L.D.C. Fitzgerald, JFK Novelist

Ethen Carrell recently interviewed the novelists behind JFK book, “Destination Dealey: Countdown to the Kennedy Conspiracy.” Following is an excerpt of the conversation. Click here for the entire transcript.

ETHEN: What is your novel “DESTINATION DEALEY: Countdown to the Kennedy Conspiracy” about?

LISA: To quote our tagline, Destination Dealey is a daring new novel that flips the JFK assassination on its head.

The story opens in a world where KGB snipers botched the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas fifty years ago, killing his wife Jackie instead. The heinous crime enrages Americans and triggers an ongoing war with Russia. In present day, the two superpowers are hell-bent on annihilating each other, and the world teeters on the brink of Armageddon. A team of outlaws time-travels back to 1963 to fix history. To save the future, they must right the wrongs of the past. But, their plan may go awry . . .

DAVE: All the events count down in a ticking clock back to November 22, 1963. To Ground Zero of the assassination – Dealey Plaza in Dallas.

And, the book is a fast-paced thriller with twists and turns. There are surprises and even humor. We like to think it’s a fun read. Check it out at our website at www.DestinationDealey.com. It’s written under a pseudonym, L.D.C. Fitzgerald.

ETHEN: What inspired the idea behind Destination Dealey?

DAVE: Actually, it was a movie. We were looking for ideas for a novel, and we happened to watch a B-movie on the Kennedy Assassination. It’s a 2001 film called “TimeQuest,” where a time-traveler from the future goes back and prevents JFK from being killed. I thought it was a great story idea for our novel, but it would be much better if they went back and killed Kennedy instead.

LISA: I argued that our readers might not be too sympathetic to the characters if they murdered the president! So, we decided to twist that idea on its head.

DAVE: Plus, we knew we had landed on a great topic, since the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination is next year in 2013. The Kennedy Conspiracy has always been a hot topic, but it will become even hotter as the anniversary approaches.

ETHEN: Was JFK assassinated by a conspiracy plot? Or did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone?

LISA: Oswald did it.

DAVE: It was a conspiracy.

LISA: No one wants to believe that a human zero like Oswald could take out the president. But there was a lot of evidence against him. His rifle was used, his palm print was on it, and he was the only employee to leave the Book Depository after the assassination. He murdered a police officer, and then resisted arrest.

DAVE: No offense to Oswald and his offspring, but this guy wasn’t smart enough to pull it off. He was an idiot. He said it himself, he was just a patsy. He was the fall guy for a broader conspiracy.

What are some conspiracy theories?

DAVE: They run the gamut from pro-Castro supporters, to anti-Castro extremists. People point fingers at our own government, including the CIA, the FBI, and the Military Industrial Complex. Of course there’s a Soviet KGB conspiracy, as well as the Cuban Secret Police theory.

Any person or group who was ever at odds with JFK is considered to be suspicious.

ETHEN: What kind of a person was Lee Harvey Oswald?

DAVE: Oswald was kind of a wing nut. He was a loner, a misfit, and a malcontent. He wanted to be remembered; he wanted to make his mark on history.

He declared himself a Marxist at the age of fifteen, and taught himself to read and speak Russian. After serving in the Marine Corps, he renounced his American citizenship and defected to Russia. Remember, this was 1963 during the height of the Cold War. He lived in Russia for over two years, and married a Russian woman. While he was there he wrote his “Historic Diary,” an account of his time in the Soviet Union. He also wrote a fifty-page chronicle of typical life in the USSR called “The Collective.”

Although he swore he would never return, he came back to the states in 1962. He apparently expected fanfare, as he drafted questions and answers to the press conference he anticipated on his return to US soil. He was disappointed when no one showed.

He allegedly assassinated President Kennedy from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository on November 22, 1963. He was in turn shot dead by nightclub owner Jack Ruby two days later.

ETHEN: Burlesque club owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald on national television. Why did Ruby shoot Oswald?

DAVE: Jack Ruby owned and operated two clubs in Dallas. The Carousel Club was his burlesque venue, and he also ran a “rock and roll” joint called The Vegas Club. Although a friend to local cops, he allegedly had ties to organized crime. He was known as a hothead, and he had been arrested several times.

The assassination of JFK infuriated Ruby. He admired Jack Kennedy and had voted for him. Two days after the assassination, Oswald was being transferred from police headquarters to county jail. Ruby slipped into the basement, where reporters were clamoring for sound bites from Oswald. He drew his gun and fatally shot Oswald in the abdomen, silencing him forever. The murder was inadvertently broadcast on national television. It seemed like he did it on the spur of the moment, since he left his favorite dog, Sheba, in the car.

Ruby was convicted and sentenced to death. He died of lung cancer while waiting for appeal.

Ruby maintained that he killed Oswald in order to spare Mrs. Kennedy the trauma of coming back to Dallas to testify. However, I personally believe he was just a violent sociopath. You can read more about Ruby and his motives in our novel, “DESTINATION DEALEY: Countdown to the Kennedy Conspiracy.”

ETHEN: Where can the audience buy a copy of Destination Dealey?

LISA: “DESTINATION DEALEY: Countdown to the Kennedy Conspiracy” is available in all formats: hardcover, paperback and e-book. You can buy it online from almost any retailer, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, and more.

Our website has links to buy at the major retailers, and it includes lots of interesting information about Kennedy and the key players in the assassination. Check it out at www.DestinationDealey.com.

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