Jim Stockwell
“During a highly secretive mission over the Amazon Rainforest, a state-of-the-art cargo plane loses communication and goes down in the jungle. Concerned for the safety of the pilots, as well as trying to retrieve the classified shipment of a synthetic narcotic seized by the DEA, the head of the Von Baron company turns to his three close friends to find the aircraft before anyone knows it's missing.
Driven by a sense of honor and duty, documentary filmmaker and college professor Cal Bailey and his friends agree to venture into the uncharted land to rescue the pilots, fully aware that time and the unknown are working against them. Along the way, Bailey begins to uncover the clues to the elusive and tantalizing legend of El Dorado, the mysterious city of gold that is said to exist in the Amazonian ecosystem. Can Bailey and his friends avoid the multitude of obstacles hidden in the jungle and not only find the missing plane, but unlock the myth and survive when so many have failed before them?”
This is the action-packed premise of Golden Jungle, a novel written by tenured McHenry County College film and speech instructor, Jim Stockwell.
“I had always liked the idea of an adventure (Indiana Jones was one of my favorite movies growing up), so I wanted to come up with a modern story with cool tie-ins to history and legend,” said Stockwell of the book’s inspiration. “I also thought it was something I would like to read myself, and I hope that my excitement and enjoyment came out in the story.”
Stockwell has always enjoyed telling stories and felt it was something he wanted to share with others.
“It’s fun to develop a series of events that tie into one another and lead the reader to a logical and satisfying conclusion,” he said reflecting on the writing process. “One of the things I do is recite ideas in my head. I work on dialog and thoughts as if I was the character. Much of my dialog is written this way.”
Stockwell had been toying with the idea for the novel for almost 20 years but didn’t seriously pursue it until 2021.
“It took me almost three years to get it to the form that is available in stores now,” he said. “It was funny, too—as soon as I was done, I felt a sense of accomplishment—but there was something missing. So, I began working on the sequel.”
This is Stockwell’s second published book. His first book, Appreciating Film: An Introduction to Movies, is the textbook used in all his film classes at MCC. Stockwell wrote the book during the pandemic as a way to help his students get the material out of class.
“I liked the idea of having a textbook tailor-made for the class,” he said. “I put it together in about a year.”
That textbook helped open the doors for Golden Jungle, as Stockwell was able to get in touch with another division at the same publisher.
Golden Jungle explores a variety of cultural and historical themes throughout.
“While there really aren’t any ‘culture clashes’ in the book, there is a very important moral about the area that the group goes into. It is subtle, but I wanted to show how the group handles the interactions,” Stockwell said. “I believe we should respect all cultures for what they can teach us, and I think it’s important to understand that everyone is unique and should be celebrated for that. There is also an interesting twist on the El Dorado story that I was really proud of.”
Copies of Golden Jungle can be purchased through Amazon or the Barnes and Noble website.
About Jim
Jim Stockwell has taught at MCC since the spring of 2003. He served 11 years as an adjunct before becoming full-time in 2014. He received tenure in 2017. In addition to his class load, he coaches both the women’s and men’s tennis teams and advises both the Film and Chess Clubs.