I have long understood that inspiration comes from strange sources. I mean, it comes at you, it inspires, it causes that need to rise up in you to do/to create that something. And, if you do, you do. But, if you don’t, you don’t.
 
I believe this is why so many live a life unfulfilled. Inspiration comes at them, but they do nothing about it. They do nothing with it. They do not follow it up or follow it through.
 
I don’t know about you, but on eBay, I have a bunch of alerts set waiting for that something I am looking for to become available. Mostly, these alerts are for very specific books, particular guitars, and/or select watches. But, I have alerts set up for a few other things, as well. One of them, is for my Zen Filmmaking Brother, Donald G. Jackson. Interestingly, there’s not a lot of things that pop up defined by his name. But, I guess that’s just what being an Abstract Artist is defined by. “I’m an artist, god damn it,” as Don used to love to say.  
 
Anyway, and in any case, the other day this book that was written about him, (not by me), popped up. It had been offered on Amazon for a while, a while ago. And, I picked up a copy. First via Kindle, then a softcover. I’m not going to discuss the what’s what about that book right here, right now, as you will understand if you keep reading a bit further. But, what I will say is that book was the inspiration that caused me to actually sit down, (during the pandemic lock-down), and create the book I did about Donald G. Jackson: Soldier of Cinema.
 
When I first read the author’s book, which you can now find most of via on-line articles, it caused me to realize that it is true, as he stated, no one had yet detailed the true life of the filmmaker, Donald G. Jackson. But, as the author did not personally know the man, how could he write a true and revealing study of the man. Thus, my motivation was kicked into gear. As whom better to write a book about the life, the philosophy, the ideology, and techniques of Donald G. Jackson than me? Though I will say, Fred Olen Ray, in his book, Hell-Bent for Hollywood: A Director's Journey does reveal some very interesting things about Don. Great book!
 
What I’m saying here… And, I’m just using in the creation of that book, (not Fred's), as an example, inspiration can come at you from strange sources. But, it is you that must choose to do something with that inspiration. Because if you don’t, you don’t. Then what?
 
In closing, at least for this bit of this piece, that guy’s book initially caused me to write a blog/article that was up on this site for a while, before I actually decide to compose the book about Don. Perhaps you had a chance to read it, perhaps you did not. Either way, here is it is again, for you reading pleasure.
 
And remember, when inspiration strikes, don’t let it pass you by!
 

The Unauthorized Biography of Donald G. Jackson

 By Scott Shaw
 
Life forever amuses me. The actions of other people also amuse me. Though, in truth, I forever find myself questioning why some people do some of the things that they do…
 
More often than not, I find that when people contact me to tell me of some of the goings-on out there in the world, I wish that they had not done so. Really people, I just don’t want to know! I live this very simple (semi reclusive) life. I focus on art, spirituality, meditation, and helping others whenever I can. All the nonsense that goes on out in the world, I just find distracting.
 
Anyway, before I get too far off target, let me get to the point. Somebody told me that someone had written a biography about Donald G. Jackson and published it on Amazon. The title, “From Roller Blade to Frogtown: The Strange Film Journey of Donald G. Jackson.” Interesting title.
 
So, I popped over to Amazon to check it out. The cover, a photo of Don that I had taken and the author had altered and used without my permission. Does no one care about copyright laws? There’s also a frog from Frogtown on the cover, a little silhouette shot of me near the bottom from Max Hell Frog Warrior, and a screen grab of one of the nuns from Roller Blade Warriors. The Kindle version of the book was only ninety-nine cents so what could I do? I had to read it.
 
To be fair, the author, Matthew Skelly, clearly states in the introduction to the book, “Mind you, I didn’t write this book to reveal some hidden bombshell that will set the world on fire. There is nothing new or secret here. Everything written here was already out in the open where anyone with a web browser or a library card could unearth it. My goal here is to simply consolidate all of the information about Jackson’s life and work, so I can lay it out in a clear timeline.”
 
Basically, what he did was to scour this website, (scottshaw.com), throw in a brief passages or two from a couple of other sources, get some information from my Zen Film Documentaries, mix all that up in a blender, talk about Don’s and my films and that’s the book. I imagine it took some time to do all that and I give the guy an A for effort. For the most part, though he does throw a couple of shots, he speaks kindly about Don and myself, and I thank him for that. I also thank him for taking the time and caring enough about the filmmaking of Donald G. Jackson to put the book together. Though, as is always the case with people who write about someone or something when they were not at the sourcepoint of the knowledge, he does get somethings wrong, takes some of what I have written out of context, leaves out some essential facts, states a couple of things that simply are not true, and the timeline he describes or the motivation for some events he writes about is incorrect. This is why I always say, “I am alive! I was there! I knew the man! I made the movies! If you have any questions, ask me!!!” And, as I also always say, “If you want to know the truth, go to the source.” In this case, I am the source.
 
Skelly did provide footnotes in the book, and they point to my writings and my films, so that’s all good. But, this book was obviously written by someone who knows very little about copyright law and the fact that you need to gain formalized permission from an author or a publishing company when you are going to extensively quote or paraphrase a large amount of another author’s writings. You need to do this before you publish a book and offer it for sale. The simple explanation of copyright law is, you can’t take somebody else’s creation and make money off of it. Basically, what this guy has done is to base his writing about Don upon the quotations and the analysis of my writings, and then detail his interpretation of what I have written and add his own description and critique about Don’s life and the movies that Don was involved with. But, he was not there! He does not know what actually took place! So, in some cases, his presentation really misses the point of what actually occurred.
 
Having lived what this author is writing about places me in a weird position. Knowing who Don was, what he was or was not thinking, what he did or did not do at a specific point in time, and what I was or was not thinking or what I did or did not do at a specific point in time leaves me a bit befuddled when reading this book. I mean, I appreciate the fact that this guy took the time to put his book together but as is the case with all unauthorized biographies, the essence of the person that is being written about, and their creative life motivations, is missing from the pages. If a person did not personally know an individual and they did not speak to those of us who did, at best all a work like this becomes is a book report or a term paper. This is not meant as an insult or a harsh critique of the book in any manner. In fact, if I wasn’t me, I may have learned something from the book. But, to know the truth about a person, to understand a person, to know the facts about what an individual actually did and why they did what they did you either need to have actually known that person or at least to have spoken to those of us who did. This author did not do that. And, knowing Don the way I did I do know that he would have been very upset about the inaccuracies presented in this book.
 
I believe that there has always been the faithful who have appreciated and studied the filmmaking of Donald G. Jackson. And, I am glad to see that some new people may find out about his work through this book. Though it is important to state that some of the facts presented in this book are misleading or false. Just keep that in mind if you read it. But, Skelly did care enough about the filmmaking of Donald G. Jackson to take the time to put the book together, so you’ve got to give him credit for that!
 
Awh, Hell… After reading the Kindle version of the book and writing this little tidbit, I’m going to buy a paperback copy of the book and put it in the Zen Filmmaking Archives… Or, hand it off to my attorney: one or the other.