Story
When my father died, my grief serendipitously led me to the poetry he left behind. These poems propelled me to revisit my teenage journey in an attempt to better understand my dad, our complicated relationship, and the accompanying emotional baggage. All The Weight is a graphic novel that alternates between my father’s evocative poems addressing racism, family secrets, and teen angst during the ’40s and my own experience decades later, growing up as a Yankee in Austin, Texas in the late ’70s.
Our two voices weave together a biographical journey that is vividly brought to life through Mike Barrett’s striking hand-drawn images. All the Weight cumulates with me taking my dad (who’d witnessed a lynching as a young man) to Obama’s inauguration.
Written by me, and illustrated by Mike Barrett, All the Weight is a graphic interpretation of two successfully produced short plays – “EHD” (2013) and “All the Weight You Should Not Carry” (2015). Both plays were juried participants in the Best of the Week Frontera Festival at Hyde Park Theatre in Austin, Texas.
– Charley Devany, Author
The Team
Charley and Mike met in the late 1970s through mutual high school friends, but had only seen each other three or four times in the last twenty years. Ironically, Charley saw Mike in 2014 as he was buying backpack material for the “Camino”.
Gregarious and kind, Mike is an all-around creative badass who has had an affinity for art his entire life. Today he works in his home studio using a variety of mediums to achieve the look he intends for whatever new project he is crafting.
Charley has been a CPA/MBA for close to thirty years, but has always felt that this was his “day job”. He earned his Screen Actor’s Guild Card in 2002 and began writing short plays and screen plays more seriously over the next several years. Charley’s undergraduate is in Radio-TV-Film and he still enjoys acting today.
Both men happily reside in Austin, Texas with their families.
Press
The short play, EHD, was a source of inspiration for the graphic novel, All The Weight (ACT I). In 2013, it was a contending participant in the Best of the Week Frontera Festival.
Hyde Park Theatre
Austin, Texas
In 2019, author Charles Devany was asked to perform parts of All The Weight at a spoken word event pairing powerful readings with evocative music.
Bricolage Theatre
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The play, All The Weight You Should Not Carry, was a source of inspiration for the graphic novel, All The Weight (ACT II). In 2015, it was a contending participant in the Best of the Week Frontera Festival.
Hyde Park Theatre
Austin, Texas
Get in Touch
Kickstarter
Visit the All the Weight Kickstarter for more information.
We’d like to thank our generous donors to the Kickstarter campaign who helped us raise over $5,000 and enable publication of our first 200 books:
Camino Package
Patrick & Tracy Parker
Savasana Package
Russell Evett
Peter Crepeault
Namaste Package
Denmon Shelton
Eric Marquez
Abby Dings
Megan & David Murphy
McFaddin/Magness family
Jyoti Cameron & Roumen Atanasov
Bruce McCandless
Jerry Cawley & Pat Huber
Carolyn Coke Reed Devany
Matt Houston
Mary Jane Stewart
Fran Stewart
David Cook
Mary Edens
Nicole Klepado & John Lockman
Keith & Bonnie Lackey
George & Pat Cowperthwaite
Katie Vaughan
Alan Frost
Austin and Jersey Packages
(in alphabetical order)
Aaron Ralls
Alfred Smith Jr.
Amy Tiehel
Angela Hardwick-Etheridge
Ann (Maley) Kapp
Becky Cavanaugh
Betsy Devany
Bill & Anne Isenhower
Bill & Lisa Albrecht
Bill & Mary Linda Phillips
Bonnie Devany
Brandi Palmer
Camron Rushin
Carol Noble
Cat & Vince Serio
Chris Schorre
David Kassin Fried
Edward Davies
(Austin and Jersey Packages cont.)
Elaine Reiter
Emily Hamilton
Eric Donaldson
Erin Valenciano
George Brainard
George Fuzes
Irene Reed & Karen Winters
Jack Williams
Jay & Andy Bossieau
Joe Freeland & Susan McCleland
Joe Transue & Amy Thompson
Karen Henderson
Karl Loftis
Kathryn Rogers
Kelsey Harmon
Larry Barrett
Leah & Erick Edwards
Liz Belile
Luke Metzger
Lysa Hoelscher
Matt & Claudia Cowperthwaite
Monica Cove
Paige Thakker
Reed Devany
Rich & Lynn Lampert
Sally Miculek
Sheila Reiter
Sheila Stricker
Sherry Mills
Sid Hilburn
Spider Johnson
Steve Curtis
Tim Gibson
Travis Holmes
Mudita Package
(in alphabetical order)
Annie Albrecht
Coke & Sylvia Reed
Creative Fund B
M Davenport
Kat Catmull
Mark Daniels
Rachel Goss
Thom Singer
Wes Fergusen