Long Story Short: The Life and Death of an American Artist

A story of the American sculptor James L. Acord, Jr., as seen through the eyes of his friend and chronicler, Fred Moody. Acord's masterpiece, entitled "Monstrance for a Grey Horse," is the first known sculpture (or artwork of any kind) to include live nuclear material; Acord himself is the only private individual ever to have held a nuclear handling license, and is the first artist to have worked (and wanted to work further) with nuclear material. This vision--or obsession, depending on your point of view--defined his working life, and the obstacles thrown in his way by the fearful, the unimaginative, and the powers that be contributed significantly to the time and manner of his death.