Michael McClendon
It’s the phone call that every parent dreads. When the ringing awakened Jackie Carpenter on that black Georgia night, she found everything she had ever known or believed or trusted ripped from her. Jackie’s gentle son Jason was in jail, accused of murder, and Jason’s wife and six year old son were shaken and helpless. What began as a nightmare grew into an ordeal. The story caught fire, grabbed headlines, and polarized a community. As she spiraled deeper into night, Jackie found herself adrift. Jason sat, terrified, in jail. Jackie began to fight with the ferociousness of a mama tiger, to save her sanity, her family, and hold on to her faith. What Jackie found in the darkness was a treasure that now empowers her. For though she was lost, she was never alone. And her message is now one of hope, and of the eternal light that cuts through the darkest night. Michael McClendon is a writer/director/actor for both stage and screen. After decades on the stage, he turned to film and TV, and has appeared opposite film greats like Tommy Lee Jones, Carroll O’Connor, Lily Tomlin, Patrick Swayze, and Jessica Lange. More recently, he directed and wrote the screenplay for Stand Your Ground, the motion picture inspired by the story in this book. Current or upcoming releases as writer/director include the award-winning shorts Dead Channels, Locations, and Inseparable. Michael’s writing and directing have won top honors at the Alaska Film Festival, Indie Horror Film Fest, Avalonia Film Festival, WWWFF, Wular Lake International Film Festival, and more. He teaches film acting in between gigs and was recently named one of the five People To Watch In The Georgia Entertainment Industry. 3
