, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food, USA

Frida Kahlo Loved Jews So Much She Invented Jewish Ancestry

The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is the subject of several murals at Chicano Park. Modern genealogists say that she was the daughter of a mother of mixed indigenous and Spanish descent, Mathilde Calderon y Gonzalez, and a German Lutheran father, Guillermo Kahlo. However, Frida herself always insisted that her father, who was an important influence on both her life and her art, was actually Jewish. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Assassinated Gay Jewish Political Leader Harvey Milk Is Honored by the U.S. Navy

The “christening” ceremony featured a principal ceremonial address by Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, as well as remarks by Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro; Vice Admiral Jeffrey Hughes, deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting development; and Rear Adm. Michael Wettlaufer, commander of the Military Sealift Command. Sponsors of the ship were U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with Milk, and Paula Neira, clinical program director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health. Neira shattered a bottle of sparkling wine across the ship’s bow in a time-honored Navy tradition. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Graduation Day at the Radiation Treatment Center

Today, April 29, 2022, was a bellringing day for me at the Jacobs Medical Center at UCSD Health Sciences.  I completed a 33-day course of radiation in the hope of arresting a meningioma that was growing on top of my brain.  On July 1, I will have an MRI to learn how well the treatment worked. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Social Worker Serves as a Lay Rabbi for Elderly Residents of Paradise Village

Lazard, a social worker employed by the County of San Diego to determine financial and residential eligibility for cradle-to-21-year-old residents with major disabilities, says he is happiest when he gets to sing, particularly Jewish prayer songs. Through his tutoring of Ruth Sax, he got to know other Jewish residents of Paradise Village, and before long he was asked to officiate at the monthly Shabbat service. He met with Paradise Village’s Chaplain, Harry Bennett, before accepting the volunteer gig. Services are held in the non-denominational chapel, which has a stained-glass window bearing a picture of a dove. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Book for Toddlers Tells of the Lights of Shabbat

This tale for tots conflates the light of Shabbat candles with other pleasant and helpful lights that they might encounter.  These include a flashlight helping people to find their way; lanterns at an evening picnic; a lighthouse that aids sailors; the moon and stars; fireflies; and a soft nightlight in a child’s room. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion