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Printed From Acorn-Online.com Redding Pilot
Mr. Steers grew up on a farm in Roxbury. A “chronic doodler,” he began completing pictorial diaries of his daily experiences as a child, a practice he continues to this day. He majored in geography with an emphasis on cartography at the University of Utah, where he was a cartoonist for the student newspaper. After serving as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force with participation in the invasion of Panama and the first Gulf War, he left active duty service and began apprenticing with a well-known children’s book author and illustrator. Inspired by bedtime stories he had been telling his young sons that revolved around the adventures of their little red toy tractor, Mr. Steers introduced his first Tractor Mac book, Tractor Mac Arrives at the Farm, in April 1999. Mr. Steers regularly visits schools, libraries, agricultural fairs and bookstores to perform readings, signings, and personalized drawings for children in the audience. He also performs a presentation of the illustration process, which details step by step the work involved in the development of a story. A life-size Tractor Mac, a 1948 Farmall Cub Tractor refurbished by Mr. Steers with headlamp “eyes” and a big smile on the front grille, sometimes accompanies the author. When he is not drawing, Mr. Steers is a commercial pilot with American Airlines. He lives in Roxbury with his wife and three sons. Besides Mr. Steers and his “Tractor Mac,” there will be sheep sheering, cow judging, horse-drawn hayrides, beekeeping, toe-tapping music with Lisa Furman and the BlueFlies, Morris dancing, and delicious food. The fee is $4 for members with a maximum cost of $16 per member family, $5 for non-member with a maximum cost of $20 for non-member family. Organizers ask that dogs be left at home. © Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers |
