Jack Ketchum
Jack Ketchum was a writer, and a good one I'm told. Turner Mojica, Jack's longtime friend and Marketing Manager, contacted me about shooting some images on him, I had heard about Jack and about his best known work... Horror. Turner asked me to do what I could to make him look like the horrific monsters he wrote about in his books. Personally I can't read what Jack wrote, I'd have nightmares and I have grown most accustom to my sleep being very peaceful.
Turner told me that he would be at his favorite bar everyday at 5pm. Turner gave me the bar's address and on my next trip to NYC, I went to visit and introduce myself.
Later I was telling the story of my first meeting to a friend and after I told the part of Jack being at this one bar in all of NYC everyday at 5pm, my friend asked me a question. "Does he have a drinking problem?" To which I replied, "No, he has a schedule." On my next meeting with Jack I told him this and he loved my answer and told me he was going to steal the line. I agreed.
My next trip to NYC, about 2 years later, I planned what I wanted to do and brought the right gear. On this meeting I met Jack in his New York City apartment and I went through his wardrobe, picking items I liked.
Now I must come clean on Jack Ketchum. The Jack Ketchum in real life is the figment of Dallas Mayr's literary imagination, his Nom de Plume, well at least his best known pen name. And there is a fun story about how this happened, which I'll save for another day. Dallas, in the course of his literary career, won four Bram Stoker Awards and was nominated for 3 more.
This is from Stephen King:
"Ketchum has become a kind of cult figure among genre readers and a kind of hero to those of us who write tales of terror and suspense…Ketchum never stops, never flinches, never turns aside. He is, quite simply, one of the best in the business, on par with Clive Barker, James Ellroy, and Thomas Harris."
I had the good fortune to go to NYC close to Halloween, so the ghouls were in the air, and tied to fences, to which I made good use.
After we left Dallas' apartment we walked toward Central Park and whenever I saw something, we stopped and shot a few frames. A dark doorway appeared along the way and I used it to add to the dark feeling.
When we got to Central Park I liked the long benches the City has installed. This is the full image of the banner image at the top of the page. I asked Dallas to smoke, something he loved.
Everytime we shot together was a treat for both of us. Dallas may have written some of the best horror stories ever printed, but in real life... the man was a pussycat. Very much a gentleman the entire time and someone who liked to laugh.
This is a shot from our last shoot and was shot on the roof of Dallas' apartment building. He really loved the images we shot that day.
This is a previously unseen photo of Jack - Dallas, shot at a moment of levity:
I miss my friend and will have fond memories of the all too brief times we shared. He left all of us way too soon. Very few of us in the course of our existence on this good earth get to change, impact or add to people's lives... my friend Dallas did so through Jack Ketchum.
All photos are copyrighted Steve Thornton. All photos may be used for personal use ONLY as long as my copyright remains.
Editorial use is permitted only in advance of the article being published and pending approval by Dallas' marketing manager, Turner Mojica, see below for his LinkedIn link. Editorial use is almost automatic but prior permission must be secured in writing.
Commercial use is NOT permitted for any reason without a limited use copyright release from me.
Jack's-Dallas' marketing manager: https://linkedin.com/in/turnermojicamanagement
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