In the event you’re not familiar with the work, THE LOST BIRD is a heist thriller I developed as a novella and also as a screenplay. Many writers ask how or where I came up with the concept, so I’m happy to share it here. After spending 30+ years with VP Racing Fuels, I retired early to pursue my passion for writing. My first novel, a thriller titled FOUND IN TIME, told the story of a top-secret group of Marine Raiders testing time travel technology. They went after Hitler in his bunker, watched the gladiators fight in the coliseum in 82 AD, and eventually became stranded in ancient Israel while searching for a miracle worker. After meeting a rep from the airshow event at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York, I went there to do a book signing, and that’s where I came up with THE LOST BIRD.
The Movie Memphis Belle B-17 sat in the grass alongside the “Whiskey 7” C-47 the day before the event opened, and I was able to sit quietly for hours inside it. Then I was introduced to D-Day paratrooper Les Cruise and Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award recipient Chris Polhemus. I went for a ride in the C-47, signed and sold a good number of books, and on the drive home, I asked myself, “What if?”
Basically, the outline of THE LOST BIRD involved the theft of a B-17 during an airshow out west. I reached out to Chris for his technical expertise to ensure I got everything right about the B-17’s operation, then visited many air museums and spoke with very helpful docents, and, in one case, received a great deal of advice from Emmy Award winner Fred Bell. Good friend and pilot/instructor Brad Horton, with whom I worked in race fuels, was also a big help. In Palm Springs, I got to see the Movie Memphis Belle again and tour the beautiful B-17 they have there, which the public can also tour and appreciate. I also came upon Tom Cruise’s P-51 somewhere out west, but we’ll leave that for another time. Then, it was time to write.
A year later, I have a well-reviewed novella that’s available on Amazon, and I’m thrilled with the great cover image, provided by aviation photographer Jim Raeder. The finished, well-polished screenplay, read and edited by some of Hollywood’s best, is being pitched to A-list actors to play the aging pilot who was forced to surrender the plane and the motivated U.S. Marine who tries to recover it. I’m very optimistic that THE LOST BIRD film will indeed be made.
When asked why I wrote the story, it’s simple. The generation whose fathers and grandfathers fought in World War II, and who flew or worked on those birds, like me, is aging, and many of the stories of those who served will soon be forgotten. Books and films like Memphis Belle and Masters of the Air will live on, but I wanted to create something that would introduce a younger generation to some of that incredible history — and encourage them to visit the air museums and airshows to learn more. THE LOST BIRD is set in today’s world, and while it acknowledges the past, it also looks to the future. Hopefully, we’ll see you at the movies. For more information or to connect, visit JKKelly.com.
