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Author Chip Jacobs Unpacks His Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979

Published on Sep 9, 2021

Author Chip Jacobs will present his book, “The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles,” during an online event sponsored by the Pasadena Public Library on Thursday, September 9, starting at 5 p.m.

The presentation is free to attend but registration is required.

In “The Darkest Glare,” Jacobs writes about late 1970s Los Angeles, yhen rampant with killers and shady characters, but where all the go-getters at Space Matters saw was possibility. The main character, Richard Kasparov, was handsome and charismatic; his younger associate, Jerry Schneiderman, brilliant and nerdy. When the pair hired a veteran contractor to oversee construction, the space planning firm they operated out of a hip mansion in LA’s Miracle Mile district appeared poised to transform the boundless skyline into their jackpot.

In “The Darkest Glare,” Chip Jacobs recounts a spectacular, noir-ish, true-crime saga from one of the deadliest eras in American history. Amazon Books says you’ll never gaze out windows into the dark again.

Jacobs grew up in northeast Pasadena. In 1985, he graduated from the University of Southern California with BAs in journalism and international relations. In 1988, he earned his MA in international relations, focused on national security affairs, from The American University in Washington, D.C. Jacobs broke into journalism in 1990 at The Los Angeles Business Journal.

Jacobs’ previous book was his debut novel, “Arroyo,” historical fiction set around construction of Pasadena’s mysterious Colorado Street Bridge in 1913. It was a Los Angeles Times bestseller, a CrimeReads most anticipated book, and a medalist at the Independent Publishers Book Awards. Before them were the biography “Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler,” an Indies Book of the Year finalist, and the environmental social histories “The People’s Republic of Chemicals” and the international bestselling “Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles,” the latter two written with William J. Kelly.

Jacobs has also contributed pieces to anthologies, among them the bestselling “Los Angeles in the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine” and “Go Further: More Literary Appreciation of Power Pop.” His prize-winning reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Daily News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, L.A Weekly, among others.

To sign up for the webinar, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/library/calendar and click on the September 9, 5 p.m. tab. A link to the Zoom event will be sent to your email after your registration.

For more information, call (626) 744-4066.

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