Belen, New Mexico Apr 18, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - Ask people who Kent McCray is and the question will draw a blank stare. Ask people if they remember Bonanza, The High Chaparral, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, and they smile as they recognize the titles and share how these beloved shows influenced their lives.
"I found out about Kent McCray when I attended a High Chaparral Reunion in Tucson in 2013,” said co-author Marianne Rittner-Holmes. “I had never heard of him before. ‘My gosh, what a best-kept secret,’ I thought. He was in the thick of TV in its early years and was a key man in some of the most endearing and favorite shows ever to air. Yet never did I see him even mentioned in any Hollywood publication or popular celebrity magazine,” she said.
It all started in 1951. The world was no longer at war; peace-time technology focused on the new medium of television; and AT&T connected the East and West Coasts via coaxial cable, creating an explosion in television programming and broadcasting. This was the stage Kent McCray entered in that same year. A live stage. One that put the young NBC production specialist among the likes of Red Skelton, Milton Berle, Ralph Edwards, Groucho Marx and Bob Hope. Kent became part of television history as it evolved from live TV to videotape to film, and from black & white to color.
“Kent was a humble man who enjoyed standing in the background. He was very proud of what he did, don’t get me wrong,” Rittner-Holmes said. “It’s just that he didn’t seek the limelight for it. I’m glad he was able to capture his work in his own words for people to appreciate his contributions to the television industry, both technologically and artistically,” Rittner-Holmes said
In the book, Kent shares stories that span 50 years of television including production obstacles and solutions, his extraordinary collaboration with Michael Landon, and his legacy of philanthropy, all against the backdrop of current events that helped shape the television industry.
Kent McCray passed away in June 2018 four days before his 90th birthday, but his work still airs today even after 60 years (Bonanza).
The memoir is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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