Scope and arrangement
The collection dates from 1972 to 1991 and chronicles Jahr's career as a writer and journalist. The collection is arranged into research files for his articles and the book he co-authored with Cheryl Crane, Detour: A Hollywood Tragedy -- My Life with Lana Turner, My Mother. Jahr's papers consist primarily of research files he kept on individuals, topics, and events for his published articles.
The Articles files are arranged alphabetically by interview subject name and hold correspondence with interview subjects and their publicists, research notes, other articles about the interview subject, Jahr's typed drafts, galleys, and copies of the final published article. Jahr's articles cover the lives and careers of such celebrities as Peter Allen, Alan Alda, Farrah Fawcett, Dustin Hoffman, Elton John, Tom Jones, Joseph E. Levine, Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, Sally Jesse Raphael, O.J. Simpson, Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jane Wyman. There are also research files on shows, films, and events, such as 42nd Street, Dog Day Afternoon, and Beatlemania. These files also include hundreds of audio recordings of the interviews Jahr conducted with prominent figures in the entertainment industry. In some cases typed interview transcripts are also present.
Jahr's files on Detour: A Hollywood Tragedy -- My Life with Lana Turner, My Mother are arranged alphabetically by file type and consist of multiple annotated drafts, revisions, and galleys of the manuscript. Research files include clippings collected by Jahr and his extensive notes from interviews he conducted for the book, with Crane and others. There are also budgets, contracts, and agreements documenting the logistics of Jahr and Crane's collaboration.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in two groups: Articles and Detour: A Hollywood Tragedy -- My Life with Lana Turner, My Mother. Jahr's organizational scheme has been maintained for these research files. The majority of the individuals represented here are arranged in alphabetical order by last name, though a few are arranged by first name. Individual interview recordings that span mulitiple cassettes are ordered according to Jahr's own numbering system, which is usually chronological.