Don James Kiriella is an young author, painter, and anti bullying activist . He was born and raised on Staten Island, having attended Port Richmond High School in Mariners Harbor. Currently, he is attending SUNY Old Westbury in hopes of receiving a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Psychology. With the raising rate of child suicide and depression among young teens, it has become increasingly important to him to try raise awareness to that harassment and bullying, which he hopes to achieve through his writing. It has inspired him to publish five books on Amazon, in both paperback and e-book formats. Early life and education Don James Kiriella was born on July 29th, 2000 in Staten Island, New York.
He grew up in Mariner Harbor with his mother, father, and sister. He attended several schools throughout his lifetime first beginning at P.S.13 in Rosebank, before moving on to St. Joseph Rosebank for Middle School. However, a year before he was supposed to graduate, his school closed, and so he was required to go to Blessed Sacrament School for 1 year. Following that he attended Port Richmond High School.
He participated in many clubs and activities such as robotics club, chess club, Marching Band, Advance guitar, Varsity Tennis, etc. He never really explored his passion for writing until one day he was presented with any opportunity by his sister he suggested to him to help her write a narrative for a children’s book which addressed a social epidemic affecting our society today. And so, the Bullied Tomato was born. From there, things took a turn for the better. He began developing a deeper sense of calling to the true meaning behind this book and started investing more time into learning about the detrimental effects of bullying and how he could help be a part of the solution to stop it. In time, he began attending conferences, becoming certified in Mental Health counseling and eventually started publishing more and more books.
Today, Don has published over 5 books, in book paperback and various e-book formats. He hopes that one day we can live in a world where people won’t have to fear being different. Be a buddy, not a bully!
