About the Author

By the time I was 11 years old, my family relocated eight times. I grew up learning and re-learning what it meant to be an outsider. Although I faced my share of challenges, the good news was that my experiences raised my compassion and sympathy for the “underdog”. Additionally, some of these transitions were to remote environments where I developed a life-long appreciation for nature and wildlife.

I have undergraduate and graduate degrees from Pratt Institute in Sculpture and Drawing. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Art in 1975, and my Master’s 26 years later. In the interim, I put my creative energies on the back burner in order to pursue a “practical” career in sales and marketing. I also married and I raised two children.

After completing my Master’s Degree, I set up a studio, and created a body of work, comprised primarily of abstract welded steel sculpture. In addition to private collections, my work can be seen in a couple of Museums, several parks and public places, and on the sets of some well-known TV shows and films. In addition, I was a member of a respected Manhattan gallery for several years.

In 2018, I was diagnosed with a compressed disc in my neck that caused numbness in my dominant hand exacerbated by years of using an industrial-sized welding torch, and I was advised to stop welding or risk more severe nerve damage. I regrouped and reflected before returning to my first love, Drawing, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in fact, returning to Pen and Ink was like running into a dear old friend.

In 2019, as I observed the vitriol of the Presidential election, I became compelled to write a story for children that might shine a beacon of light into the darkness of discrimination and hate. And so, the story of "Joey and Ember" became my vehicle. It is my small contribution.