How did the idea for Invitation first evolve?
Mike Whicker: I had someone contact me who wanted to investigate this story more than it had been investigated since the war ended. The FBI investigation during WW2 in Evansville was common knowledge among many people who were around at that time. The story of the Evansville spy is not something I unearthed. I’d like to take credit for revealing this to the world, but I had heard of the spy investigation long before I ever became involved with it personally. The man who contacted me was the relative of someone who worked at the LST Shipyard during the war. His relative had became entwined in the investigation in 1943. I write about this in the book’s prologue. Ann: From concept to publish, how long did this book take? Mike Whicker: I started writing the book in 1994. It was published in 2001. At first things move slowly as I tried to find out what was true versus what was rumor or legend. I became more and more submerged in the story as tidbits of information surfaced here and there ov
