A can't-put-it-down mystery thriller that takes off from one of our great urban legends. Waking Walt shakes a warts and all Walt Disney from his frozen dreams in cryonic suspension to skewer today's society and lead a fight to save his company from a ruthless corporate raider and his security crew of former FBI hit men.
WAKING WALT is a spellbinding take on one of America’s most enduring urban legends. Could it be true; Walt Disney was never cremated and buried at Forest Lawn as the official story goes? Imagine that, for nearly 40 years, the great entertainment genius has been in cryonic suspension, waiting to return when a cure for his lung cancer is found. Now, an experimental drug being tested looks like the answer. The waiting is almost over.
Then, disaster strikes!
In a déjà vu nightmare for The Disney Company, a ruthless corporate raider launches a takeover attempt, planning to sell off the company’s assets to the highest bidders. And this time there are no white knights in Disney’s corner.
But the Circle is still there, the small group of confidants who helped Walt escape death and who have been guarding him and his secret ever since. Even though they’re all old men now, they’re not about to let Walt’s company be torn apart without a fight. And they know just who can lead them. However, as they scurry to wake him, the Circle discovers there are powerful forces that want the dead to stay dead. But they don’t know Walt Disney!
Excerpt
Harry stepped closer, staring down at the impossible, into a face that couldn’t be there but was. He was unconscious and looked terrible, gray and haggard, emaciated by his disease, but there was no question that it was Walt Disney.
“Incredible,” Harry breathed.
Peter Raab gave a half smile. “Thank you,” he said and Harry looked up at him.
“Why are you moving him? They think he was down there with the others. That he’s…dead.”
The doctor smiled again, broader. “An out of date concept as of tonight, Harry. Inanimate is more precise. But I know what you mean and that’s the problem. He could be dead, before morning, if we don’t act quickly. Time is everything now. Without the protection of the near absolute zero temperature, the past has suddenly caught up with Walt. He’s an old man, dying of lung cancer. We don’t have the facilities he needs here. That was never the plan. Our plan was always to immediately move patients to a proper medical center. Mercy or Memorial, one the two hospitals in Bakersfield.”
Harry didn’t like it. “I don’t know,” he said doubtfully. “Did Thomas tell you that at least one of the two men here tonight was a former FBI agent? These people aren’t stupid. They have to have contacts, with the police, with…God knows who. And they’ve got money, as much of it as they want. They could be plugged into every hospital computer in California right now. Still waiting, watching.”
What a great premise for a story. A story were just the premise compells you to see what it is. Like 'Capricorn One' (the movie) or 'The Manchurian Candidate'. Congratulations Larry on getting the book done.
Reviewed by Jody Gore
10/22/2003
We may never know why the official announcement of Walt Disney’s death was delayed until the following day, December 16, 1966. Or why the press and the world was not informed that he had passed; unceremoniously cremated and his ashes interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. There are those who do know, however.
The legend of Walt Disney lives on as do the Urban Legends surrounding Walt Disney’s death. In the fictional book, Waking Walt by Larry Pontius, we meet the creative genius himself as told through this refreshingly funny, heartfelt book, Waking Walt. Larry Pontius’ writing is a tribute to all that continue to believe in the magic of The Wonderful World of Disney.
Forty years passed since Walt…left. During his lifetime, Walt surrounded himself with bankers, lawyers and a few close friends. These well chosen people held a secret they would take to their grave…literally…if they don’t find the Linaquil needed to cure Walt Disney’s lung cancer. Their plan is to bring Walt back from…where was he? Dead? Frozen?…Ahhh yes, the magic of Cryonics.
Put aside hostile takeovers, a difficult genius, and a secret big enough to blow the lid off of everything surrounding immortality, Waking Walt, by Larry Pontius, is a story about friendship, trust, and how we are never to old to learn about ourselves; something Walt Disney himself would enjoy.
Just as Walt had a knack for the creation of cartoon characters that became quilted into the fabric of our American lifestyle and around the world, Larry Pontius has captured the very essence of what made Walt Disney the man he was and the man America still cherishes.
You won’t find a saint in Waking Walt, but it is a book of twists and turns with no ends left to dangle. This humorous tale leads us through forty-years Walt needs to catch up on. Remote controls, computers, the Internet and the first man on the moon leave the genius awed and excited. What else does he have to learn…plenty…and he better be quick about it.
Reviewed by Sonja Marchesano
4/9/2003
Your book sounds great and I can't wait to buy one at the meeting in May. We are all looking forward to hearing you.
Call me if you need more info. I did tell you that we meet at 10 a.m. You are welcome to join us for breakfast at Robb & Stuckey. The program will start at 11:30 after our meeting is finished. I do need to make a reservation for you and I believe you said that you were bringing someone with you. Please let me know the name.
Sonja
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