About
Annette Kassis is the author of Sacramento on the Air: How the McClatchy Family Revolutionized West Coast Broadcasting; Prohibition in Sacramento: Moralizers & Bootleggers in the Wettest City in the Nation; and Weinstock's: Sacramento's Finest Department Store. Born in a U.S. military station hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, her first state-side home was in the Sacramento area, followed by a move to Northwest Louisiana. Returning to Sacramento after college, she now lives in Northern California and is the marketing director for one of California's agricultural commodities. She earned a BA in journalism from Louisiana State University in Shreveport, and an MA in history from California State University in Sacramento. Annette appears as a commentator in the documentary films "The Sacramento Picture" and "Alhambra: Sacramento's Palace of Fantasy." She has also appeared on C-SPAN's Book TV, and has been a repeat guest on radio and television news programs.
Featured Work
Sacramento on the Air: How the McClatchy Family Revolutionized West Coast Broadcasting
In 1921, a chance encounter with a radio receiver sent Sacramento Bee newspaperman Carlos McClatchy on a determined path to break into broadcasting. Ushered by the enterprising McClatchy family, the Bee became the first Pacific Coast newspaper to enter the radio business. For decades, broadcasting in Sacramento was shaped by the brilliant but fatally flawed Carlos McClatchy; his strong-willed, micromanaging father, C.K.; and his sister Eleanor McClatchy, who sacrificed her own aspirations for the sake of the family business. From a single five-watt station, the family built a large media company, established a radio network with William Randolph Hearst and helped shape media in the American West.
