Macromere Press

Macromere: In “Alice”, the ninth episode in He Who Shall Remain Shameless, it seems that one of the major themes driving the novel in stories is fully realized. You have a real-life flight attendant, possibly the first ever killed in a plane crash in America, but so little is known about her, or available about her on the Internet.

David: It’s true. Researching this one was difficult. It started, of course, with my interest in early aviation, and I’d read about this plane crash that occurred on the night of October 10, 1933 in northern Indiana, over a little town called Chesterton to be exact. What caught my attention of course was that the plane, with only seven people on it, had possibly been brought down by an explosive, which would make it the first-ever act of airline terrorism in America. It’s still a mystery, though, because the bombing was never verified, and speculation also existed that ammunition and other equipment brought on by a passenger who was a hunter combined during flight in such a way to cause an accidental explosion in the cargo hold. Regardless, I doubt the case’ll ever be solved. But what sealed the event for me in terms of HWSRS was, as always, the human element: Alice Scribner, the lone flight attendant, only twenty-six years old and on her way to meet her fiance who was waiting for her at the airport in Chicago. 

M: And the fact that there’s so little information on Alice Scribner….

D: Works well with the theme you alluded to earlier. Alice Scribner is a perfect fit for one of David’s missions because she is so little known. When searched for on the Internet, other Alice Scribners come up but not this particular Alice Scribner—at least not immediately. I had to do a lot of searching, and researching, and even then I could find only a few sentences. But this worked for writing the story as part of He Who Shall Remain Shameless. One of David’s main goals is to get a picture of Ms. Scribner on the Internet—because currently nothing’s there. This troubles David greatly. Alice Scribner has even less of a presence than the baby David Michael Ewald of Gladwin, Michigan. He wants to help this deceased flight attendant tell her story to the world, because absolutely none of it’s there right now. At least something should be there, he feels. 

M: As one reviewer puts it, “Alice” is particularly strong because in it David truly feels for the ghost he’s trying to help. 

D: He has to. He doesn’t want a repeat of what happened with Linda Gary, and he knows the Meritocrat is ready to thwart him at any moment. His flying, talking, laser-blasting cell phone companion Ishmael has advised him to actually talk with people, the living as well as the dead, and “Alice” is David’s attempt to turn things around. He does feel on a certain level for each ghost he encounters in this novel, but with Alice it’s a palpable emotional connection, especially at the end. 

M: We do very much like the conclusion to this one. 

D: Thanks. I tried.