Chronicling the Murder of Denise Huber

The three-year disappearance of Denise Huber, a 23-year-old Newport Beach woman who vanished on her way home from a rock concert in 1991, prompted one of the most intensive missing-persons searches in history.

Huber’s nude, handcuffed and beaten body was discovered inside a home freezer in Arizona in July 1994, and in September 1997 the freezer’s owner, John Joseph Famalaro, was sentenced to death by an Orange County Superior Court judge.

Now there’s a book about the case, “Cold Storage.”

Denise Huber’s parents, Dennis and Ione Huber, and others involved with the case will join author Don Lasseter in a discussion of the case at a book signing at 7 p.m. Friday at Barnes & Noble in Metro Pointe, 901 S. Coast Drive, Costa Mesa.

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“The Second Poetry Experiment”--a performance poetry event in which four diverse poets respond to each other in an attempt to create a dialogue of poetry--will be held at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Gypsy Den Cafe and Reading Room in the Lab, 2930 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.

The evening, hosted by Lee Mallory, will feature poets Victor Infante, Charles Ardinger, Derrick Brown and Jamie O’Halloran. Free.

Also This Week

* Marty Becker, author of “Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul,” Jeffrey Masson, author of “When Elephants Weep, Dogs Never Lie About Love,” and Susan McElroy, author of “Animals as Teachers and Healers, Animals as Guides to the Soul,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Monday at Barnes & Noble in Metro Pointe, 901 S. Coast Drive, Costa Mesa.

* John Stott, author of “Basic Christianity,” will discuss contemporary challenges to the church at 7:30 p.m. Monday at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 600 St. Andrews Road, Newport Beach. Free.

* Poet Alan Cohol will read at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Alta Coffee House & Roasting Company, 506 31st St., Newport Beach. Free.

* Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea, will offer three writers discussion groups this month.

A fiction writers discussion group will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesdays through October; a screenwriters networking group will meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through October; and a poetry, writers discussion group will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Oct. 17.

* Dr. Earl Simmons, author of “Chronicles of Light,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Friday at Barnes & Noble, 26751 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo.

* Bettyann Holtzmann Kevels, author of a book about forensic anthropologists, “Naked to the Bone,” will speak at the meeting of the Orange County chapter of the California Writers Club at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Downey Savings, 201 Bastanchury Road, Fullerton. For more information, call (714) 871-7322.

* Roger Angle will read at the Steel and Ivy: Poetry at Chapman meeting at 8 p.m. Saturday in Argyros Forum Room 208 at Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. Admission: $4.

* Pamela Barrus, author of “Dream Sleeps,” will present a slide show and sign at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in Fashion Island, 953 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.