Join us on Thursday, February 19, 4-6 p.m., for the second Speaker Series of
Author Mary Jo Ignoffo is joining us at the Atherton Library for an
engaging talk on Sarah L. Winchester.
Captive of the Labyrinth: Sarah L. Winchester, Heiress to the Rifle Fortune
by Mary Jo Ignoffo, is a biography that debunks myths about Sarah
Winchester, portraying her as an intelligent businesswoman and
philanthropist rather than a crazed spiritualist, using her personal letters
to reveal her true character and motivations for building the Winchester
Mystery House. The book explores her life, her fortune from the
Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and the real reasons behind the
mansion’s famous, unusual construction, which was funded by her
inheritance and not solely by the rifle fortune.
Mary Jo Ignoffo is an author and historian specializing in California and the
West. She has written books and articles, curated historical museum
exhibits, has been interviewed for documentary films and for podcasts
airing in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. She is the author of Captive of the
Labyrinth Sarah L. Winchester Heiress to the Rifle Fortune, La Verdad A
Witness to the Salvadoran Martyrs and Gold Rush Politics. Ignoffo holds
degrees from Santa Clara University and San Jose State University.