Sometime near the end of 1913, a 71-year-old American journalist and fiction writer, Ambrose Bierce is believed to have gone to Mexico, joined up with Pancho Villa's army as an observer, and vanished without a trace. His disappearance remains a mystery. And thereby hangs a tale, or at least the framework for a program that promises to be intriguing. (More about Bierce in a minute.) The program is called Vanishing Acts and it's offered from 11 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, October 18, in the Eckerd College CEC Pelican Room. Cost is $10 for members and $25 for non-members.
Bierce isn't the only Missing Person the class covers. There's Spartacus. You may think Kirk Douglas is Spartacus but that's just a movie. The actual guy, the escaped slave/gladiator/hero from ancient Greek times, has quite a mystery about him. Some think he died in battle but his body was never found. Perfect for the program. Then there's Michael Rockefeller, youngest son of Nelson Rockefeller, the Vice President. Michael went missing in 1961while on an expedition to New Guinea.
Now back to Bierce. You may have heard of his short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." If not, we won't spoil it for you. It has a trick ending and it was very experimental for its time. It was borrowed numerous times, as a plot for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as a plot for Twilight Zone, as a plot line for numerous movies. Look it up! You might enjoy it. Bierce was also a muckraking journalist who work for yellow journalism king William Randolph Hearst and successfully foiled a plot by the railroads and their crooked politicians to steal from the U.S. Treasury Department. Bierce was a fascinating guy. You're going to want to see this.
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