(NEWS RELEASE)
In 2000, Ohio resident Ed Youngblood wrote a book about John Penton, that book has inspired a documentary movie entitled “The John Penton Story,” being released this month.
Inverness, FL., June 4, 2014 – In 2000, Ohio resident Ed Youngblood wrote a book about John Penton, an American international motorcycle sportsman whose vision and determination helped revolutionize the off-road sector of the worldwide motorcycle industry. His ideas changed off-road motorcycles from expensive vehicles with limited availability to lighter, better, affordable, and sporty vehicles available in any dealership.
After 40 years in the motorcycle industry, Youngblood retired to Inverness in 2012. His book, “John Penton and the Off-Road Motorcycle Revolution,” is still in print and has inspired a documentary movie entitled “The John Penton Story,” being released this month. Todd Huffman, head of Pipeline Digital Media, located in Orange County, California, explains, “I read the book soon after it was published, and I vowed that one day John Penton would be the subject of a documentary film.”
Huffman launched his project in 2006, collecting archival film and still images and traveling from California to Europe to create hundreds of hours of original testimonial footage from associates of John Penton. The movie is narrated by actor and singer Lyle Lovett, whose early youthful motorcycling experiences centered upon his own Penton motorcycle.
Youngblood was flown to Ohio last summer to be interviewed for the project. He says, “I am thrilled that I’ve had any involvement in inspiring Todd Huffman. He is a man in the model of John Penton; dynamic and determined and willing to nurture a dream for years in order to make it come true. I’m very excited about attending the premier of ‘The John Penton Story’ next week.”
The new documentary will premier in Cleveland, Ohio on June 9 and in Los Angeles on June 17. Cleveland was chosen for the first premier because it is near the Penton home in Amherst, Ohio. John Penton, now 89, will be guest of honor at the premier.
Youngblood has authored seven books about motorcycle history. Today he serves as a volunteer at the Florida Artists Galley and writes a monthly column for The Pioneer about Floral City.
Rider Files 