Sculptor Ron Kane, from apprentice­ships to “Gates of Paradise”

Ron Kane worked as a carpenter on more than 38 movie sets and for four years apprenticed to Egyptian King Faruq’s sculptor Mustaf Naguib, but his career came to a sudden halt when he injured his spine on the set of Road to Perdition. Kane has since settled in a Candler-based warehouse-turned-living space where he crafts wooden artwork for customers. He has also created The Next Step for Humanity — the first of a 50-sculpture series called “Gates of Paradise” — and practices a low-key lifestyle he discovered through Sufism.

The Hunger Games red carpet, WNC-style

Editor’s note: Xpress sent local young-adult author Stephanie Perkins to cover the very hush-hush red carpet preview of The Hunger Games on Wednesday. Perkins was the perfect corespondent because, not only does she get young adult fiction, she was also chosen as an extra in the Hunger Games movie, filmed in Western N.C. Unfortunately, due to her busy writing schedule, Perkins had to back out of filming; luckily for us, she was available to catch the early viewing. Photo from the Asheville Citizen-Times website.