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America's Best Selling Authors Series
Joseph Wambaugh, Jr. is the father of America's modern day fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States. The son of a police officer, Wambaugh joined the U.S. Marines at age seventeen (an element he works into several of his novels). He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1960 (eventually serving fourteen years) and rose through the ranks from patrolman to detective sergeant. Wambaugh's unique perspective on the realities of police work led to his first novel, The New Centurions, which was published early in 1971 to critical acclaim and popular success. (The success of the early books happened while Wambaugh was still working in the detective division. He reportedly remarked "I would have guys in handcuffs asking me for autographs.") Soon turning to writing full-time, Wambaugh was prolific and popular starting in the 1970s, mixing novels (The Blue Knight, The Choirboys, The Black Marble) with nonfiction accounts of crime and detection a.k.a. "true crime" (The Onion Field). Later books included The Glitter Dome (a TV-movie adaptation starred James Garner and John Lithgow), The Delta Star, and Lines and Shadows.
In contrast to conventionally heroic fictional policemen, Wambaugh brought a gritty texture to his flawed police characters. Many of his books were made into feature films or TV-movies during the 70s and 80s. The Blue Knight, a novel following the approaching retirement and last working days of aging veteran beat cop "Bumper" Morgan, was made into an Emmy-winning 1973 TV miniseries starring William Holden and later a short-lived TV series starring George Kennedy. His realistic approach to police drama was highly influential in both film and television depictions (such as Hill Street Blues) from the mid-70s onward.
Wambaugh was also involved with creating/developing the NBC series Police Story, which ran from 1973 to 1977. The anthology show covered the different aspects of police work (patrol, detective, undercover, etc.) in the LAPD with story ideas and characters supposedly inspired by off-the-record talks with actual police officers. At times the show's characters also dealt with problems not usually seen or associated with typical TV cop shows, such as alcohol abuse, adultery, and brutality. The show also had a brief revival on ABC during the 1988-1989 season.
In his most recent novel, HOLLYWOOD CROWS, Wambaugh returns once again to the beat he knows best, taking readers on a tightly plotted and darkly funny ride-along through Los Angeles with a cast of flawed cops and eccentric lowlifes they won't soon forget. When LAPD cops Hollywood Nate and Bix Rumstead find themselves caught up with bombshell Margot Aziz, they think they're just having some fun. But in Hollywood, nothing is ever what it seems. To them, Margot is a harmless socialite, stuck in the middle of an ugly divorce from the nefarious nightclub-owner Ali Aziz. What Nate and Bix don't know is that Margot's no helpless victim: the femme fatale is setting them both up. But Ms. Aziz isn't the only one with a deadly plan.
Jack Girardi, Partner at Girardi & Keese, one of America's Finest Law Firms, and lawyers, as always, brings out the most important key elements to the success of today's guests. He and his firm have been dedicated to working hard and getting the best possible recovery for its clients.
Girardi & Keese's mission is to provide aggressive representation of individuals and businesses who have been injured in some way, whether by physical harm, property damage, damage to business, or damage to economic interests. Girardi & Keese has two offices in California: Downtown Los Angeles and San Bernardino.
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