Bruce Fessier is an award-winning journalist and community activist. He became the first journalist to be inducted into the Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame in 2024 after a 40-year Desert Sun career that saw him cover the last 20 years of Frank Sinatra’s life and the first 20 years of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Over the past half-century, he has earned state and national awards for stories ranging from a three-part series on Richard Nixon’s formative years in Whittier, Calif., to a five-part series on the history of the Mafia in the Coachella Valley. The California Assembly recognized him in 2019 for co-founding the Desert Theatre League, working under Sonny Bono on the founding committee of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and working with community leaders to launch a music series that fed bands to Coachella. He produced the last tribute to Merv Griffin to benefit the La Quinta Arts Foundation and conceived the six-year Jazz Celebrity Golf and JAMS Session in Palm Desert. The U.S. House of Representatives recognized Bruce in 2023 for his work with the animal charity, Amy’s Purpose, raising funds for veterinary science scholarships. Bruce and his wife, Jane, raised their sons, Clay and Parker, in Rancho Mirage, where they trick-or-treated at the Sinatra Compound. Bruce is featured in the “Sinatra in Palm Springs” documentary that still airs on Prime Video. He will receive a Star on the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars in January 2027.