Unlike many authors, I didn't spend my childhood wanting to write. Hardly gave it a thought for years. And my growth as an artist ended shortly after I mastered drawing chickens using my handprint. So how did I come to write two artist biographies for Chronicle Books? Well...

I was raised in eastern Iowa, not far from where Grant Wood lived and painted. My "Wonder Years" corresponded with the emergence of American Gothic into the cultural icon it is today. The attention it drew to my native state was a mixed blessing, particularly to a teenager with an attitude like mine. Back then, I regarded art's most famous couple as humorless hayseeds. Psychedelic posters, not Grant Wood prints, decorated my bedroom walls.

And music, not words, was my messenger. I drummed in school bands, orchestras, and a string of garage-rock groups that played bad Jimi Hendrix and Doors covers in Iowa towns like Lone Tree and Lost Nation. But when college time rolled around, I could no longer hide the fact that I could barely read music. The profs at the University of Iowa took a dim view of "jamming," so I majored in changing majors for about two years. I finally tried journalism on a lark, and the lark took flight. I've been writing ever since.

Fast-forward to 1984. I was strolling through a major retrospective of Grant Wood's work at Chicago's Art Institute. I discovered that roots planted in Iowa soil grew deeper than I'd ever imagined. The collective power of the dozens of Grant Wood paintings, most of them celebrating rural life, overwhelmed me. They visually told farming stories similar to ones I heard from my grandfather, who had just passed away. I decided then and there that Grant Wood was my "thing," and I would research and write a book to convey his rich life story to young people. Twelve years later, Chronicle Books was kind enough to publish Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood.

The path leading to Story Painter: The Life of Jacob Lawrence was much more direct. Chronicle Books invited me to write another artist biography, and someone suggested Jacob Lawrence. I wasn't that familiar with Lawrence; but once again, when I saw a large collection of his work, I was positively bowled over by his style.

As with Grant Wood, when I researched "Jake's" life, I felt that he was successful not only as an artist, but as a person. Through his paintings, now-famous African-American heroes such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were first introduced to a wide audience. And he remained true to his belief that people work best when they all work together, even when that conviction conflicted with the separatist views of some "Black Power" advocates in the civil rights movement. To me, Jacob Lawrence paints the way Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke. Finally, he is the most gracious famous person I have ever met.

My challenge in writing biographies is to be informative, even inspirational, without being dry and boring. I've tried to make Lawrence and Wood come alive as real people, with particular attention to what they were like as kids. I think it's important for younger audiences to meet these artists as children, and see how early influences and observations contributed to their greatness.

In a stroke of serendipity, my biographies have led me back to performing. I now do Wood and Lawrence presentations at schools, libraries and museums. They've provided me a wonderful opportunity to get close to the kids for whom I've written the books. Both shows are about 50 minutes, and lean heavily on fun. We celebrate Grant's love for poultry by doing the "Chicken Dance," and a group drawing of my live Plymouth Rock co-star, Henrietta. For the Jake program, I use my conga drum to lead sing-alongs of songs associated with his life and work such as "Minnie the Moocher," "Dry Bones," and "Go Down Moses." If you're interested in learning more about the programs--or would just like to say hi--please email me at

Meanwhile, I hope to begin another artist biography soon. And who knows, maybeI'll even learn to read music!