Ken Mars

Author, artist, and musician, Ken Mars, studied acting and improvisation as a child at Bridgewater State University (non-credit) and went on to study film and video production at UMBC under Kon Petrochuk (Kon Pet Moon), Alan Curtis Price, and Vin Grabill. He is the author of "Baltimore Baseball First Pitch to First Pennant 1858-1894," the basis for the documentary "Before the Birds," and copies of both the book and documentary are in the Baseball Hall of Fame's permanent collection. Mars conducted to first serious research on the 1887 National Colored League, the first sports league in the US owned and staffed by African Americans, spawning a reassessment of the organization and recalculation of statistics, which now appear corrected on baseballreference.com. While being constantly distracted by musical pursuits, Mars was the curator for David Lynchfest Baltimore from 2006 to 2022, an annual celebration of the films David Lynch, performing burlesque as 'John Merrick' and playing music in many related projects including Bene Gesserit Witch (Dune) and Chug-a-Lug Donna (Twin Peaks). Mars retired from regular live performance in 2023 to concentrate on painting and general art studies.

"Baltimore Baseball First Pitch to First Pennant 1858-1894," Old Frog Publishing 2018