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"To the extent that your request seeks records that would reveal a classified association between the CIA and the subjects, if any exist, we can neither confirm nor deny having such records." Well, that’s a quick way to kill a story. Unless you’re an intrepid journalist intent on finding the truth. Dan Sullivan, a 40-year veteran of the Omaha World-Herald, proves he is most definitely that with the publication of his new non-fiction book, The Murder of the Real Jack Ryan. Sullivan, who retired from the World-Herald at the end of 2017, admitted that while receiving the above message made finding the truth tougher, it also led to searching in places he might not have otherwise investigated. “It seems funny now, but it felt like running into a brick wall when I received it,” Sullivan said. “but the big breakthrough came when I finally tracked down someone who worked with Jack.” Spy novel aficionados and most pop culture fans will recognize Jack Ryan as the lead character in a series of Tom Clancy novels. Those novels, including The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Sum of All Fears, have made their way to the big and small screen. The Ryan character has been played by a number of actors including Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, Chris Pine, and most recently, John Krasinski. While there are some striking similarities between Clancy’s Jack Patrick Ryan and the real Jack Edwin Ryan, Sullivan said it does not appear that the real-life person was a direct inspiration for the fictional one. “The family always thought that there was a connection, but I couldn't find any and am almost certain there was not,” Sullivan said. “The other oddity is that fictional Jack's father was a big-city cop named Emmet William Ryan, while the real Jack's father was a big-city cop named William Edwin Ryan. It's a strange coincidence, but no evidence it's anything more.” So who is the real Jack Ryan? Sullivan describes him on the back cover as “a real-life hero, working undercover with the French Resistance during World War II and meticulously planning CIA operations designed to help America avoid all-out war in Vietnam.” Ryan spoke French fluently and his work with the French Underground earned him credibility with the intelligence community and made him a perfect fit for work in Vietnam. His illustrious career was cut short when he was killed in 1965 under mysterious circumstances. Sullivan became interested in the cold case because Ryan was family, a relative of his wife, Kathy. “The mystery of his murder has frequently been a topic of conversation at family gatherings. I had retired recently when I decided to take it on in 2018. We basically knew nothing about his work, other than he was ‘with the CIA,’ and that he had worked with the French Resistance during World War II. We knew even less about how to solve a cold-case murder that occurred in Saigon in 1965.” The hunt for the truth began by simply going through boxes of family keepsakes, Sullivan explained. “Jack's life was a complete mystery after he went to Vietnam in 1955, so we had to piece together who he was. His father was a World War I Doughboy and his mother was a French war bride. Jack was born in France and fluent in French, the language of administration in Vietnam, Laos and the Congo, places he was posted,” he said. “Jack's father also was the police chief in Minneapolis when Hubert Humphrey was mayor, a connection that ended up being very important. The family kept their letters from WWI, WWII and Jack's from his foreign postings.” From there it was on to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Sullivan and his wife spent a week combing through 1,000 of documents about Ryan’s time in Vietnam. Presidential and university libraries were a key resource, while newspaper archives provided valuable information as well, Sullivan said. The CIA nonanswer was a temporary setback before Sullivan got his big break. “I finally tracked down someone who worked with Jack. His colleagues were mostly WWII vets and were long gone when I started,” Sullivan explained. “The man I located was younger and had been recruited by the CIA in 1962. He was 90 years old and razor sharp. He ended up answering our key questions.” The book, published on Sept. 16, 2020, is available on Amazon. Sullivan credits his wife, who taught journalism at Creighton University, with motivating him to write the book and push through the road blocks. “Kathy was incredibly interested in the project, so she kept everything on track,” he said. Sullivan earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1973 and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Creighton University in 1977 before embarking on his career at the World-Herald. In addition to the Ryan book, Sullivan penned Nebraska’s First College for Peru State University’s 150th anniversary in 2017 and has edited more than 25 books including many of the publications coming out of the Omaha World-Herald such as Steve Pivovar’s Road to the Big Time and Steve Jordan’s The Oracle and Omaha. “It's always a thrill when the first one arrives,” Sullivan said. “I take a picture of the book in my hand and send it to people with the message ‘the book is in hand.’ I'm the only one who thinks that's funny.”
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With over 100 options on the menu and an attention to detail with ingredients and preparation, Han’s Golden Dragon, 923 Galvin Road South, Suite 107, has been serving Bellevue, Nebraska since 1989. The husband and wife team of James and Nanhee Han are the principal owners of the restaurant. “They’ve been working side by side at every restaurant along their path,” said Andrew Han, the couple’s son. “They work extremely well together and are both fantastic cooks with over 30 years of experience.” The Hans started the business back in 1989 before selling it to family friends in 1997. The Han’s reopened the restaurant after that couple retired in 2018. The aforementioned variety and attention to detail is what makes the Golden Dragon standout. The restaurant does not use MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) in any of its dishes, instead using natural flavors to enhance taste. “People are surprised how we can have so much flavor without doing this,” Andrew said, translating for his parents and offering his own insight as well. “EVERYTHING on menu is made to order. There are no heat lamps and we refuse to leave food sitting out. We make every order as it comes in and that’s why the food is still very hot even after a drive home.” Even the condiments at Golden Dragon are made in-house including the sweet & sour sauce, hot chili sauce, and hot mustard. Andrew recommended a number of his favorite dishes including the Mongolian Beef. “Mongolian beef has always been my favorite meal growing up. And I love to eat it super spicy!,” he said, “When I’m feeling something breaded, I love the General Tso’s chicken and when I’m feeling something sweet, I enjoy the sweet and sour chicken along with the sesame chicken.” For those looking to sample a variety in one sitting, Andrew recommended the combination special which features a half portion of sweet and sour chicken and a half portion of cashew chicken. Those feeling a little adventurous might give the hot shrimp and chicken a try. “This one was shared on our social media and was a huge hit,” he said. “After posting the meal on social media, we sold over 50 orders of the meal in less than one week!” Andrew had one more recommendation of the Korean menu – the spicy pork bulgogi. “I think the pork compliments well with the spicy Korean sauce and it’s currently one of our best sellers,” he said. “We have three bulgogi’s on our Korean menu including: beef, chicken, and pork.” Like all restaurants and business, the Golden Dragon has had to adapt to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and is only offering carry-out at this point. “We do miss having people dine-in at our restaurant -- walking into the dining area and see people fill the seats along with admiring all the renovations we have done since we’ve re-taken over the restaurant,” Andrew said. “That first week when all the dining rooms closed down, our sales were, in a lack of better terms, terrible. We would get maybe 10 phone calls a day, but we stuck with the process. My parents never gave up on their dream and they were not about to let COVID-19 stop this one.” Using social media, the Hans were able to inform their customers about the restaurants new processes to ensure the safety of their employees along with their customers. “We let people know we were wearing masks while we handle and take-out the food,” Andrew said. “We first started off by taking orders over the phone with a no touch transaction with the customer’s credit card. When they arrived, we had their food outside on one of the carts and would wave them down when they got here. From start to end, it was a no-touch transaction along with no-touch curbside pick-up.” Business started to pick up as customers gained confidence in the process, Andrew said. “It was good to see my parents busy and happy again. We know give a little more freedom for the curbside process,” he said. “We still take the cards over the phone but now when customers arrive, we let them choose if we can hand them their food, place it in the passenger seat of the car, or we can still set it outside on a cart for them. Whatever makes them feel most comfortable and people have been extremely happy with our courtesy along with our customer service. “It’s really nice to see people appreciate how much effort my parents have put in to start here, come back, and still stay open during the pandemic. Other places haven’t been as fortunate.” Being part of the Bellevue community has been a blessing for the Hans and the Golden Dragon. “Being part of Bellevue means everything to us. This is where we first established our roots,” Andrew said. “This is the place where my parents took the biggest leap of faith of their lives by starting this restaurant together in 1989. And it’s not just Bellevue. We have customers from Council Bluffs, Omaha, Papillion, Nebraska City, even people that have followed us from Plattsmouth. We always tell people: we will keep cooking as long as you all keep coming and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.” To order take-out from the Golden Dragon call 402-315-9909. The Brightest Place in the World – an apt title for a novel set in and around Las Vegas. Author David Philip Mullins, a professor at Creighton University, has set his novel in his home town, but rather than referring to the bright lights that set the Las Vegas strip apart, the title just as likely refers to the explosion of the PEPCON chemical plant that occurred in the nearby desert on May 4, 1988.
The book, published June 3, 2020 by the University of Nevada Press, is available at Omaha booksellers The Bookworm and The Next Chapter as well as through online retailers. Fictionalized to WEPCO in the novel, the story is narrated by four main characters in alternating chapters, documenting their experiences in the wake of the disaster. Kicking the novel off with an explosion seemed like an excellent catalyst, Mullins explained. “My memories of the PEPCON explosions are hazy, since it’s been 32 years, but I remember a conversation with my father that evening, during which he broke down and cried,” Mullins said. “That moment impacted me, and was part of the reason I wanted to use the PEPCON disaster, or a fictionalized version of it, in the novel. Also, a giant explosion just makes for a great initiating event.” While Mullins doesn’t feel that growing up in Las Vegas has had a large impact on his writing style, it was the setting for a lot of the stories in his first book Greetings from Below as well as The Brightest Place in the World. “I love setting stories in Las Vegas. The location itself is such a living, breathing character,” Mullins said. One place that very likely did influence Mullins’ writing style is Iowa City, Iowa, where he attended the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop. The Workshop has produced a number highly-regarded writers over the years including John Irving (The World According to Garp) and Ann Patchett (Bel Canto). Mullins attend from 2003-2005 earning his Master of Fine Arts degree. “The whole thing was a life-changing experience. The skills I learned there have been invaluable,” Mullins said. “I consider myself so incredibly lucky to have gone there for graduate school, and to have met the people I met and became friends with there—writers I continue to communicate with all these years later.” Mullins named Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger, The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones and The Point by Charles D’Ambrosio as some of his favorite books and influences. While Mullins is rightfully proud of his new novel, his students keep him humble. “To my knowledge, none of my students have read my novel. If they have, their reaction has been resentful silence,” he said. Mullins started teaching at Creighton in 2008 and taught of the University of Iowa and the University of Nebraska, Omaha prior to becoming a Bluejay. “I love teaching creative writing,” he said. “It compliments my fiction in all kinds of interesting and useful ways.” Teaching in 2020 with the challenges presented by COVID-19 has been different, but Mullins feels he and his students have adapted well. “It hasn’t been as difficult as I thought it would be to adapt to COVID-19, in terms of teaching,” he said. “My students and I are all masked, but otherwise the environment in the classroom isn’t so different from a normal semester.” While the bright lights of Las Vegas certainly have their appeal, Creighton and Omaha offer a nice contrast to Mullins’ home town “My favorite thing about Omaha is the number of trees the city has—compared, especially, to the neighborhood I grew up in, bordering the desert (very few trees),” he said. “My favorite thing about Creighton is the general quality of my students, both academically and personally. It’s a great place to work, for that reason.” |
AuthorI am a professional communicator with experience in journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising, and technical writing. I strive to tell the great story regardless of the medium. Archives
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