About the Author
Jeff Kass teaches tenth-grade English and creative writing at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Knuckleheads, the poetry collection My Beautiful Hook-Nosed Beauty Queen Strut Wave, and the thriller Takedown.
Image credit: Author photo by Barry Gutierrez
Works by Jeff Kass
Columbine: A True Crime Story, a Victim, the Killers and the Nation's Search for Answers (2009) 97 copies, 3 reviews
Associated Works
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Kass, Jeff
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of California, Santa Barbara (BA/Political Science)
New York University (MA|Political Science) - Occupations
- author
- Short biography
- Rocky Mountain News staff writer covering issues in Denver and statewide. Broke national stories on Columbine, including leaked crime scene photos and 911 tapes. A lead reporter on the Kobe Bryant rape case, and covered Hunter S. Thompson for five years. Wrote from Cambodia on a Vietnam War MIA, from Cuba on Colorado businesses doing work there, from Texas on the space shuttle Columbia explosion, and from Virginia Tech on the 2007 shootings. 1999 to 2009.
Free-lance Correspondent: Rocky Mountain region stories for Aspen Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The New York Times and U.S. News & World Report. Stories include Columbine, JonBenet Ramsey, and the Matthew Shepard murder in Wyoming.
jeffkassauthor.com - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
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Reviews
God, I loved this. I loved every part of this deeply. I have a background in education and working with kids, albeit in music and not English, and I have a background in doing that in tandem with work in a pizza restaurant (both front of house waiting tables and back of house cooking, doing dishes, and driving pizzas around town in the backseat of my own absolute lemon).
These poems are honest and Kass makes both his jobs--his career as a teacher and his gig as a driver--into lyrical show more snapshots of moments on the clock. The writing isn't pretentious or lofty; rather, it's direct and evokes the absurdity of strange delivery experiences, the exhaustion of sleepless nights, the weariness of educator bureaucracy. It was familiar in so many ways--especially the pizza deliver, mentally mapping out my drives, knowing which houses tipped and which stiffed, juggling both jobs with one another because one isn't enough to get by--and Kass is such a thoughtful, deliberate writer that it was almost fun to think back to my days in the drivers seat. He has so much love for his family, which is evident, and his reflections on the world around him are rarely bitter; rather, they're down to earth but extremely compassionate and make a portrait of a person just trying to do right. show less
These poems are honest and Kass makes both his jobs--his career as a teacher and his gig as a driver--into lyrical show more snapshots of moments on the clock. The writing isn't pretentious or lofty; rather, it's direct and evokes the absurdity of strange delivery experiences, the exhaustion of sleepless nights, the weariness of educator bureaucracy. It was familiar in so many ways--especially the pizza deliver, mentally mapping out my drives, knowing which houses tipped and which stiffed, juggling both jobs with one another because one isn't enough to get by--and Kass is such a thoughtful, deliberate writer that it was almost fun to think back to my days in the drivers seat. He has so much love for his family, which is evident, and his reflections on the world around him are rarely bitter; rather, they're down to earth but extremely compassionate and make a portrait of a person just trying to do right. show less
Columbine: A True Crime Story, a victim, the killers and the nation's search for answers by Jeff Kass
A tightly-written, straightforward book but the real gem is the author's exclusives and how he got them. Kass uncovers Dylan Klebold's college essay, and a psychological profile of Klebold's mother. Amazingly, she is diagnosed with a death phobia when she is a teenager.
The author's search for information is sort of like a whodunit. Every time Kass uncovers a new exclusive, it's almost within his grasp until the attorneys step in and threaten him with a lawsuit. Each time, however, Kass wins, show more and he's managed to keep it all a secret for the past ten years.
The profiles of the killers are convincing but the book is also important because it goes beyond Columbine to discuss how all the school shooters are similar. This is important because I do not believe school shootings occur in a vacuum. There is clearly something about the culture that has played a role and Kass tries to tap into that. show less
The author's search for information is sort of like a whodunit. Every time Kass uncovers a new exclusive, it's almost within his grasp until the attorneys step in and threaten him with a lawsuit. Each time, however, Kass wins, show more and he's managed to keep it all a secret for the past ten years.
The profiles of the killers are convincing but the book is also important because it goes beyond Columbine to discuss how all the school shooters are similar. This is important because I do not believe school shootings occur in a vacuum. There is clearly something about the culture that has played a role and Kass tries to tap into that. show less
Columbine: A True Crime Story, a victim, the killers and the nation's search for answers by Jeff Kass
A decent book about the Columbine tragedy. Not as well written as Dave Cullen's Columbine. There are several passages about "secondary characters" that went on for too long and did not add to my understanding of the situation which I tended to skim. Especially the chapter on the family of victim Isaiah Shoels. While I feel compassion for that family, their antics afterward left a bad taste in my mouth. I skimmed most of that chapter.
Well researched and documented, this book does give a show more detail look into the lives of the two killers and a straightforward account of what happened at the high school. show less
Well researched and documented, this book does give a show more detail look into the lives of the two killers and a straightforward account of what happened at the high school. show less
Funny, quick and very askew. Short story collection about men and the silly things they do. I've you've got one in your life, give them this book. They'll thank you, in between long, deep chuckles.
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Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 120
- Popularity
- #165,355
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 5
- ISBNs
- 10
