In this Kansas Citian’s satirical new book, ghosts of presidents past visit Trump

For his debut book, Kansas City native George S. Corey knew he wanted to write about the spirits of presidents past visiting Donald Trump — a la “A Christmas Carol.” He just wasn’t sure how to set that plot in motion.

Then he ran into Marla Maples at a Safeway grocery store, in Washington, D.C., where Corey lives now.

“I’m standing in line. It’s pouring outside. And there’s this very skinny blond woman wearing Lululemon and a pink cap — it didn’t say MAGA or anything. She asked, ‘Do you know where the organic cleanser is?,’” Corey recalls of his encounter with the Trump mistress-turned-wife-turned-ex-wife.

After enjoying a pleasant chat with Maples and eventually lending her an umbrella, Corey realized how to launch his satirical book, “Presidential Conversations”: Trump could be “enveloped by psychedelic swirls” when listening to Maples’ ambient spiritual album “The Endless” (yep, totally real), inciting discussions with 18 of his executive branch predecessors on the eve of the upcoming election.

He describes the book as a “Hamilton”-esque history lesson with a dose of “Saturday Night Live”-style spoofery. But he found some aspects to be problematic.

“The most challenging thing was to be even-handed,” Corey says.

“I love Alec Baldwin and the character he’s created on ‘SNL.’ It’s fantastic. But that’s not what I wanted to write. And it’s not how I wanted to write about it because I’m very respectful of the office of the presidency. I think it’s because I’m a Midwesterner living on the East Coast; I’m a very different animal here.”

Corey, a native of Lebanon, grew up in Kansas City and graduated high school in 1981 from what is now Pembroke Hill before heading to the University of Missouri-Kansas City for his undergraduate degree. For the past 30 years he has lived in Washington, working as a regulatory attorney.

His book is billed as a political satire, but he took the task seriously of what the conversations (which span from George Washington to Barack Obama) might sound like.

“I did the research on the presidents in sequence, and the stories and the attitudes wrote themselves,” Corey says.

The book was published by the digital innovation pioneer Metabook Entertainment, which meant it could become more than just a printed page. The audio version recruits the talents of “Boardwalk Empire” star Steven DeRosa. It incorporates original songs (though not by Maples), including “contributions” by presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, who become the “Roaring ’20s Republican Trio.” (“When ‘Trump’ joins in with a boozy lounge voice, you’re just gonna lose it,” Corey says.)

It’s also a living document, as witnessed by the fact that even though it was published in October, Corey has already added an epilogue chapter to the eBook edition: a Trump conversation with the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg titled “Vote Ruthlessly.”

Corey admits the Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan chapters proved the trickiest to write because of the contradictions in their characters (which involve the internment of Japanese Americans and the Iran-Contra scandal, respectively). He was further overwhelmed by having to construct the “humility and suspension of ego” that characterized Abraham Lincoln.

Of all the presidents featured, which one would he personally most like to have a conversation with?

“I admire George Washington more than all the others,” he says, “because he both created the presidency and made it a position for a citizen — not a king or a military leader — and he stepped away after two terms. He could have stayed in the office for 20 years. I’m overwhelmed he left at the height of his power, the height of his popularity. To me, that’s extraordinary.”

Ken Siman, co-founder of Metabook Entertainment, says the concept behind “Presidential Conversations” felt very different from the other “political” projects his company was considering.

“(Corey) found a lot of lightness in what many consider very dark times, politically speaking. It was a reminder of just how entertaining history and presidential personalities can be,” Siman says.

The author is actively working on a sister book, tentatively titled “Ministerial Conversations,” that features Trump talking with foreign leaders, past and present. These include King George III, Winston Churchill, Angela Merkel and, of course, Vladimir Putin.

Even though the election is mere days away, raising the very real possibility Trump will no longer remain in office, Corey isn’t worried that people might lose interest in the 45th president.

“Believe me, Trump is going to be in the news for years,” Corey says.

“People will want to read about Trump no matter what occurs in the election because he has made himself the perfect foil for character in the White House. This is not so much because Trump lacks character but because he has not respected the social contract that has rooted our country, our culture and our economy. I feel that by writing this book — and, frankly, reading this book — we all stand up for the office of the presidency.”

Jon Niccum is a filmmaker, freelance writer and author of “The Worst Gig: From Psycho Fans to Stage Riots, Famous Musicians Tell All.”