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From the President's Desk: Among the Undead

by Jack El-Hai

Most of us want to make a name as a writer. And many of us hope that the services, resources and connections we have available in ASJA will help us make that name.

Sometimes all this works in unexpected ways. I recently discovered that an aspiring writer in Minneapolis, where I live, is working on a novel called The Carrion Eaters. The hero, or perhaps the anti-hero, of this tale-which its author has described as "dark, dystopian and drenched in blood.... A white knuckle, noirish action-adventure all set in a post-apocalyptic world of quick draw, Wild West-like ideals where the Dead have risen and Society has fallen"-is a fellow named Jack El-Hai. That, if you've not noticed the by-line on these presidential columns, is my name.

The author of The Carrion Eaters maintains a blog (at http://shenjanno.livejournal.com) in which he updates the public on the progress of his work. In one blog entry, he explores the character of his protagonist:

Jack El-Hai is a liar. He's a scavenger, a looter, a seditionist and a thief. Jack El-Hai is willing to kill. That's why he survived the fiery ruin of the Collapse and millions of others did not. Because when the World ends and the Dead rise with an insatiable hunger for warm flesh, you need to learn the new rules of survival in a hurry or you risk restless, shambling undeath. Jack El-Hai knows these rules, he learned them the hard way: Keep your gun loaded, kill or be killed, protect what's yours, and if you want something then you have to take it.

To the best of my knowledge, I am the world's only living person named Jack El-Hai. (A distant relative who shared my name, a resident of Baltimore, died about ten years ago; we never met.) So I had to believe that in building this rough-edged character, the author in some way drew his inspiration from me. I have lied during my life, although never in this column. It is true that I'm a bit of a scavenger: my wife frequently teases me for my habit of picking up from the sidewalk stray pens, paper clips and coins. As a child, I waged a fierce war against the ants of my neighborhood, proving myself a vicious killer-maybe even a serial killer. To my dying day, though, I will plead innocent to sedition.

But I later learned that my own qualities did not inspire the creator of the trigger-happy, dissembling, un-undead Jack El-Hai. Although Minneapolis is part of a metropolitan area of 2.8 million people, the writing community is small. It turns out that a friend of mine, Dick, knows the author of The Carrion Eaters. Dick told me about a conversation he and the novelist had not long ago:

Dick: Why did you name your character Jack El-Hai?

Novelist: I saw the name somewhere and I liked it. So I decided to use it.

Dick: Do you know the real Jack El-Hai?

Novelist: No.

Dick: Well, I do.

From there, the conversation deteriorated. I do not know where the novelist saw my name. It could have been on a book jacket, in an article by-line, or even on the ASJA Web site. Making a name in this fashion isn't what I've ever had in mind for myself as a writer. I joined ASJA hoping I could find an agent, make good magazine contacts, publish books and get some gigs as a speaker. All of those things have happened. So although I don't mind having my name attached to a character in a novel, I'm not sure I like it that my fictional alter ego is a liar, thief, killer, and associate of those who long to sink their teeth into warm human flesh. Or a seditionist.

If The Carrion Eaters ever gets published, I can't guess what awaits me. Cult status at apocalyptic literature conventions? Scornful looks from vegans and others opposed to cannibalism? Be sure, though, that I will not sue to prevent the author's use of my name. For a freelance writer, any publicity is good publicity. That's one lesson I've learned from my membership in ASJA.

You can reach ASJA President Jack El-Hai at prez@asja.org.

Jack El-Hai of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is president of ASJA. E-mail the president through www.asja.org/contact.php.