Jack Garner (Artistic Consultant) was chief film critic for the Gannett newspapers and staff film critic at the (Rochester, NY) Democrat and Chronicle for 30 years before he retired in June 2007.
Though retired, he continues to write for the newspaper as a freelancer, doing a weekly film and entertainment column, as well as DVD and jazz CD reviews.
He began reviewing films at the Democrat & Chronicle in 1977 — starting with the original Star Wars. In 1987, Garner was appointed chief film critic of Gannett News Service, and his writing regularly appears in Gannett newspapers nationwide, and in journals worldwide.
He holds a B.A. degree in journalism from St. Bonaventure and an M.S. from Syracuse University.
He joined the Rochester Times-Union in 1970, as a rewrite man on the city desk, where he was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Attica prison rebellion.
Jack also serves on the boards of BOA Editions, poetry publishers, and Writers & Books, Rochester’s prominent literary organization. In November 2007, Jack was honored at the George Eastman House as only the second recipient of the museum’s prestigious George Eastman Medal of Honor, and was feted with a community roast, hosted by the High Falls Film Festival.
He’s been an active participant in the film festival, interviewing visiting celebrities on stage and as head judge in the festival’s shorts film contests. Jack also is on the boards of Writers and Books, the community literary organization, and of BOA Editions, a national poetry-publishing house, headquartered in Rochester.
He has been married since 1970 to Bonnie Garner, who also retired in 2007 (as assistant superintendent for technology at BOCES 1). The couple has three grown children, including a son who works in the film industry as an editor, and four grandchildren (who’ve become a prime reason to celebrate retirement.)
