Overview

On New Year’s Eve, 1941, just three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were bombing the Philippine capital of Manila, where journalists Melville and Annalee Jacoby had married just a month earlier. Mel gave up a comfortable life in California to become a reporter in China and Southeast Asia, while Annalee had worked as a screenwriter for MGM’s Andy Hardy series before tiring of Hollywood’s glitz. Now, in the Philippines, the newlyweds were reporting from the front lines of the war in the Pacific. The mood that evening in Manila’s Bay View Hotel was grim. Mel and Annalee had worked in China as members of a tight community of foreign correspondents with close ties to Chinese leaders; if captured by invading Japanese troops, they were certain to be executed. Racing to the docks just before midnight, they barely escaped on a freighter—the beginning of a tumultuous journey that would take them from one island outpost to another. While keeping ahead of the approaching Japanese, Mel and Annalee covered the harrowing war in the Pacific Theater—two of only a handful of valiant and dedicated journalists reporting from the region. Acclaimed journalist Bill Lascher calls upon the Jacobys’ personal letters, deep historical research, and extensive interviews to bring to life the couple’s thrilling odyssey, and capture their love affair with Asia and each other. Eve of a Hundred Midnights is a tale of unquenchable thirst for adventure, daring reportage at great personal risk, and an enduring romance that blossomed in the shadow of war.

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9780062375216

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Reviews

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

"""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"

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 <strong>(starred review)</strong> 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 <strong>(starred review)</strong> 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 <I>China Reporting: An Oral History of American Journalism in the 1930s and 1940s</I> 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 <I>China Hands</I> 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 <I>Tell Them I Didn't Cry</I> 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, <I>New York Times</I> bestselling author of <I>Midnight in Peking</I>

Author Information

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.

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