SUSAN WEISBERG
Weisberg’s inspiration for Chester Midshipmouse came in the form of a letter from the United States Naval Academy suggesting that any food parcels mailed to her sons should be sent in tightly sealed plastic boxes. Why? Bancroft Hall, the academy’s stately gray stone 150-year-old-dormitory, the largest dormitory in the world which houses over 4000 naval students and contains more than four miles of hallways, is also home to mice.
Susan’s two midshipmen brought home larger than life stories during their seven overlapping years in Annapolis where they trained to become naval and marine officers. They shared tales of discipline, honor, courage, evasion, capture and escape…well, those last three had to do with mice, but perhaps we had better let Chester tell his own story.
Weisberg holds a degree in nursing, and has worked in hospital Emergency and Urgent Care. She has also freelanced as a food writer and food stylist for a large city newspaper—progressing in her writing from mousse to mice!
The author and her husband have three young adult children. They live in a coastal New Jersey town where she recently escorted a wayfaring group of mice to safety from her kitchen during a cold snap.
ILLUSTRATOR- R. LEIGH ANDERSON
Artist, R. Leigh Anderson, catches the realistic yet whimsical nature of the story through her amazing talent and ability to create “magic”. Including the cover, fourteen illustrations are scattered throughout the book. Be sure to see her art work in black and white, and also in color in the Kindle version and in the special Full Color Edition book.
ILLUSTRATOR- MAGGIE VANDEWALLE
Maggie Vandewalle, the artist for Chester Midshipmouse the Second Third, was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. In 1981, she received an art scholarship to the University of Iowa where she worked toward a BFA in printmaking. After college, she gravitated to watercolor—a medium she still uses today. She recalls a childhood divided between two passions—an insatiable love of reading and a profound fascination for the natural world. These early interests are the foundation for her paintings of whimsical creatures and their antics; the intent is to elicit a smile or evoke a story.
Maggie resides in Chattanooga, TN with her husband and the animals who frequently are her models.
