A daughter’s legacy

Deirdre Newman

When Peter Biehl’s daughter, Amy, was murdered in South Africa in

1993, he and his wife were devastated.

But they channeled their grief into reconciliation and eventually

forgave their daughter’s killers. Now they work with a foundation they

established to continue Amy’s social work in South Africa.

Peter Biehl shared his emotional story with students at Corona del Mar

High School on Wednesday as part of the school’s Annual Community Service

Assembly and Fair, encouraging students to give selflessly in their

community the way his daughter did in South Africa. Twenty-six local

nonprofits were also on hand to present opportunities to students.

The school, which includes seventh- through 12th-graders, requires its

high schoolers to participate in 40 hours of community service by the

time they graduate. Last year’s graduating seniors logged more than

18,000 hours.

Biehl showed an excerpt from the documentary “Long Night’s Journey

Into Day,” which chronicles the reconciliation process of Amy’s

murderers.

He encouraged the students to focus on their common humanity, which he

said is often lost in the United States.

“There are good lessons for all of us, particularly inSouthern

California, where hardly any of us know who our neighbors are,” Biehl

said.

Many of the students said Biehl’s presentation deeply moved them.

“It was really touching about how they could recover from such an

incident. It’s kind of amazing,” eighth-grader Elaine Nguyen said. “It’s

important to help others and not be selfish.”

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .