Lori Haigh

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Lori Haigh (born August 25, 1964 in Los Angeles, California) was born to a Navy physician and an elementary school teacher, Lori lived all over the world as many children of the military do. She spent her younger years in Gaeta, Italy, where a NATO base is located. Her father was the personal physician to the admiral of the Sixth Fleet. the USS Little Rock was the first US Navy ship stationed in Gaeta. The town is host to the families of the crews who work on the ship. There is a DOD school for American children. Her family later relocated back to the states. First to Boston and then to Southern California where her father was the chief of family practice for Kaiser Healthgroup. Her father eventually became a state prison physician and personal physician to James Earl Ray.

Lori graduated from Villa Park High School in 1982 with an interest in photojournalism and took classes at UCLA film school, eventually working at CBS/LA. As a documentary filmmaker, Lori has worked in the film industry for over 25 years. She was linked to Charlie Stack, son of "Unsolved Mysteries" and "The Untouchables" Robert Stack for many years.

She has two sons: Christopher (born 1990) and Benjamin (born 1999).

In 2002, Lori Haigh was awarded a 1.2 million dollar settlement when a Catholic priest named Fr. John P. Lenihan admitted to the Los Angeles Times under the psudoname "Father X" his multiple molestations of teen girls during the 1970s and 1980s. He wrote a letter to the Pope requesting release from the priesthood. the Church sent Lenihan to a treatment center in Canada which he left without notice.^[1] Although some critics have accused Lori of fabricating the charges, the Los Angeles Times has reported that:

Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange County ...acknowledged that Haigh had been molested, saying, "I am deeply sorry for the hurt caused by the actions of Father Lenihan, and extend my apology to Ms. Haigh and all victims of sexual abuse by clergy."

Lori has also been subjected to unsubstantiated charges of felony embezzlement in Tennessee. Court documents show that to avoid further legal complications, she agreed to settle and did not counter sue.

In 2002, Lori opened a local art gallery near her home in the North Beach section of San Francisco where she displayed the works of such notible artists as Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO, Winston Smith, Paul Maverides, Mark Bode, KRK Ryden, Mark Ryden, Maxon Crumb, and Robert Crumb, among others. The Capobianco Gallery had become a local hangout for a select breed of artists much like the beatnik days of San Francisco in the early 1960's. On any given day, one could see Jack Hirschman sitting with Matt Gonzalez having coffee and chatting with Lori.

In March of 2004, Lori was physically attacked and beaten for displaying a painting depicting the atrocity committed at Abu Ghraib prison in her gallery by Berkeley artist Guy Colwell. The incident occurred at the height of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse controversy. Afterwards, Lori was inundated with hate messages. One message can still be heard at the gallery's website.

Lori has since closed her gallery and has kept a relatively low profile. A highly gifted composer, songwriter and musician, Lori has been seen occasionally at local San Francisco writer's nights playing guitar. She also donates much of her time and service to the concerns and needs of the women and children within the Zapatista Army of National Liberation movement in Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico.

Currently, Lori is collaborating with longtime friend Elizabeth D'Onofrio. She regularly films Stanislavski actor's workshops in starring both Elizabeth D'Onofrio and Vincent D'Onofrio. Lori had been a registered Republican, even though many friends and foes alike think of her as a radical leftist. Much to her credit, key elements of Lori's often painful experiences remain under wraps, with key individuals in her life avoiding much deserved scorn and condemnation. Today she is a member of the Green Party.