THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF REPUBLICANS WHO WANT TO BE PRESIDENT IN 2016? IT’S NOTHING COMPARED WITH THE GOP IN 1920. IT’S JUST PART OF THE FASCINATING STORY DETAILED IN A NEW BOOK BY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR DAVID R. STOKES:
“JAKE & CLARA: SCANDAL, POLITICS, HOLLYWOOD, AND MURDER.”
FAIRFAX, VA, December 8, 2015—It took some big money under the table from Jake Hamon—“The Oil King of Oklahoma”—to defeat twenty other candidates and secure the nomination for Warren G. Harding in Chicago, in the summer of 1920. In return, Jake wanted a Cabinet seat—Secretary of the Interior—and control of America’s massive oil reserves. But a few weeks after Harding’s election, Jake Hamon was dead in Ardmore, Oklahoma, having been shot by his mistress.
And the lady with the gun—her name was Clara—was in the wind.
Clara had fallen in love with the married man a decade earlier when she was just seventeen years old. Jake was old enough to be her father. He seduced her with megalomaniacal dreams, and along the way she developed big dreams of her own, like becoming a big Hollywood movie star.
Best-selling author, David R. Stokes, has written the definitive account of this long-forgotten story in his latest book: “Jake & Clara: Scandal, Politics, Hollywood, and Murder.”
It is a very true story, but Stokes has written the book in the style of a novel. “I have taken certain storytelling liberties, including invention of some of the dialogue. But where the narrative strays from strict nonfiction, I have remained faithful to the main characters and to the essential drift of events as they really happened. It really begs to be developed for the screen,” he says.
Stokes has partnered with Alexia Melocchi and Alexandra Yacovlef and Little Studio Films in California on several book-to-screen projects. And “Jake & Clara” is already in their hands.
Following Jake’s death, Clara “sightings” were reported all over the country. William Randolph Hearst, with his usual penchant for the sensational, managed to keep the story on page-one for weeks, complete with intimate excerpts from Clara’s secret diary.
Two colorful lawmen were hot on Clara’s trail. And they eventually found her hiding in an unlikely lace. They brought Clara back to Oklahoma to face a charge of first-degree murder.
But by this time, opinion about Clara was changing. She was becoming a national celebrity—one of the first of Jazz Age. Her train was met on Christmas Day in Ardmore by thousands of cheering fans. And the finest and most famous lawyers in Oklahoma and Texas lobbied for the opportunity to defend her in what was sure to be the trial of the still young decade that would roar.
Soon offers were pouring in from Hollywood to make a movie based on her life—starring Clara as herself. That movie, called “FATE,” was indeed produced at Warner Brothers Studio. But after its release in September 1921, it was quickly suppressed by law enforcement agencies and is a forgotten footnote from the early years of Hollywood—until now.
“Jake & Clara” is available wherever books are sold in e-book ($4.99) and paperback ($18.99) formats. (Print: Ingram, Amazon – Ebook: Kindle, EPub)
David R. Stokes is available for interviews throughout December. Contact Debby White (571-641-0197): Debby@davidstokeslive.com.
DAVID R. STOKES is a bestselling author, ordained minister, commentator, broadcaster, and columnist. He and his wife Karen have seven wonderful grandchildren and live in the Washington, DC area. His personal website is: www.davidrstokes.com.