My first inspiration to write and illustrate children’s bedtime stories came from my family. It was full of artists and writers. My mother, Mary, created a cartoon series for a national magazine called ”Susie”. She would give me art materials and turn me loose in an old schoolhouse she had converted into an art studio. My Aunt Ginny was a writer, and my uncle, Jimmy Stewart, did the drawings for his prep school yearbook before he went to Hollywood to become a movie star.