In 1937 Amelia Earhart boarded her modified Lockheed L-10 Electra, flew off into the sunset, and was never heard from again. There have been many theories that have been floated about what really happened to her. These theories have run the spectrum between her falling into the clutches of the Japanese military to her plane being shot down by tie fighters over Area 51. The reality is that she simply disappeared from the sky and for all we know, is playing Texas Hold'em in the Bermuda Triangle with all the members of Flight 19 (the missing flight of US Navy Avenger torpedo bombers) and maybe Sasquatch. The sudden and total disappearance of Ms. Earhart feels a lot like the how Shana Hiatt has completely disappeared from the scene.
Most of us are aware of Shana from her time on the World Poker Tour. She was interviewer for the WPT for the first three seasons and is arguably the most popular hostess they have ever had. After some tension that involved the fact that she was previously married to the brother of the show’s host, Vince Van Patten, and the apparent distaste the Van Patten boys had for her new husband, film producer Todd Garner, she left the show citing a hostile work environment as the reason. From there she landed on NBC as the hostess of the “National Heads-Up Poker Championship” and “Poker After Dark.” In 2008 she left NBC to give birth to her first child. She has not really been heard from since.
While her disappearance isn’t really as dramatic as that Ms. Earhart, her current status has sort of become the “Where’s Waldo” of the poker world. While we hope she is enjoying her time raising a family, those of us who have enjoyed her on various poker shows are looking forward to her eventual return. At least this column gives us yet another opportunity to show Shana in a bikini.
