Austin Gary (born Gary Austin Heyde, March 7, 1947) is an American novelist and writer, best known as a songwriter for " The Car" by Jeff Carson (as Gary Heyde) and recordings by other

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

performers like

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

and John Berry, and as associate producer of albums by Carson, Berry and Hank Williams Jr.'s '' Hog Wild'' album.

Career

Novels and plays

Gary has published three novels. His novel ''Miss Madeira'' and his unpublished novel ''Genius'' ("The Soul of Genius") have both been adapted into plays. His play "Walt Whitman (In Black & White) is a two-man play based on

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

Songwriting

*"One Stone at a Time" –

*" The Car" – Jeff Carson *" Every Time My Heart Calls Your Name" – John Berry *"The Letter" – Ronna Reeves *"Dixie's Bar & Grill" – Brent Lamb *"A Love Like This" – Cleve Francis *"If Dreams Have Wings" – James T. Horn

Other ventures

Gary's

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''They Killed Martin: 3 Lives Forever Changed'' is available on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. He has appeared on Seattle Public radio station

KUOW-FM KUOW-FM (94.9 MHz) is a National Public Radio member station in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest of the three full-fledged NPR member stations in the Seattle and Tacoma media market, with two Tacoma-based stations, KNKX and KVTI being t ...

with personal stories about

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

and the

assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05& ...

as well as The Best of Stories on Stage. Gary is also a high school teacher (in

Haubstadt, Indiana Haubstadt is the second largest town, after Fort Branch, Indiana, Fort Branch, and fourth largest community in Gibson County, Indiana, Gibson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,638 at the 2020 census. Haubstadt has recently becom ...

;

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

; Middle College, Tennessee;

John Overton High School John Overton High School (commonly Overton, John Overton, Johnny O or JOHS) is a public high school located in Nashville, Tennessee. Compare to the address "4820 Franklin Rd Nashville TN 37220" It is named after prominent Judge John Overton (176 ...

, and Big Picture, Washington), a

numerologist Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...

and a former advertising creative director, radio/television

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

composer, and newspaper

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. He is a member of

PEN Canada PEN Canada is one of the 148 centres of PEN International. Founded in 1926, it has a membership of over 1,000 writers and supporters who campaign on behalf of writers around the world who are persecuted, imprisoned and exiled for exercising their r ...

Personal life

Gary is the son of Geoffrey Austin (Dutch) and Helen (''née'' Heyser) Heyde, both deceased. In 1967, he married teacher and actress Glory (Kissel) Heyde. The marriage ended in 2002. He is the father of acclaimed stage director Rachel Rockwell, who died of

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

in 2018, and

Jeremy Spencer Jeremy Cedric Spencer (born 4 July 1948) is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the ...

, former drummer for heavy metal band

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...

. He attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

(Columbia); Lincoln University (Jefferson City) and is a graduate of the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Carnegie Hall of Moores Hill College, Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton College ...

(Indiana), with a degree in Speech and Drama.

Bibliography

* ''Miss Madeira'' (2011) * ''The Queerling'' (2013) * ''A Delicate Dance'' (2015)

Accolades

* 1996 BMI "Millionaire-Play" award for "The Car" by Jeff Carson * 2015: "Book of the Year" in

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

adult fiction by Foreword Reviews

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gary, Austin 1947 births Living people People from St. Joseph, Missouri University of Missouri alumni 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Songwriters from Missouri Jingle composers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Missouri