Eve of a Hundred Midnights

Bill Lascher is a journalist whose work has appeared in the Guardian, Pacific Standard, Atlas Obscura, Gizmodo, Portland Monthly, and elsewhere. He was a 2011 Knight Digital Media Center multimedia and convergence fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism. Lascher is a graduate of Oberlin College, the Annenberg School for Communication at USC, and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

"An affectionate look at the adventures of a World War II correspondent. ... [A] vivid portrait." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "[An] engaging debut. ... Lascher succeeds in highlighting Jacoby's brief yet important life." -- Library Journal "A gripping... narrative of daring and dedication." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Propulsive. ... [A] remarkable book, which is part history, part a celebration of war correspondence, but, mostly, a love story. ... Lascher conveys the privation, danger, and romance of this time in an utterly detailed and beguiling way." -- Booklist (starred review) "A gripping, well told, and accurate reconstruction of a very dramatic and romantic time in the life stories of two young journalists caught in the upheavals of World War II Asia. A story of high adventure." -- Stephen R. MacKinnon, author of China Reporting: An Oral History of American Journalism in the 1930s and 1940s "I am deeply moved by the story of Mel and Annalee Jacoby. Bill Lascher provides a rich account of life in Chungking, where young Jacoby cut his teeth as a Time correspondent, before taking us into the whirlwind of MacArthur's retreat to Corregidor. It's a breathtaking story all the way." -- Peter Rand, author of China Hands "The unforgettable story of Bill Lascher's cousin, a man he meets through his own reporting to uncover a piece of family history that also belongs in the archives of America's great war correspondents. This is every bit a book about what drives reporters to the frontlines." -- Jackie Spinner, author of Tell Them I Didn't Cry "Bill Lascher charts the career of Melville Jacoby, his equally erudite wife Annalee, and their circle of committed, talented reporter-friends whose combined journalism evokes an era." -- Paul French, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Peking