About the Author

“The Donna Gentile Story” is the author’s first publication within the genre of true crime. It is a true story, a story of tragedy, the story of a first cousin, a young woman, loving and kind, but silenced, abandoned when she speaks of her hardships at home, from there to exploitation, prostitution and death, a murder never resolved. A “Me Too” story.

Anita DeFrancesco has also written her own true story. A two time global author, public speaker, workshop leader and facilitator.  She is the author of “Live Free — Re-create and Liberate Your Life,” her own journey, a return from devastation, a return from her own pain. Anita lives, writes, and speaks as a woman who has not only survived her own challenges but has also grown from it and re-created her life journey. She has used her painful and tragic experience to help other women and girls.

Her extensive service includes UCLA/The Rape Foundation, Santa Monica College, Widener University,  WOAR,The Boys and Girls Club, Amity Foundation, Amistad de Los Angeles, The Clare Foundation, Share, DiDi Hirsch,  and many others including LA’s “Children of the Night,” founded by Dr. Lois Lee, an organization that rescues child prostitutes from pimps and organized child sex traffickers. Early on Anita created a drug free group for teenagers called RAP where she received state grants for public awareness. She later  became an  allied health professional and received an Associate Degree from St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phila where she studied Radiologic Technology/Mammography and worked 15 years at TJU.

A two-time nationwide award winning journalist, she has been a columnist for Century City News “Love Buzz”  in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Times “On The Move” and Advance medical magazine “X-Ray Visions”. Her journalism awards were for radio category stories on Infertility and Adult Leukemia in 1991 on WRTI radio station where she worked as a Jazz music announcer in Philadelphia. Both The Society of Professional Journalists  and The  Leukemia society of America awarded her a plaque and compensation for her efforts on  educating the public.  She produced her own cable television and radio shows in Phila and Los Angeles, and also worked under Dr. Bob Arnot and Paula Zahn at CBS NY in the book division. Zahn now hosts Investigative Discovery true crime series.  She later interviewed presidential candidate Marianne Williamson in Phila on her TV show, “Dr.Dr. Give Me the News”,  on WOBC-7 in 1991.  Currently living in Philadelphia, Penn., Anita is a global international author, public speaker, teacher, actress, dance movement artist educator, psychotherapist, and world traveler.  She  received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch University in Psychology and a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from Ryokan College in Los Angeles.  She also studied Broadcast Journalism at a master level for 3 years working on WRTI radio at Temple University. She  is an active member of SAG/AFTRA. She teaches Yoga and is founder of Tantra Wisdom, offering regular classes on bonded relationships based on love, connection, and spirituality.

The True Story as Told by the First Cousin