'Writing a book is wonderful and ... miserable' 'Writing a book is wonderful and ... miserable' (August 11, 2004)

Don DeNevi has written on everything from King Tut to Alcatraz escapees

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

The woman was looking for someone to write a biography of her grandfather, and Don DeNevi was happy to oblige. Besides his teaching and work with prison inmates, he's been a fruitful writer for years, authoring or co-authoring some 35 books.

Turns out Grandpa was a very interesting chap indeed.

Jim Davis, a district attorney in California's sprawling, northerly Siskiyou County in the 1930s, was likely one of the state's first Native American DAs, Mr. DeNevi says. In his research, Mr. DeNevi was captivated by a tale of Mr. Davis sticking up for the Brite brothers, two men convicted of killing two law-enforcement officers and another man in 1936.

According to Mr. DeNevi, John and Coke Brite got in a fight with a rancher over their cabin. The rancher later came back under cover of dark with two officers and a friend. One of them beat a Brite brother with a branch, and the brothers fought back with guns, killing three, but later saying they had been shooting in self-defense.

After the brothers went on the lam, Mr. Davis reportedly got their mother to persuade them to surrender to the law. In exchange, he would protect them from the lynch mob on their tail, Mr. DeNevi said.

The brothers ended up spending 16 years in Folsom Prison, including a stint on death row before a governor commuted their sentences to life. They were paroled in 1951. Mr. Davis was himself nearly lynched for speaking out in defense of the brothers, and was later recalled from office, Mr. DeNevi says.

"Lynch fever, mob rule was in the milieu of the area," Mr. DeNevi says.

From Mr. Davis' biography, it was an easy jump to a book about the Brites, and Mr. DeNevi has been seeking relatives of the brothers with his co-author, Gina Froelich, as their final draft comes together.

"The brothers had no kids," Mr. DeNevi says. "Davis had one aunt. Gina called her in Oregon. She was barely alive, but articulate."

Meanwhile, Mr. DeNevi is already on to his next project. FBI officials have just agreed to work with him on a book about the bureau's fight against organized crime since 1988, when many major mob heads were arrested.

If the past is any indication, Mr. DeNevi's research will be all-consuming. Because he uses newspapers as a key source, he has a healthy library of old issues, including the San Jose Mercury News going back to 1862.

His other books include "Riddle of the Rock: The Only Successful Escape from Alcatraz," which was included in a 1989 "Unsolved Mysteries" television program on ABC. He's also authored or co-authored books on King Tut and modern forensics, legendary train robberies, tennis after age 50, and Father Junipero Serra.

"Writing a book is wonderful and creative," he says, but quickly adds: "It's miserable. You're constantly thinking about the title. And writing is hard. ... But that's when you're most alive and your mind is the sharpest."

Looking over a print-out of his titles, he shrugs and grins. "Of all the books I've written, I'd buy six."

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