You may not recognize his name, but chances are you’ve already seen some of Austin-based stuntman, actor, special-effects artist, and now writer Gary Kent’s work in film. Kent’s new memoir, Shadows & Light: Journeys With Outlaws in Revolutionary Hollywood, is an almost ludicrously entertaining 400 pages of nonstop action, comedy, and occasional romance, with a heavy emphasis on Sixties- and Seventies-era Hollywood fringe luminaries such as Monte Hellman, Ted V. Mikels, and Roger Corman. As if that weren’t enough, Kent now proves himself to be a born anecdotalist. His argument that the American independent film was really born with Cassavetes’ Shadows is a keeper, and his reminiscences of shooting at Spahn Ranch with the Manson family lurking around the set are downright creepy-crawly.

Gary Kent will read from and sign copies of Shadows & Light next Wednesday, July 15, 7pm, at BookPeople (603 N. Lamar).

This article appears in July 10 • 2009.

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