Arlyn Sharon Phoenix (; born December 31, 1944), commonly known as Heart Phoenix, is an American

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

and mother of actors

River A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

, Joaquin,

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

, and

Summer Phoenix Summer Phoenix (born Summer Joy Bottom, December 10, 1978 ) is an American actress. She is the youngest sibling of actors River, Rain, Joaquin, and Liberty Phoenix. Early life Phoenix's mother, Arlyn Sharon (née Dunetz), was born in New Y ...

Early life

Arlyn Phoenix was born on December 31, 1944, in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City, the daughter of Margaret (née Lefkowitz; 1916–1998) and Meyer Dunetz (1910–1996). Arlyn was raised with her two sisters, Rhoda and Merle (Sun). Her mother's family was from Hungary, and her father's family was from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Although Arlyn's family was Jewish and celebrated the

Jewish culture Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not simply a faith-based religion, but an orthopraxy and Ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, ...

and

holidays A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

, they did not attend

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Adult life

Arlyn Phoenix left New York in 1968 and moved to California, where she met her future husband John Lee Bottom (1947–2015). They traveled together along the West Coast, picking fruit and vegetables along the way, and their first son River was born August 23, 1970. Soon after their first daughter Rain was born in 1972, they joined the religious group The Children of God and toured Mexico, Puerto Rico and South America as missionaries of the cult for several years. It was during this time that their son and daughter Joaquin and Liberty (Libertad) were born. Arlyn and John renamed themselves for a brief period, taking the

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

names Jochebed and Amram, respectively. The couple eventually grew disillusioned with the Children of God and left in 1977. Arlyn would later state that she and her husband were opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of

flirty fishing Flirty Fishing (FFing) is a form of evangelism by sexual intimacy practised from around 1974 to 1987 by the cult Children of God, currently known as The Family International (TFI). Female members of Children of God, or "fisherwomen," would apply ...

. They returned to the US in late 1977 and lived in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 according to the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was foun ...

, where Arlyn gave birth to her youngest child, Summer. Around this time, they legally adopted the surname "Phoenix" (Arlyn later changed her name to "Heart" in 1988) and began to embrace

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

as their new diet and lifestyle. The parents took their five children and headed back to California, where Arlyn got a job as an executive secretary for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. She later hired an agent,

Iris Burton Iris Burton (born Iris Burstein, September 4, 1930 – April 5, 2008) was an American dancer and talent agent, who discovered and represented many famous child actors during her career. Early career Burton danced in the Broadway shows ''Musi ...

, who eventually got all of her children acting work. John and Arlyn divorced in 1997. She is now married to her second husband, Jeffrey Weisberg. Phoenix was the executive director of The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery for five years, one of ten accredited direct entry

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

schools in the country. In 2012, she co-founded the non-profit organization River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding which provides and promotes the best practices and principles of peacebuilding and global sustainability. She is on the Board of Directors of

Peace Alliance The Peace Alliance is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that works on domestic and international peace building. The organization organizes Peace Alliance Action Teams within state congressional districts and also a Student Peac ...

, an organization which supports the creation of a United States Department of Peace.

References

External links

River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix, Arlyn 1944 births Activists from New York (state) American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Living people Activists from the Bronx Arlyn Former members of The Family International Jewish women activists American women activists Jewish American activists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American Ashkenazi Jews