Joseph Slate, a West Virginia native, has always enjoyed painting and writing. I studied journalism at the University of Washington in Seattle, worked as a writer for The Seattle Times, worked as an editor for the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (Washington, D.C., California, and Tokyo), and then went to Yale to study fine arts, despite never having illustrated my own books. My artwork took a turn away from the high art of illustration.My inspiration comes from all over: a childhood sketch of a porcupine, a goofy song I once sung to a godchild, and my teacher-niece and pupil-grand nephew getting ready for kindergarten all inspired me to write a book. Now I'm writing novels, and I'm using the same what-if approach, though the first one was inspired by my childhood in West Virginia. It's called Crossing the Trestle, and the young narrator tackles a challenge similar to one I faced when I was a kid.

Slate is an Emeritus Professor of Art at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, Read More chevron_right

Joseph Slate, a West Virginia native, has always enjoyed painting and writing. I studied journalism at the University of Washington in Seattle, worked as a writer for The Seattle Times, worked as an editor for the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (Washington, D.C., California, and Tokyo), and then went to Yale to study fine arts, despite never having illustrated my own books. My artwork took a turn away from the high art of illustration.My inspiration comes from all over: a childhood sketch of a porcupine, a goofy song I once sung to a godchild, and my teacher-niece and pupil-grand nephew getting ready for kindergarten all inspired me to write a book. Now I'm writing novels, and I'm using the same what-if approach, though the first one was inspired by my childhood in West Virginia. It's called Crossing the Trestle, and the young narrator tackles a challenge similar to one I faced when I was a kid.

Slate is an Emeritus Professor of Art at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he taught for more than 30 years. He and his wife, Patty, now live in Silver Spring, Maryland. He and his wife, both Marine Air Corps veterans, have visited all seven continents and been to 39 countries. They've lived in both Japan and Italy. Snacking, especially chocolate and oatmeal raisin cookies, is one of my biggest vices.

I attend tai-chi classes with a world grand master and play water volley ball to maintain my weight.Awards: National Booksellers' and New York Public Library's yearly lists, Library of Congress citation, Ohio and Kansas State Reading Circle lists, Colorado and Wyoming School Children's 1998 Best Book finalist, 1998 Americas Commended list, Publisher's Weekly best seller list (twice), Delaware's l9th Annual Book Award All intellectual property rights are reserved.