Finding John Smith: A True Story

Finding John Smith: A True Story is autobiographical. The Halas and Batchelor animator John Bernard Smith (1929-1967) was, I discovered around the year 2000, my real father. It is my current book project. Part I: John Smith. 1. Death by misadventure. 2. Fraser drama unfolds. 3. Accident or incident? 4. Last letters. 5. Letters to Aunt Peg. 6. Sorrow and consolation. Part II: The Long Search. 7. New beginnings. 8. Melancholia. 9. Reanimation. 10. Hell’s Gate. 11. Finding John Smith, 12. The Smiths. Afterword: Two Eclipses. As yet unfinished. Here I include the first chapter only. The structure is inspired by the travel book Alexandria: A History and a Guide by E. M. Forster (1879-1970), rendering the invisible visible.