The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed (17 page)

Hey, baby! You looking at me? I was born on May 16, 1950, in Syracuse, New York. In this picture I'm one year old.

As a farm boy, I learned to drive a tractor when I was quite young.

Reading was always important to meâanytime, anywhere.

I planned to be a cowboy â¦

But I ended up a boy scout. (From the look on my face, I think I just got away with something â¦)

In 1969 I married Kathy. She lived right around the corner from me. She's an artist and has illustrated twenty of my books. We have three childrenâOrion, Cara, and Adam.

Here's me at Buckshot Lake. Apparently no one told me I was supposed to sit
in
the boat.

As a young father, I often functioned as a piece of furniture.

Here's me with my daughter. I swear I did not steal her candy!

A rare sighting of my half-mad brother Igor (on the right), star of
Goblins in the Castle
. When I was an elementary school teacher, Igor would visit my classroom every Halloween to celebrate his birthday. For some reason the two of us were never seen together. It was a puzzling mystery. This is a picture of Igor posing with my wife's little brother.