One Day She'll Darken
Page 35
From that moment on many mysteries surfaced, some bizarre connections and a large story began to unfold.
I speak up for those of us
Who walk the middle road
I speak up for those of us
Who have no place to fit.
We are not white, or black,
brown, red or yellow,
We are of the wandering tribe . . .
searching for humankind
— Fauna Hodel
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fauna Hodel, the white daughter of a prominent California family, was given away at birth to a young black woman who worked as a restroom attendant in a Nevada casino. Fauna grew up believing she was of mixed race, encountering prejudice from both blacks and whites. When she sought out her birth mother, Tamar, years later, she uncovered her family link to the prime suspect in the Black Dahlia murder mystery. Fauna’s early life is the inspiration for the TNT series I Am the Night, which Fauna also produced.
After being born in San Francisco and raised in Reno, Fauna moved to Hawaii and became an author and a motivational speaker. She committed her life to breaking down racial barriers by sharing her own incredible experiences and encouraging others to pursue their dreams. In 2017, Fauna passed away from breast cancer. She was mother to daughters, Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro, who continue her legacy.
Born white, but adopted by an African American family, Fauna believed she was biracial and her name was Pat for the first twenty-two years of her life.
Fauna grew up in Sparks, Nevada in the 1950s. She is shown here (right) with her childhood friends from the predominantly African American neighborhood.
Fauna, Christmas, 1950s, Sparks, Nevada.
Fauna, age eleven, Sparks, Nevada.
Jimmie Lee (Momma) with Fauna, 1975, Reno, Nevada.
Homer, the only father figure to Fauna, who she loved and adored. Homer and Jimmie Lee raised Fauna together from the time she was a little girl.
Fauna, age fourteen, Reno, Nevada.
Big Momma, Jimmie Lee’s mother, was Fauna’s guardian angel and grandmother.
Fauna, age fifteen, with Bobby, her first husband, who is father to Yvette.
Fauna and Billy (Fauna’s second husband) in San Diego, California.
Fauna, age sixteen, working as a candy striper at the hospital where she discovered information about her biological family.
Fauna’s original birth certificate. Note the “Color or Race of Father” as “Negro.”
George Hodel, Fauna’s biological grandfather and the prime suspect in the Black Dahlia murder. (New York Daily News Archive / Contributor)
Tamar Hodel, Fauna’s biological mother.
Fauna (right) with her sister, Deborah Elizabeth (AKA Fauna 2).
George Hodel’s house in Hollywood, The Sowden House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s eldest son, Lloyd Wright.
Elizabeth Short, AKA The Black Dahlia, was found murdered in 1947. (FBI)
Fauna, age eighteen, holding baby Yvette on her second birthday, celebrating at Jimmie Lee’s house in Reno, 1969.
Fauna, age twenty-eight, with her daughters, Yvette, age twelve, and Rasha, age one, 1979, Honolulu, Hawaii.
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Copyright © 2008 by Fauna Hodel with J.R. Briamonte
978-1-63168-248-3
This edition published in 2019 by Graymalkin Media
www.graymalkin.com
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