Don Liponi

Don was born in Santa Barbara, California and moved to San Diego when he was very young.

Don was a true Renaissance man: a scholar and respected scientist/pharmacist by profession, archaeology enthusiast, successful author as a Native American rock art authority, photographer, reggae music historian, gifted artist, and vigorous humanitarian. We miss his unique style of humor, charm and endless thirst for knowledge. Here are some photos and highlights of Don’s life from Donna, Don’s longtime partner.

Thanks to you all who made an impact on Don’s life;

Donna P.

(Please note: For the photos in the galleries below, you can click on them to see a larger version along with their caption.)

Don worked as a chemist in Kingston, Jamaica for a year after he graduated from San Diego State University. It was there that his passion for reggae began. In addition to reggae, Don also learned about colonization and that also became one of his passions—injustices that are done to vulnerable people. If you know Don, you know that whatever he gets interested in, he finds out absolutely everything there is about the topic. He was a compulsive and serious learner and collector. His music collection was impressive!

Don’s music was digitized by Anthony Privitera, his friend and reggae soulmate. Anthony created this “Don Liponi Reggae Archive Tribute” on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFX8Ltm6cjba0CXBwUxn8nA

Don spent time in Hawaii as a DJ with Allan Tambio (Eazy Al) for KTUH radio. Don loved his “Hawaiian family.”

As Don mentioned in his bio for the original website, “I was introduced to the desert and the Kumeyaay or Tipai Native Americans by my father as a teenager. My father was developing a small RV park in the Jacumba region and some of the Tipai men worked with him. They also showed us a number of sacred sites and art sites in the area.”

Because of the early influence of the Kumeyaay people in his life Don decided he had to bring attention to the Kumeyaay and their culture. No one before had made any type of comprehensive study of their culture or art. He also interviewed several Kumeyaay and gave them a platform to speak about themselves.

As a result, he developed his passion project he called La Rumorosa Rock Art Along the Border with Daren Sefcik, Together, they photographed hundreds of Kumeyaay rock art sites, mostly pictographs. Many of these locations were previously unknown by non-Native peoples.

Photography and Computer Processing by Don Liponi and Daren Sefcik

Foreword, Introduction, Captions and Acknowledgements by Don Liponi

Cover and book design by Gary Cascio (Late Nite Grafix, Inc.) and Don Liponi

Edited and Copyright Clearances by Don Liponi

Contributions by: Felton Bricker, Aha Makav Cultural Society, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe; Cheeyow and Ha-emah, Campo Kumeyaay Nation; J. Claire Dean; Lynn H. Gamble; Ken Hedges; Thomas Holcomb; Steven Lucas-Pfingst, Kwaaymii-Kumeyaay Native American; Michael Wilken-Robertson; Polly Schaafsma; M. Steven Shackley; Ben H. Swadley; and the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians

Photography and Image Processing by Don Liponi

Additional Photography and Rock Art Research by Evelyn Billo, Gary Cascio, Richard Colman, Sunny Hansen, Tom Hnatiw, Bernie Jones, Gary Jones, Joel Kilpatrick, Randy Redfern, Daren Sefcik, Wade Stevenson, Tom Teske, and William Wells

Cover and Book Design by Gary Cascio (Late Nite Grafix, Inc.) and Don Liponi

Editing, Copyright, Clearances, Captions and Ancillary Writing by Don Liponi

Professional Text Contributions by Dennis Gallegos, Dr. Alan Garfinkel, Don Laylander, Dr. Jefferson Reid, Dr. Jerry Schaefer, Dr. David Whitley, Dr. Stephanie Whittlesey and Brian Williams

Don’s brother John died in 2019. He liked to accompany Don on his book sales for La Rumorosa Rock Art Along the Border.

Don’s passing leaves his brother Rick, sister-in-law Rhonda and their son, Stephen. Don always had a close connection with his nephew Stephen.

Don’s longest and best friends whom he hiked and camped with are Glenn and Tana. Don’s dearest friend in San Diego was Faustino; they had many spirited talks about colonization. Don also had four goddaughters whom he loved dearly…Yeelena, Nat, Daniella and Lois. Debbie, Don’s former wife continued to be a big part of Don and Donna’s life and helped them in the hardest times.

Don was an incredible artist. He painted many pictures. He liked making copies of Gauguin, one of his favorite artists.

Lastly, Don leaves behind Jewel, the family cat. Jewel always wanted to be with Don.