In his book Echoes of Anaheim – Memories of a Once-Upon-A-Time Small Town,  Danny Dunton provides an oral history in published form of Anaheim in the 1940s. Published in 2010, the book is endorsed by the Anaheim Historical Society as “relevant to the preservation of local history.”

Born and raised in Anaheim in the 1940s, he lived at 610 South Clementine Street and attended all Anaheim schools. He now resides Meadows Place, Texas, located 18 miles south of Houston.

One of the nation’s most renowned Western Frontier artists, Larry Zabel’s work has been displayed in many prestigious venues, including the White House, the Smithsonian and the Pentagon. His art also appears in his self-published book Trails Less Traveled.

He has won numerous regional and national awards and has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. After leaving Anaheim High, he attended Long Beach State and worked as a commercial artist for more than 30 years before moving to Montana and beginning his career in Frontier artistry.

Daniel Edwin “Dan” Barker, born June 25, 1949, is an atheist activist who served as a Christian preacher and musician for 19 years but left Christianity in 1984. He has written numerous articles for Freethought Today, an American freethought newspaper, and is the author of several books including Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist and his latest, GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction.

Barker received a degree in religion from Azusa Pacific University and was ordained to the ministry by the Standard Community Church, California, in 1975. He served as associate pastor at a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) church, an Assembly of God, and an independent Charismatic church. To this day, he receives royalties from his popular children’s Christian musicals, Mary Had a Little Lamb (1977) and His Fleece Was White as Snow (1978), both published by Manna Music. A successful musician, Barker has composed over 200 songs that have been published or recorded.

In 1984 he announced to his friends that he was an atheist, and appeared on AM Chicago (hosted by Oprah Winfrey) later that year on a show about “kicking the religion habit.” Barker met his wife when both were guests on the show. They began dating six months later and married in 1987. They have a daughter, Sabrina Delata.

He is a member of the Lenni Lenape (Delaware Indian) Tribe of Native Americans, and in 1991 edited and published Paradise Remembered, a collection of his grandfather’s stories as a Lenape boy in Indian Territory.

He is the current co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an American Freethought organization that promotes the separation of church and state. He is also co-founder and a board member of The Clergy Project.

Barker, along with his wife, host a weekly one hour radio program Freethought Radio that is nationally broadcast. He has appeared on dozens of national television and radio programs to discuss and debate issues related to atheism and the separation of state and church. He has discussed nativity scenes on government property, the campaign against a Mother Teresa stamp, prayer in public schools, and has appeared on Phil Donahue, Hannity & Colmes, Maury Povich, Good Morning America, Sally Jessy Raphael, among other shows. He was featured in a New York Times article about the growing of atheism in Southern states, has given addresses on his own de-conversion across the United States, and has participated in more than 120 debates around the world.

Books

Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics. (1990)

Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist. (1992)

Just Pretend (2002)

Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists (2008)

The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God (2011)

Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning (2015)

Music

Mary Had a Little Lamb (1977)

His Fleece Was White as Snow (1978)

Music Albums

Night at Nakoma (2008)

Friendly Neighborhood Atheist (2002)

Beware of Dogma (2004)

Adrift On A Star (2013)

Lois Battle is a New York Times best-selling author of seven novels including:  Season of Change, War Brides, Southern Women, A Habit of Blood, The Past Is  Another Country, Storyville Bed & Breakfast, The Florabama Ladies Auxiliary and Sewing Circle.

She died at age 74, on June 17, 2014, at her home in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Before she began writing, Battle pursued an acting career in New York City. She landed several small roles in theater and film, including a speaking part in the 1964 film adaptation of the musical My Fair Lady. She also appeared in Something Evil (1972) and Louis Armstrong – Chicago Style (1976).

Battle began writing novels in the 1980s. She discovered Beaufort while researching “Southern Women,” a novel set in Savannah, and moved to town in 1993. Her novel “Bed and Breakfast” is set in Beaufort.

Known to many in Beaufort as a fiery, passionate woman and champion of the arts, Lois Battle is also remembered for her loyalty, generosity and fragility, according to her obituary in the Beaufort Gazette. Battle’s sister, Colleen Battle of Cleveland, described her as a creative spirit who was her mentor in the arts, introducing her to ballet, opera and literature.  She was also a woman known for her strong stances. Colleen Battle said her sister didn’t believe in credit cards, cellphones or the Internet.

“She thought they inhibited communication,” Coleen Battle said. “She felt like when people actually wrote a language, they communicated more fully.” As a result, Lois Battle corresponded with friends and family through painted postcards and handwritten letters.

Anaheim High Class of ’64 Virnell Bruce is the author of “Shells: A Cameo of Anne Morrow Lindbergh.” She is also a playwright and wrote a one-woman, two-act play based on Anne Morrow Lindbergh, one of the most accomplished women of the 20th century.

Her book won a Special Citation Awarded from The Colonial Dames of America, an organization that recognizes non-fiction books of merit that focus on American life—past, present, or future—that broaden the understanding of American history, politics, or culture.

Virnell, whose career in the aerospace industry spanned 36 years, teaches at the Christopher Wren Association, an educational program affiliated with the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Virnell has a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English.