The Illustrator

While I was working on my first book Down by the River, I started my search for an illustrator. The National Park Service had recently commissioned a local artist to paint a picture of the famous bear Old Diver who was a favorite of the tourists at Brooks Falls at Katmai National park near Naknek. When I saw the painting, I knew I'd found my artist. I introduced myself to Dale Preston and told him about my book idea. He was hesitant at first as he'd never illustrated a book before, but he decided to give it a try. Dale and I did two books together and were working on the third when he suddenly passed away. Dale was proud of the children's books and even though shy of publicity was great about spreading the word and promoting the books.