[on discovering that, in
Lost Horizon (1937), his female missionary character had been replaced by a pulchritudinous blonde] The passengers who were in the plane that was kidnapped from the Chinese city of Baskul and taken to Shangri La were a purely fortuitous group . . . chosen for their adventure by chance. It might just as well have been Gloria as Miss Brinklow who was crowded aboard as a last-minute rescue. As a matter of fact, if I'd thought of Gloria while I was writing the book, I might have given her Miss Brinklow's seat in the airplane myself.