Author Robert Kerbeck "Malibu Burning"

This presentation was originally scheduled for March 18 at Pepperdine University but had to be postponed when the Pepperdine campus was shut down by the Corovavirus COVD-19 pandemic.  The campus is till shut down and everyone is trying to do their thing safely at home including the Malibu Rotary Club.    So instead of a live presentation at Pepperdine there will be a live vitural presentation of author Robert Kerbeck  using Zoom.us. It will be an interactive presentation in which participants joining meeting will be invited to ask questions of the authoer  To get an invitation to this free presentation e-mail event chair John Elman.

Robert Kerbeck is a Malibu Park resident who whose life was changed on November 9th 2018, as were the lives of everyone living in the vacinity of Malibu.  Robert's first person account of the Woolsey Fire was read by over a million people as an Op-Ed for the Los Angeles Times. On the basis of that essay, comes Robert's book, Malibu Burning: The Real Story Behind LA’s Most Devastating Wildfire, detaiiling the event in words and pictures.. Robert interviewed over 200 people for the book, including nearly every player in the fire from the LA County Supervisor to the Deputy Fire Chief to the Malibu City Manager. The Los Angeles Review of Books described Malibu Burning as “the best kind of nonfiction - so visceral it feels like fiction.” Kirkus Reviews called Malibu Burning, “an engrossing, thorough, and revealing portrait of a beloved beach community confronting disaster.”  

"This is a wonderfuly written first person account of LA's most devastating wildfire, the events leading up to it, how it afficted people of all ages in the community. pointing out acts of heroism by local residents who tried to save neigbhorhoods while waiting for the supposed real fire fighters who either never came or ignored their pleas for help. Robert Kerbeck's book is highly recommended--a must read for all Malibu residents"--John Elman

Robert Kerbeck is the founder of the Malibu Writers Circle and a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee.

Best Historical Nonfiction of 2019 - Best of LA Award