8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
BOOK OF LOVE
WRITER/ILLUSTRATOR SALLY LACKAFF AND ASTORIA ICON
ROBERT ‘JAKE’ JACOB COLLABORATED ON ‘SARAH’S CIRCUS’
COLIN MURPHEY PHOTO
Sally Lackaff, left, shares a laugh with Jim Radich during a book signing event.
By DAN HAAG
FOR COAST WEEKEND
C
rack open Sally Lackaff’s new book, “Sarah’s
Circus,” and you enter a world of color, imag-
ination and thoughtfulness. The eponymous
heroine’s tale follows her through a day of hard
work and lessons about the closeness of family.
The book is also a very personal love letter from the
late Robert “Jake” Jacob, the Astoria icon and entrepre-
neur who died in September. Jacob was the owner of
the Cannery Pier Hotel and a driving force behind the
restoration of the Liberty Theatre, the purchase of the
Astoria Armory and the current campaign to bring the
ferry Tourist No. 2 to the waterfront.
He was also a prolific storyteller and is responsible
for the story of “Sarah’s Circus.”
A longtime employee of the Cannery Pier Hotel,
Lackaff was familiar with Jacob’s penchant for telling
tales. The two began discussing collaborating on a
story from Jacob’s own childhood that had been rolling
around his head for a few years.
Robert “Jake” Jacob