Vanishing Act: Jerry Jamison on True Crime, Fake Deaths, and the Art of Reinvention

“From the very outset, people thought, ‘This can’t possibly be true.’ But it was—and the deeper we dug, the stranger it became.” — Jerry Jamison

In this episode of Uncorking a Story, I sit down with award-winning advertising copywriter turned novelist Jerry Jamison, whose latest book Vanishing Act unearths one of history’s most shocking forgotten stories: a career con man, a faked death, and a doomed airliner. With decades of experience shaping national ad campaigns and over 30 published novels, Jerry brings both craft and tenacity to his storytelling. Together we explore the bizarre true life of Dr. Robert Spears—a fraudster who lived under 26 aliases, posed as a doctor, ran an abortion empire in 1950s Texas, and ultimately attempted to vanish in the most chilling way imaginable.

From Copywriting to Crime Writing – How Jerry’s advertising career sharpened his discipline and storytelling drive. Unearthing Forgotten History – The shocking Life Magazine headline that sparked Vanishing Act. The Master Con Man – Dr. Robert Spears’ web of scams, aliases, and manipulations across decades. The Abortion Underground – A candid look at how hidden medical practices shaped mid-20th century America. Murder in the Skies – How a plot to fake a death led to the destruction of an entire airliner. The Business of Being an Author – Why perseverance, rejection, and belief in your work matter more than luck. Cultural Memory and Forgetting – What Spears’ story teaches us about today’s news cycles.

Buy Vanishing Act: A Crashed Airliner, Faked Death, and Backroom Abortions