Donna Lewis Friess (born January 16, 1943) is an American author and activist for children's rights. Early life and education Donna Jean Lewis Friess was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Raymond W. Lewis, Jr., was an aerospace designer and her mother, Dorothy Borwick Lewis McIntyre a recreation director. As a child victim of incest at her father's hands, she sought to get away from her father's control as soon as she was able. She attended Santa Monica City College 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." She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1964, then moved to Orange County. 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. Career In 1966, Friess began her full-time career as a college professor at Cypress College 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. In 1994, Friess participated in Governor Pete Wilson's two-day Crime Summit 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. 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, August 4, 1991. Friess' autobiography, Cry the Darkness: One Woman's Triumph over the Tragedy of Incest, was released in 1993. The media interest 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. In