Hollywood Stuntman Releases Book Documenting Filmic Revolution

June 24, 2009

Gary Kent’s long awaited memoir, Shadows & Light / Journeys With Outlaws in Revolutionary Hollywood is set for official release on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 with a reading, book signing, and party held at BookPeople (603 N. Lamar, Austin, TX). This special evening will include food, drink, music, celebrity guests, and Gary Kent reading from his original work.

Kent’s eclectic and exciting memoir focuses on his forty years as a writer/director, actor, stuntman, and special effects expert in the creative canyons of Hollywood.

This much anticipated event will begin promptly at 7 p.m. with guitarists Pat Hammonds and Chris Kent playing a gut-bucket blues duet, followed by music from south Texas singer-songwriter Bianca DeLeon.

Special guests include entrepreneur/philanthropist/stuntman Rex Cumming (Walker Texas Ranger); actor/stuntman Bob Ivy (Bubba Ho-Tep, Phantasm); writer/director Don Jones (Lethal Pursuit, The Forest); producer/author Michael MacFarland (The Pyramid, The Ultimate Joy); and iconic director/actor/stunt legend Chuck Bail (The Stuntman, Freebie and The Bean, Beastmaster).

What the World of Film in Saying about Shadows & Light

“Tripping from the psychedelic 60s to the filmmaker-centric new century, Gary Kent weaves an expertly written and all-true story of the world of movies, with all of the action, actresses, drink, drugs, sex, and creative genius!”
-Don Coscarelli, Producer Director (Bubba Ho-Tep, Phantasm)

“This book is a magic piece of candy, transporting the reader back to earlier days of celluloid Villians and Heroes, where hindsight is 20/20 and artistic license will get you into any game in town.”
-Chuck Bail, iconic actor/director/stuntman, Stuntman’s Hall of Fame

“Magnificent prose that honors an exciting, turbulent time in the art of movie making magic.”
-Paul Lewis, Producer/Production Manager (Easy Rider, Colors)

“Gary Kent gives us an all access backstage pass to the days when filmmaking was poetry, when guys like Jack Nicholson and Warren Oates were working out of offices the size of closets, and craft service was a bologna sandwich. Kent’s memories are intimate and evocative, sliding through your consciousness like a fine wine, leaving the taste of a touching time when movies were really movies-a time in our culture that is missed now more than ever.”
-Esai Morales, award-winning actor (La Bamba, NYPD Blue), Screen Actor’s Guild Board of Directors, Co-founder of National Hispanic Foundation for The Arts.

“Gary Kent has either an extraordinary memory or an extraordinary imagination. His experiences on my movies in the 1960s explore a parallel universe of which I was unaware, but because of his detailed recreation I accept as accurate and true. It’s a fascinating trip and a riveting read.”
-Monte Hellman, director and producer (Ride The Whirlwind, The Shooting, Two Lane Blacktop, Reservoir Dogs)

“Gary’s odyssey takes him into the world of A-List Hollywood, Poverty Row impresarios, mad geniuses, doomed starlets and, maybe most compellingly, among the stuntmen, bit-players, horse wranglers, and grips who labor behind the scenes but are no less fascinating than the baby faces who get the big closeups. What a canvas! What a life! What a book!”
-Lars Nilsen, Alamo Drafthouse

“Gary Kent chronicles the subtle birth and growth of a dazzling cinematic style, born from the evolving mindset of its audience. It’s a world I know and Gary got it right! He turns the trick without breaking a sweat, easy reading, like breathing fresh air, yet loaded with brilliant metaphors and insights that make this book meaningful. Very stylish work.”
-Richard Rush, director

“Kent had the acting chops to star in films, the backbone to make a living as a stuntman, and the determination to learn every job on a film set. He and his fellow movie mavericks embarrassed the major studio system by blindsiding it with their creativity and originality. Their work can never be marginalized and may never be repeated. Thanks to the revolutionary work they left behind, it will also never be forgotten.”
-Ken Kish, Producer and Owner, Cinema Wasteland Movie Exposition, Cleveland, Ohio

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