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Meet Gordon Zahler Spurred by a 1993 wildfire that torched his grandfather’s piano, journalist Chip Jacobs became haunted by ancestors he knew precious little about. His search for them led him to quit his job as a zealous, young newspaper reporter to retrace the life of a man he once despised: his Uncle Gordon. Gordon Zahler was a fun-loving prankster who broke his neck at the age of 14 in a gymnastics fall at a Pasadena, California junior high school. The 1940 accident nearly killed Gordon, bankrupted the family, and shattered what had been a peaceful life. Gordon’s father, Lee, who was a prolific movie composer, died from the stress, and the Zahlers were forced onto welfare provided through the Motion Picture Fund. Paralyzed from the neck down, Gordon Zahler rose from his deathbed to a fast-talking, Hollywood entrepreneur/idea man who traveled the world, lived hard, married, fantasized about water-skiing and chased his dreams to create one of the largest independent post production shops in Hollywood by selling his father’s music to television and movie studios. While this is Jacobs’ story about his coming to grips with his deformed uncle, himself and his mother, the silent victim to Gordon’s recklessness, Wheeling the Deal is also a tip of the hat to the man who turned his back on the notion of “I can’t.” Read Chip's interview in Foreword Magazine. |
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Reviews and Accolades Family memoirs are rife with grandiose tales of triumph over adversity,
and while it would be easy to dismiss Jacobs' portrait of his unorthodox
uncle as another such unvarnished encomium, his professional background
as an award-winning investigative journalist for The Los Angeles Times,
LA Weekly, and CNN prevents this from being so. With both dramatic flair
and detached fairness, Jacobs eloquently reveals the soul of a charismatic
and courageous character. Had Gordon's career taken place on the screen
instead of behind it, he would have been the Christopher Reeve of his
day." It's one of the most inspirational things one can see in the world -
a man who is paralyzed from the neck down deciding that invalidism isn't
for him and making something of themselves. Wheeling the Deal: The
Outrageous Legend of Gordan Zahler, Hollywood's Flashiest Quadriplegic
is the story of Gordon Zahler, a man who turned himself into one of Hollywood's
fast talking and successful idea men who traveled the world, married,
and so much more, disregarding his condition and living life to the fullest
he possibly could. Wheeling the Deal is a brilliant and
uplifting true story and is highly recommended for anyone in a similar
position or has a relative there - to open their eyes to the possibilities. "FDR's body and Sammy Glick's brain? No, but close - and better. Mon
Oncle d'Amerique has nothing on Chip Jacobs' Mon Oncle d'Hollywood, the
picaresque, quadriplegic Gordon, who is at least as good a story as anything
he helped to put on film: welfare case to Oscar-caliber movies, co-starring
Ed Wood and Pope John XXIII, with snappy dialogue and auto crack-ups,
lions and tiger rugs and TV bears, one Serene Highness and many spectacular
lownesses. Gordon is a premiere citizen of Hollywood As She is Spoken
-- unsentimental but believing utterly in the art of the possible." "This amazing book is all heart. Chip Jacobs blends the skills of an
investigative journalist, the glitz of Hollywood, and the smooth storytelling
of fiction to weave a profile of his larger-than-life uncle that will
leave you crying, laughing and gasping in wonder, often on the same page.
Bravo!" "Readers looking for a glamorous Hollywood story or a tale of gentle
uplift should be warned: This is not that book. Instead, Chip Jacobs has
written something far better -- a witty, clear-eyed account of a charming
and utterly impossible man whose ferocious willpower transformed his personal
nightmare into a lifelong Technicolor hallucination." "Though not about a celebrity or newsmaker, this life being told by Chip
Jacobs is an extraordinary one in the history of Hollywood. The raw courage
and almost unbelievable stamina of Gordon Zahler - abetted by both love
and luck - turns this irresistible biography into a page turner."
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About the Author CHIP JACOBS is a freelance writer and award-winning journalist. Specializing in investigative, environmental, and political journalism, Jacobs has reported for The Los Angeles Times, The Daily News of Los Angeles, LA Weekly, and CNN, among other outlets. Jacobs grew up in Pasadena, California, graduating from the University of Southern California in 1985. After receiving his Master’s Degree from American University in Washington, D.C., he returned to Southern California, breaking into journalism at the Los Angeles Business Journal. In ensuing years, Jacobs wrote hard-hitting stories. His work on California’s slumlord-like property management triggered reforms, and his stories on chromium-6 water contamination helped lead to two state laws while drawing national interest to the subject. His other high-profile stories have covered the spectrum, from unsolved murders, redevelopment graft, and disgraced political godfathers to secret defense projects, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and dangerous sports stadiums. Jacobs left the Daily News as a staff writer to pen Wheeling the Deal, which critics have praised as “amazing,” “a witty clear-eyed account of a charming and utterly impossible man,” and “irresistible.” Jacobs, a diehard Trojan and Beatles fan, lives in the Los Angeles-area with his wife, a public relations professor, and their two children. Web site: www.chipjacobs.com |
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