Harry James Dent (born 1953) is an American author and sportswriter.
Dent graduated from Southern Methodist University and worked for several newspapers and sport magazines. He covered the NFL's Dallas Cowboys as a sportswriter for 11 years in the 1980s and 90s. In 1995 he wrote the book King of the Cowboys: The Life and Times of Jerry Jones, about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.[1] Dent wrote the 2000 book The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Team, a New York Times best-selling book about Bear Bryant's Junction Boys.[2] He wrote the 2008 book Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football, and the 2014 book The Kids Got It Right: How the Texas All-Stars Kicked Down Racial Walls. The Junction Boys was adapted as an ESPN movie with the same name in 2002. Twelve Mighty Orphans was adapted as the 2021 film 12 Mighty Orphans, with Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall.[3] Currently he is writing his autobiography Last Call.[4]
In 2003, Dent was sentenced to eight years in prison under a plea agreement with Brazos County prosecutors for violating his drunk driving probation. In 2015, Dent was sentenced to ten years in prison after jumping bail following his tenth conviction for drunk driving. No one was ever injured nor did any accident occur.[5] While in prison he contracted COVID-19.[6][7]
References
- ^ https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2015/august/jim-dent-memoir-last-call
- ^ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jim-dent/the-junction-boys/
- ^ https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mac-engel/article251948503.html
- ^ https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2015/august/jim-dent-memoir-last-call
- ^ https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mac-engel/article53924830.html
- ^ https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a33574322/jim-dent-texas-prison-parole-covid-19/
- ^ https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jun/18/dents-life-great-idea-for-a-film/
