Anaheim High, with support from the school’s Alumni Association, is staging a Read Across America celebration highlighting Anaheim High authors, as well as books that feature Anaheim High and its graduates. Student activities promoting literacy are also part of the week-long celebration that kicks off Feb. 29 and runs through March 4.
Appearances on the stage of Cook Auditorium by four authors, including OC Weekly editor and AHS Class of ’97 graduate Gustavo Arellano, student activities, an Alice In Wonderland-themed reception in the school’s library and a Hall of Fame induction are among activities that will take place during the week. All the events are free and open to the public.
Throughout the week the AHS Library will serve as the event hub and site of a display featuring Anaheim High authors, including Lois Battle, a Class of ’56 graduate who achieved success in the literary world with seven bestselling novels. The display will also spotlight books about famous alumni, including Charles Walters (’30), an MGM director and choreographer during Hollywood’s Golden Age, and Marie Wilson (’33) of My Friend Irma fame who earned three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in radio, TV and film.
The celebration will culminate Friday, March 4, with an Anaheim High Authors’ Forum, 3 to 5 p.m. in Cook Auditorium, featuring a graduate who has become a celebrated voice in the Latino community, a Colony writer who published a book featuring Anaheim High haunts, an alumnae who has authored of a popular mystery series based on her experience as a forensic handwriting analyst, and writer and historiam Dennis Bateman, Class of ’89, who will talk about his book Anaheim Colonists Football – A Century of Tradition and The Orange County Football Book.
Returning to his alma mater for the first time since graduating in 1997, Gustavo Arellano, editor of OC Weekly, is also the author of several books and a nationally syndicated column Ask A Mexican. He will speak about his evolution from an Anaheim High student leader to an award-winning writer.
Like her fictional character Claudia Rose in the award-winning forensic handwriting mystery series, Sheila Lowe from Class of ’67 is a practicing forensic handwriting expert. Also the author of the acclaimed The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis, Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, and Handwriting Analyzer software, she is president of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes education in the area of handwriting. Sheila holds a master’s degree in psychology and lectures around the country and in Canada and the UK. Her analyses of celebrity handwritings are seen throughout the media.
Lowe and Suspense Publishing have made her book 
Inkslingers Ball available to Anaheim High students to read as part of the celebration.
A popular subject among Anaheim High students is the rumor of ghosts that haunt the high school. It’s also a favorite subject of Tom Zaradich, author of Anaheim’s Dead – Ghostly Encounters With the Passed, which includes a chapter on Anaheim High and interviews with several AHS graduates and staff members.
After the authors’ forum, attendees will be invited to the AHS Library for a reception celebrating Anaheim High authors and supporters of literacy in the Colony community. A special mention will be given the school’s SkillsUSA program for its creation of free little libraries being placed throughout the Colony community.
June Glenn’55 and Susan Faessel ’67 will also be recognized for their support of literacy in the Anaheim community. Another event highlight will be the induction of long-time Anaheim High teacher, writer and historian Louise Booth in the school’s Hall of Fame.
Thanks to a sponsorship by the AHS Alumni Association, all activities are free but donations of books are encouraged. For a list of titles requested by the AHS Library, visit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/?ie=UTF8&cid=A1SDJXD5BSLQVG
Books may also be brought to the Friday event to be donated to the school library or the little free libraries.
The AHSAA has identified 19 alumni authors who will be recognized as part of A Celebration of Anaheim High Authors and Colony-Inspired Literature. Biographies, with photos, on each of these individuals, as well as information on books written about Anaheim High alumni, literature that includes photos or information on Anaheim High, are available at https://anaheimcolonists.com/celebration-of-anaheim-authors/
To RSVP for the reception or to inform the AHSAA of additional authors, please contact Janet Brown at anaheimalumni@yahoo.com or 714-726-4372.
