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Documentary on UD’s Martin to premiere
He’s compact, graceful, soft spoken, dignified and kind, with a gleam in his eyes and a toothy grin when delighted.
If you met him for the first time right now, Herbert Woodward Martin, 75, the distinguished University of Dayton professor emeritus, would probably seem an unlikely man to throw his head back, raise his voice in a higher pitch and announce, “Jump back, honey, jump back!”
If you have ever seen his lively one-man portrayal of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, you know that outburst is just scratching the surface of his repertoire.
Herbert Woodward Martin in “Jump Back, Honey”
Independent filmmaker David Schock’s new documentary about Martin, “Jump Back, Honey,” definitely has the right title.
Besides footage of his diligently researched, richly detailed performances as a poet he helped restore to rightful prominence, it also has a lot of him.
Interwoven with performance clips, including some from his own student days presenting his own verse, he speaks candidly about his life, work, family, writing and convincingly personal relationship with Dunbar, who died more than 100 years ago at age 33.
Produced by the Ohio Humanities Council and UD, the film will have its premiere Friday, Jan. 16, in UD’s Kennedy Union Boll Theatre. Admission is free to the public and there will be a performance by jazz musician Willie Morris 45 minutes before the 7 p.m. showing. A second showing will be scheduled at 9 p.m. if necessary.
Martin and Schock will discuss the film at a reception afterward.
Shock said he was inspired to make “Jump Back, Honey” by Martin’s status as “a scholar and outstanding poet in his own right” who has “gone over and above that as a performance artist. He also has such humility, joy and really loves people.”
Others interviewed during the film include poets Nikki Giovanni and Naomi Long Madgett, Ronald Primeau, author of books about Martin and Dunbar; Martin’s wife, Sue, who met him when both were students in a poetry class, and other family members,
More information about Martin and the documentary is available at www.jumpbackhoney.com. UD hosts a web site dedicated to Dunbar that has audio recordings of Martin’s performances at www.dunbarsite.org.
Schock’s other films include “Who Killed Janet Chandler?”, a documentary about a 1979 murder that was featured in May 2008 on NBC’s “Dateline.”
How to Go What: Premiere of “Jump Back, Honey,” a documentary about Herbert Martin. When: 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. Where: Boll Theatre, Kennedy Union, University of Dayton. Cost: Free. More Info: (937) 229-3541.
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