Welcome back to the Deadman's Hand newsletter! In this volume, be prepared for exciting content that will give you a real taste of this project's development. In this volume, we update you on the docudrama, books, and the continuing story of Jerry's life-long story as Wild Bill.

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Important Update on the Projects!

It's been a while since we last updated everyone on the project. Jerry and his team have been hard at work editing the docudrama and the books set to be released this spring and summer.

The first book set to debut is an epic novel that tells the story of Wild Bill through the eyes of a reporter who interviews the disheartened gunfighter shortly after Hickok accidentally kills his deputy in a gunfight with a local scoundrel named Phil Coe. The novel alternates between Hickok's adventures as a lawman and his current struggle to find purpose as his eyesight and purpose begin to fade. His only hope lies in a passionate romance with a celebrity circus owner, Agnes Lake, and a dream of striking gold in Deadwood, SD.

This novel is an adaptation of Jerry's screenplay, Prince of Pistoleers, which he wrote in the '90s. After a failed attempt to finance the film himself, the screenplay collected dust until he revived his dream with the Deadman's Hand multimedia project. While the docudrama covers many of Hickok's most famous events, the book allows for a deeper exploration of Hickok's most consequential personal and historical moments that shaped his life.

The best way to support the novel, docudrama, and other products of this ambitious project is by sharing this newsletter on your social media so that others can follow along with our progress. Share this link out today! https://jerryallan.kit.com/​

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Free Audio Book Preview of Deadman's Hand below!

The next time you commute or find yourself doing mindless chores, push play below and listen to the audio version of the first chapters of Deadman's Hand. The first two chapters begin with a brief introduction followed by the actual audio book. The first two chapters are available to the public, but as a subscriber, we will send you THE ENTIRE AUDIO BOOK FOR FREE. Just check your email for updates. We will let you know when the book goes for sale in May, and we hope that are willing to give us an honest review online. Listen to the beginning of the book below!

Listen on Spotify - Chapter 1: A Dangerous Interview

Audiobook Excerpt of Deadman... Jan 25 · Deadman's Hand: The Wild... 35:17   ​

Listen on Spotify - Chapter 2: A Good Shot

Deadman's Hand, the Novel, C... Feb 2 · Deadman's Hand: The Wild... 34:45   ​

Listen on YouTube: Chapter 1

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Listen on YouTube: Chapter 2

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The other book coming soon...

The second book of this project (but not necessarily the last) is a novel that focuses exclusively on Wild Bill Hickok's first gunfight and killing, the McCanles Massacre. This event is clouded in mystery. Though Hickok popularized the event with a tall-tale version in a news article, he refused to discuss it the rest of his life, saying that it put him in a cold sweat and gave him nightmares.

While the circumstances of the event are described in historical records, the exact details of how it unfolded and who was responsible have been lost to history and the veil of biased accounts. "The McCanles Massacre" is the first novel written exclusively about this gunfight and will debut this summer. If you want a free copy ahead of time, click the link below.

Jerry's History as Wild Bill Part 3

The last newsletter described Jerry's traveling Wild Bill show in the early 1980's that toured Minnesota, South Dakota, and Arizona. Unfortunately, the production company he helped create broke up, resulting in years of soul-searching and various jobs, including long-haul trucking across the southwest.

Eventually, Jerry reclaimed his family farm in Northern Minnesota where he continued to drive truck seasonally. In 1990, the urge to sing and act became irresistible, so after a brief retirement from entertainment, he returned to Keystone, SD where he put together a slimmed-down version of his Wild Bill re-enactment, performing in the historic Red Garter Saloon. Throughout the ups and downs, Jerry never stopped writing or recording music, always dreaming of ways to break through as an artist.

For a while, Jerry’s life struck a balance between life as Wild Bill in the summer and as a trucker in the winter…until destiny called when a major motion picture arrived in Duluth, MN to film the MacKenzie Astin starring film “Iron Will,” an inspirational tale of a young man’s attempt to save the family farm by entering a sled-dog race with a large cash prize. The film was headlined by an all-star cast: Mackenzie Astin (brother of Sean Astin), Kevin Spacey, Brian Cox, David Ogden Stiers, August Shellenberg, and George Gerdes. Before filming, the production had an open casting-call for smaller roles.

To back up a bit, this was not Jerry’s first encounter with a major production. In 1990 he played an extra in Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves,” but that first movie felt like a one-off experience, whereas this time around he actually landed a speaking part in the Disney-produced film, playing the role of Remy, a French-Canadian dog musher, a character who is seen throughout the film until succumbing to the cold and frostbite (his speaking lines, however, were eventually cut from the script). The role was enough to encourage Jerry to set his sites high again.

Afterward, he sought out other parts, earning his first speaking role in Val Kilmer’s “Thunderheart,” playing a drunken brawler. In the proceeding years, Jerry made a few more appearances in film, TV, and fan films. These experiences in the film industry inspired him to use his life-long fascination with Wild Bill Hickok to make a film of his own...

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Click on the below video to hear one of Jerry's songs from this era of his career:

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Update on the Docudrama!

Jerry and his team are hard at work putting the docudrama together. The film is a tapestry of dramatic action, historical pictures, and Jerry's narration of Wild Bill Hickok's last trail to Deadwood.

This is a two part film project, and this first part will come out late spring and we will keep you up to date as we go. Below is promotional footage of the docudrama. Be sure to Like and Subscribe!

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Free Album for Newsletter members!

Next newsletter

In the next newsletter, we will describe Jerry's first attempt at tackling Wild Bill's life in a movie script and the lessons he learned from failure.