Bruce Fessier (born June 6, 1953) is an American arts and entertainment journalist.

Early life

Fessier was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and raised in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...

. He attended

Whittier High School Whittier High School (WHS) is a high school located in Whittier, California. It belongs to the Whittier Union High School District. It is the alma mater of President Richard Nixon (class of 1930) and John Lasseter (class of 1975), founder of Pixa ...

, alma mater of the 37th U.S. President,

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, and was taught piano by Nixon’s cousin, Margaret Smith. He earned a journalism B.A. from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

in 1975, placing second for enterprise reporting from the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

, Western U.S., for a story on Nixon’s “Road to Watergate.”

Career

Fessier covered Southern California entertainment news for 44 years for two separately-owned "Desert" magazines, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', ''Racquet Club Magazine'', ''

The Truth Seeker ''The Truth Seeker'' is an American periodical published since 1873. It was considered the most influential Freethought publication during the period following the American Civil War, Civil War into the first decades of the 20th century, known ...

'', ''Freedonia Gazette'' and more. He covered the 1978

California Jam II California Jam II (also known as Cal Jam II) was a music festival held in Ontario, California, at the Ontario Motor Speedway on March 18, 1978, and produced by Leonard Stogel, Sandy Feldman, and Don Branker. More than 350,000 people attended. The ...

music festival in Ontario, Calif., and U.S. attempts to start a 1981 world expo in Ontario fo
''The Herald-News''
of

Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone *Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi * ...

, Calif., 1977-78. He joined a Bloomington, Calif., Crime Prevention Commission after a riot in his neighborhood. His subsequent reporting of state Attorney General Evelle Younger’s pilot crime prevention program in an area identified by author

Hunter Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of '' Hell's Angels'' (1967), a book for which he s ...

as the home of the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...

was called by local police, “an integral part of the successful effort to reduce crime within the greater

area.” The United Way honored him for community service in January 1979. In 2019, he retired from ''

The Desert Sun ''The Desert Sun'' is a local daily newspaper serving Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley in Southern California. History ''The Desert Sun'' is owned by Gannett publications since 1988 and acquired the Indio ''Daily News'' in 199 ...

'' after 40 years to pursue writing and speaking opportunities and was feted with a California Assembly resolution, a lifetime achievement in journalism CV Music Award (sponsored by the ''Coachella Valley Weekly'' newspaper), and an endowment in his name from the

College of the Desert College of the Desert (COD) is a public community college in Palm Desert, California. COD enrolls about 12,500 students, of which around one third attend college full-time. It serves the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. The college is federa ...

Foundation to pay for Desert Sun internships. Fessier has covered every

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

, Stagecoach country music festival and

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

, plus the first

US Festival The US Festival (''US'' pronounced like the pronoun, not as initials) was the name of two early 1980s music and culture festivals in southern California, held east of Los Angeles, near San Bernardino. Background Steve Wozniak, cofound ...

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

, Calif. His awards include Best News Reporting, AP, California-Arizona 2005 for his stories on

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

’s death; Best Writing, California Newspaper Publisher Association 2018 for his story on the death of

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

; and Best Video,

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

. Fessier covered

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

's home life and the

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

underground music scene from which

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

emerged. He appears in Leo Zahn’s 2018 documentary, ''Sinatra in Palm Springs'' and Joerg Steineck’s 2015 documentary, ''Lo Desert Sound''. He co-founded a Desert Rock at the IPAC series with Mario Lalli that evolved into the Tachevah Music Showcase produced by ''The Desert Sun'', Goldenvoice, the

Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of the Cahuilla, located in Riverside County, California, United States.UC Riverside Palm Desert in 2007 and “The History & Legends of the Joshua Tree Music Scene” for Desert Institute at

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of San Bernardino and Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It is named after the Joshua trees (''Yucca brevifolia'') native to t ...

. He was roasted by a panel including Bono and jazz artist

Georgie Auld Georgie Auld (May 19, 1919 – January 8, 1990) was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. Early years Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto, Canada, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. Before the family left Canada, Auld ...

in 1987 to raise funds for the Desert Theatre League, which he co-founded with actor Steve Meek. He served on Bono’s founding

committee in 1987 and co-founded the Jazz Celebrity Golf & JAMS Session in 1997 with his wife Jane Fessier and singer

Frankie Randall Frankie Billy Randall (September 25, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 2005. He was a three-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA and WBC titles between 1994 and 19 ...

. He hosted and produced the last tribute to

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own ta ...

in 2007 to benefit the La Quinta Arts Foundation. He co-wrote the title track to

Pat Rizzo Pat Rizzo (November 30, 1941 – April 15, 2021) was an American saxophonist and flautist, best known for his work with funk band Sly and the Family Stone. Career Rizzo started performing in the sixties with The Cuff Links. He is best known f ...

's 2011 LP, ''It’s Not You, It’s We''.

References

External links

"Four Decades of Fessier: The Retiring 'Desert Sun' Entertainment Scribe Discusses 40 Years of Coachella Valley Culture"
Blueskye, Brian, ''CV Independent'' (May 14, 2019)
"Desert Sun reporter Bruce Fessier crosses fine line from respected journalist to legend"
Bohannan, Larry, ''The Desert Sun'' (June 3, 2019)
"Bruce Fessier is leaving the Desert Sun after 40 years and that’s a huge bummer"
Dolan, Casey, ''Cactus Hugs'' (May 6, 2019)
“Bruce Fessier Says Good-bye After 40 Years.”
Everett, Daytona, NBC Palm Springs (May 28, 2019)
Video of carpooling with super fans to Desert Trip
Fessier, Bruce, ''The Desert Sun'' (October 5, 2016)
Video of panel discussion on Natalie Wood with husband Robert Wagner and daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner, moderated by Fessier
Fessier, Bruce, ''USA Today'' (January 30, 2017)
Video of panel discussion on “Do Festivals Matter” with Palm Springs Modernism Week Director Lisa Vossler Smith, Indio Mayor Lupe Ramos Amith (then Watson), Rolling Stone and Los Angeles Times music writer Steve Appleford, and Palm Springs Art Museum education director Irene N. Rodriguez, moderated by Fessier
Zócalo Public Square (April 14, 2015)
Tribute from Eagles of Death Metal leader
Hughes, Jesse, Instagram (June 7, 2019)
"Dan McGrath Talks With Bruce Fessier About His 40-Year Career"
McGrath, Dan, iHub radio, Palm Springs (May 2019)
Panel discussion of "Gangsters in Paradise"
''The Desert Sun'' (December 5, 2014)
Reflecting on Palm Springs International Film Festival on its 30th anniversary
Smith, Joe, NBC Palm Springs (Dec. 21, 2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fessier, Bruce American male journalists 1953 births Living people USA Today journalists