When Gayle Martin returned to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1997 to further her career in art, her plans were  quickly sidetracked when she learned of the plans to demolish the Ciné Capri, an old and revered movie theatre in town.  Her father, W. E. “Bill” Homes, Jr., was the general contractor who had built the landmark structure in 1966.  A campaign was begun to save the theatre, but it was not to be.

 The theatre was razed in 1998, just weeks after her father passed away.  The whole experience, however, ignited within Gayle a passion for history and more importantly, for keeping history alive.  She commissioned an architectural model of the Ciné Capri in her father’s memory and gifted it to the Arizona Historical Society.

  A second-generation Phoenix native, Gayle graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in art and then pursued postgraduate studies at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.  Following the devastating earthquake in 1989, she moved to Colorado where she worked for several years as a graphic designer and illustrator, winning numerous prestigious awards.

 After she made the move to Phoenix and was inspired by the efforts to preserve her father’s theatre, she discovered a new outlet for her talents.

 Since 2002, Gayle has been a featured performer with the Arizona Living History Programs, an organization of her own creation.  She has taken audiences on “time travel trips” by performing as historic characters, dressed in period costumes.  She has helped entertain and educate schools, universities, associations, convention groups, and corporations.  One of her composite characters “The Tombstone Storyteller” and shares tales of what is was like in the Arizona Territory, placing a special emphasis on Tombstone and the events surrounding the famous gunfight that occurred near the O.K. Corral.

Gayle is a member of the Toastmasters International and The Tombstone Vigilantes, a historical reenactment group. She is also the author of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral: Luke and Jenny Visit Tombstone, Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War: a Luke and Jenny Adventure and Riding with the James Gang: a Luke and Jenny Adventure.