Icy the Iceberg follows a snowflake-turned-iceberg who goes on this long emotional journey through the water cycle. What was the inspiration for your story?

My wife and I were on an Alaskan boat cruise. I enjoyed sitting on the deck looking at the scenery. I watched the beautiful shoreline, the amazing mountain peaks, and the wildlife—both animals and fish. As I watched the mountain peaks, I remembered a trip we took to the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta Canada. While we were walking on the glacier, it started snowing. It amazed me that little snowflakes could form a glacier. The cruise ship we were on was a smaller one, so it was able to sail close to the Mendenhall glacier. While we were there, a huge portion of the glacier broke off (calved) and crashed into the ocean water. There was a very loud crack when it fell. The splash when it hit the water was enormous. The iceberg was very large and a beautiful blue color.

The whole experience amazed me. Several days later, I went to the boat’s library and wrote the story.

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

I felt that all the things I observed while walking on a glacier and watching from the ship would be educational to young readers. The snow falling on the glacier, the compacting of the snow into ice, the intense pressure as the ice continued to compact, the entrapment of the oxygen in the ice forming a beautiful blue color, the huge piece of ice calving forming an enormous floating iceberg, etc. I developed the character of “Icy” so he would be part of all these events.

The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with the illustrator Sidney “Mindy” Makis?

After writing the story, I was visiting my sister, Mindy, in Binghamton New York. I showed her the story. I did not know at that time that she had taken many art classes while she was in college. I left the story with her. She called me later and said she had developed the characters. In the book. With the help of Brian Behling, we put the story and characters into a book.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?

My wife and I have had almost sixty years of adventure together. We tell people the story of how we met and got married after two months. We had very little money because I was still in college. We lived on Nancy’s income. We lived in a farmhouse with an outhouse for a bathroom and a coal-burning stove in the kitchen for heat, for two years. The bedrooms were freezing in the winter. Our first child was born while we lived there. As the years passed, we became more and more successful. During that time, we had many very interesting stories. Everyone to whom we tell the stories says that we should write a book about them.

One of the dreams I had all my life was to own a log house. I also wanted to have a bedroom where I could look at the stars. About twenty-five years ago we moved to Libertyville IL. We purchased a log house on five and a half acres of land. We have made considerable improvements to the property during those years.

Several years ago, I decided to start writing a book about our life. I am going to call it FROM OUTHOUSE TO LOGHOUSE.

It is a work in progress. I am in the process of selling my business. Hopefully, I will have more time to devote to writing with the ultimate goal of finishing it within the next year.

I also have a few more ideas about two more children’s educational books.

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