Midwest: Region Three

Huizenga, Kevin

1977—

Place of Birth: Harvey, IL

Place of Principal Residence: St. Louis, MO

Biography
Kevin Huizenga was born in 1977 and grew up in Illinois. At 13 he prosaically began buying comic books from the corner drug store, especially Marvel titles. This inspired him to start drawing his own comic books, a career he continues today.  Huizenga attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he reportedly disliked the English majors. He began as an English major himself with the intent to enter seminary, but switched to art with very little provocation. 
 Huizenga began making Supermonster, his first mini-comic, while he was still in high school which he Xeroxed himself for several years.  He is now best recognized for his character Glenn Ganges, who features in most of his work, including his graphic novel Curses.

Selected Works

• Supermonster (mini-comic, 1993-2001)
• Curses (2006)
• Or Else (ongoing series)
• Ganges (ongoing series)

Awards

• Included in TIME’s top ten comics of 2005 and 2006

Critical Reception
Huizenga’s work has been fairly well received, especially his graphic novel Curses which has been lauded by Salon.com and The Comics Journal.

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Work 
Both Grand Rapids and Michigan in general make appearances in Huizenga’s work. 28th Street features prominently in an episode of his graphic novel Curses and his principle character, Glenn Ganges, is named after two towns in Michigan.

Keller, Laurie

Place of Birth: Muskegon, MI

Place of Principal Residence: Muskegon, MI

Biography
Laurie Keller grew up in Muskegon, MI.  She studied at a local community college while performing in civic theatre productions and dancing and choreographing with the college’s repertory dance tour. Five years out of high school, Keller went with a friend to a student show at Kendall College of Art & Design and was so impressed she enrolled the following fall. Four years later she graduated with a BFA in illustration and got a job in Kansas City as a greeting card artist at Hallmark cards. While working at Hallmark, Keller also did freelance work for The Kansas City Star and trade magazines. She was gradually allowed to create her own cards (including cards for children) and thus discovered the correlation of illustration to writing. Her many visits to The Reading Reptile (a bookstore) sparked a love for children’s books. After seven and a half years working at Hallmark, Keller quit and moved to New York City to become a freelance illustrator. 
Soon after her move to New York City, Keller did freelance work for Nickelodeon Television and also published her first book (The Scrambled States of America) through Henry Holt publishing company. Since then she has done freelance artwork for various magazines, newspapers, and design firms as well as writing and illustrating her own work.

Selected Works

• The Scrambled States of America (1998)
• Open Wide: Tooth School Inside (2000)
• Arnie the Doughnut (2003)
• Grandpa’s Gazillion Number Yard (2005)

Books illustrated:

• Marty Frye, Private Eye (Janet Tashjian 2000)
• Toys!: Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions (Don Wullfson 2000)
• Stinky Thinking: The Big Book of Gross Games and Brain Teasers (Alan Katz 2005)
• Fooled You!: Fakes and Hoaxes Through the Years(Elaine Pascoe 2005)

Critical Reception
All her children’s books have an educational focus.  The Scrambled States of America in particular was given a warm reception among educators. Its fun, quirky way of introducing geography inspired some teachers to organize their curriculum around it. Keller has made multiple trips to schools for publicity and inspiration. Her second book, Open Wide: Tooth School Inside had mixed reviews.  While the first book made states memorable by attaching them to memorable personalities, Open Wide relied heavily on the tooth “instructor” to spout facts to his class of young molars, etc. Some critics complained that this method of relaying information to children is boring and ineffective.

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Keller’s interest in design was sparked by an exhibit at Kendall College of Art & Design. The work she did there jumpstarted her gradual interest in writing and illustrating children’s stories. Keller already had an artistic bent (ballet dancing), but the instruction she received from her home area helped her end up as a full time writer and artist.

Klatt, L.S.

1962—

Place of Birth: Cincinnati, OH

Place of Principal Residence: Grand Rapids, MI

Biography
Lewis Skillman Klatt was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised Lutheran. Though fascinated with language, Klatt also takes an interested in athletics and paleontology. To a large extent, he attributes the development of his artistic impulse to the fact that he is an identical twin. Growing up as twin meant he had to carve out his own identity, poetry assisted him in this.  Klatt earned his Ph.D. in English at the University of Georgia, his M.A.L.A. at St. John’s College, his M.Div. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and his B.A. in English at Wittenberg University.  Robert Frost and the Romantic poets largely inspired 
Klatt’s early writing. He has published poems and book reviews in numerous journals.  Lewis Klatt is happily married and lives in Grand Rapids, MI as a professor or English at Calvin College.

Selected Works
Poetry:

• “Chesapeake” in The Cape Rock, Spring, 1998
• “Provincetown” in New Orleans Review, Volume 28, Number 2, 2002
• “Harlem,” in Xavier review, Volume 25, Number 1, Spring, 2005

Book Reviews:

• “Tessa Rumsey’s The Return Message”, in Verse, January 22, 2007 (http://versemag.blogspot.com/)
• “Beth Roberts’ Brief Moral History in Blue in Jacket,” November, 2002, and in Verse, Volume 19, Number 3/ volume 20, Number 1, 2003
• “Czeslaw Milosz’s Milosz’s ABC’s” in The Georgia Review, Fall, 2001

Awards

• 2004 Juniper Prize Finalist, “The Supersonics”
• 2006 National Poetry Series Finalist, “Interloper”

Critical Reception
Though one blogger criticized Klatt’s poetry as “oblique”, the little critical feedback Klatt has received has been positive. Phoebe magazine solicited him and, according to Klatt, their emails were “very encouraging”.

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Many places figure into the poetry of L.S Klatt. A glance at the aforementioned titles—Provincetown, Chesapeake, Harlem—attest to this; however, place does not play a central role in his poetry. Place is a vehicle to explore larger, more abstract concepts. Klatt claims to have no specific regional identity, but celebrates all things American. America is then important to him in the large, Whitmanian sense of the term.

McElrath-Eslick, Lori S.

May 29, 1960—

Place of Birth: Muskegon, MI

Place of Principal Residence: North Muskegon, MI

Biography
Loris S. McElrath Eslick was born in Muskegon MI, the daughter of Charles William McElrath and Wanda Faye McElrath. She received an Associate’s Degree in illustration from Kendall college in 1981, and returned later to get a Bachelor’s degree in illustration in 1999. She worked from 1981 to 1987 as a greeting card illustrator for Hallmark, until finding her big break when her illustrations were accepted into the Bologna Book Fair competition in Italy. It was there that she was first noticed by publishers, and landed a book contract soon therafter. McElrath-Eslick is her own representative in addition to being a stay-at home mom. She lives with her husband and two children, Camille and Chase. They live close to the dunes in Muskegon, and enjoy going out as a family to walk, swim, and hike the dunes. She also takes pictures of snow shelters whenever she sees one.

Selected Works

• Does God Know How To Tie Shoes? (1993, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers)
• Read For Me, Mama (1997, Boyds Mills Press)
• Da Wei’s Treasure (1999, Margaret K. McElderry Books)
• Mommy Poems (2000, Boyd’s Mills Press)

Awards

• 1991 Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Award for Oil: Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Exhibit, NY
• 1992 Degas Award given by the Midwest Pastel Society
• 2000 Ezra Jack Keats fellowship award winner
• Full Member of Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, NY
• 1998 Illustration accepted for the Society of Illustrators 40th Annual Exhibition, NY
• 1998 Featured in Something About the Author vol. 96
• 1997 Best Children’s Magazine Illustration National Award given by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Critical Reception

          For Mommy Poems:      
• “The artist is especially good with light, shadow, and people’s faces. The book’s overall atmosphere of coziness and warmth sets a fairly           traditional mood.”       - School Library Journal
     
• “Lori McElrath-Eslick’s paintings tend to obscure facial expressions but set a serene mood..”       - Publishers Weekly

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
McElrath-Eslick draws inspiration for her artwork from her surroundings, particularly her children.  Living in a small Michigan town provides her with the opportunity to observe simple, yet beautiful things – such as snow shelters – that help her illustrations sparkle.

Mercer, Betty Deborah

September 10, 1926—

Place of Birth: New York, NY

Place of Principal Residence: Muskegon, MI

Biography
Betty Deborah Mercer was born the daughter of Cecil B. Fishbein and Martha Fishbein. She made a living as a young woman by reviewing books, babysitting, selling door-to door, typing, filing, writing poetry, teaching piano, and tutoring students in English, before graduating from New York University in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree. She attended Queens College in New York from 1954 to 1955, and in 1955 she received a certificate from the Hoffman Institute of Electrolysis. Mercer began to write more seriously toward the end of her life-long career as a certified and registered electrologist. She has always written for enjoyment and to provide a written record of special moments in her life and in the lives of those she loves, including her two sons, Stephen Mercer and Dr. Kenneth Mercer.

Selected Works

• Toward a Brighter Tomorrow!(1980, Self-Published)
• The International Society of Literature (1980, Emeril Publications)
• “Weather Signs,” Timepieces Vol. II (2000, Midwest Publishers)
• “Love,” Love Poems (2000, Poetry Press)

Awards

• 1984-1990 Merit Awards from World of Poetry
• 1986-87 Bronze Certificate from Creative Enterprises of Carson City, Nevada
• 1988-89 Editor’s Choice Award, National Library of Poetry
• Featured in Who’s Who in the Midwest (1998)
• Featured in Michigan Authors, 3rd edition (1993)

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