Signed 1st Ed "The Mirage" Chicago Graft Sting 📖 Zay N. Smith & Pam Zekman

by Pamela Zekman, Zay N. Smith

$90 · Offered by eBay

First edition · Signed

Picture this: two Chicago Sun-Times reporters walk into a dive bar on Wells Street, slap on nametags, and quietly film the city inspectors, aldermen, and fixers who expected a payoff for a shakedown… only to get caught on hidden cameras. That’s not a movie pitch—it’s the true story behind The Mirage, the 1979 Random House stated first edition (ISBN 0394503686, first printing with the classic Random House number line) you’re looking at right now. Fresh from a suburban Chicago estate sale, this copy is signed on the front flyleaf in bold black ink by both authors, Zay N. Smith and Pamela Zekman—the very journalists who lived the sting. A laid-in business card from the Chairman of the Board of a local hotel corporation adds an irresistible layer: who better to appreciate a book about government corruption than someone who navigated Chicago’s overwhelming governmental entities? Pure serendipity for any collector of investigative journalism or Windy City history. 🕵️‍♂️ Zay N. Smith, the Sun-Times reporter who later charmed readers with his legendary “QT” humor column, teamed with ace investigator Pam Zekman, who parlayed her success here to a 39 year career as investigative reporters at Chicago's WBBM-TV 2. They worked with photographers Gene Pesek and Jim Frost, who posed as repairmen while rigging ceiling cams. Together they turned the derelict Mirage tavern into the greatest journalistic sting operation of its era—exposing bribe-hungry inspectors demanding payoffs for licenses

• Publisher: Random House, Incorporated
• Year: 1979
• Binding: Hardcover
• ISBN: 0394503686
• Condition: Very Good

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