Fauna Hodel (August 1, 1951 – September 30, 2017) was an American author and

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

, who wrote the true-crime memoir '' One Day She'll Darken: The Mysterious Beginnings of Fauna Hodel'', documenting her unusual beginnings and the connection to her grandfather, George Hodel, a suspect in the

Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – , 1947), posthumously known as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized owin ...

murder mystery.

Early life

Born August 1, 1951, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Hodel was the first child of 16-year-old Tamar Nais Hodel and the granddaughter of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

doctor and socialite George Hodel.Chambers, Hannah
"The Wild, True Story That Inspired 'I Am the Night': So. Many. Plot. Twists,"
''Cosmopolitan'' (January 25, 2019). Through her maternal grandfather, Fauna was of

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

ancestry. Fauna's birth father was unknown, and the troubled Tamar gave up Fauna for adoption. Because her father was listed on her birth certificate as an "unknown Negro", Fauna was adopted by an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

family in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. Told she was

multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

, Fauna was raised by Jimmie Lee Greenwade (later Faison) and given the name "Patricia Ann Greenwade". She spent her formative years not knowing her name or biological parentage. Fauna later learned about her origins, which revealed her connection to the controversial 1949

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

trial of George Hodel, following accusations by Tamar, as well as George Hodel's connection to the still-unsolved

case.

Career

Hodel's unique perspective on adoption, race relations, and her family history led her to write the unreleased 1991 film ''Pretty Hattie's Baby'', directed by

Ivan Passer Ivan Passer (10 July 1933 – 9 January 2020) was a Czech film director and screenwriter, best known for his involvement in the Czechoslovak New Wave and for directing American films such as '' Born to Win'' (1971), '' Cutter's Way'' (1981) and ...

and starring

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard ( ; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Scree ...

. Hodel served as the film's executive producer and creative consultant. One Day She'll Darken website. Accessed Feb. 13. 2019. Her memoir '' One Day She'll Darken: The Mysterious Beginnings of Fauna Hodel'' (written with J. R. Briamonte) was published by Outskirts Press in 2008. It was re-published in 2019 by Graymalkin Media, including an eight-page photo insert from Hodel's personal collection. The book inspired '' I Am the Night'', a 2019 six-episode limited television series starring

Chris Pine Christopher Whitelaw Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–2016) and Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films ''Wonder Woman'' ...

and

India Eisley India Eisley (born October 29, 1993) is an American actress. On television, she is best known for her roles as Ashley Juergens in the Freeform (TV channel), ABC Family series ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (2008–2013), Audrina in ...

, directed by

Patty Jenkins Patricia Lea Jenkins (born July 24, 1971) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. She has directed the feature films '' Monster'' (2003), ''Wonder Woman'' (2017), and '' Wonder Woman 1984'' (2020). For the film ''Monster'', sh ...

. Hodel spent much of the 2000s as a

, talking about racial equality and human rights.

Personal life

Hodel had two children, Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro.Reilly, Phoebe
"‘I Am the Night’: Patty Jenkins and Chris Pine Explore the Black Dahlia Mystery,"
''New York Times'' (Jan. 24, 2019). In February 2019, it was announced that Gentile and Pecoraro were producing a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, ''Root of Evil'', which delves further into the book, the miniseries adaptation, and their family history.McDonnell-Parry, Amelia
"New Podcast Explores Black Dahlia Murder: ‘Root of Evil’ dives into the story of George Hodel, a primary suspect in Elizabeth Short’s 1947 unsolved murder — and it’s told by his great-granddaughters,"
''Rolling Stone'' (Feb. 8, 2019). In February 2019, the eight-episode podcast, ''Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia'', produced by Cadence 13 in conjunction with TNT, premiered. The show ran for eight consecutive weeks and attained a "No. 1 podcast ranking" in the United States.

Death

Hodel died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

at age 66 on September 30, 2017.

Filmography

*'' I Am the Night'' (2019 TV series; writer, co-producer)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodel, Fauna 1951 births 2017 deaths 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists American crime fiction writers American women novelists American people of Russian-Jewish descent Deaths from breast cancer in the United States Writers from Reno, Nevada Writers from San Francisco