About Willie (author):
I have been a teacher from Preschool to seniors in high school for 30 years with a degree in Special Education and Masters in Counseling and Psychology
Personally, in my own pursuit to find "connection" and observing in my own behavior what has worked and what has not. It is an ongoing journey to pursue the truth in one's life. Also, in my experience as a teacher and a counselor, where so many of us wrestle with "am I good enough, Am I lovable, Will I be accepted?"
Monterey born and raised
About David (illustrator):
I was the kid always doodling in class. From preschool to highschool, pick up any paper in front of me and there was a little picture of whatever was in my brain at the time. Art is an ongoing passion for me and expressing myself through different means is a significant part of my life.
I’m a comic artist, there was always an inkling that publishing my art might be a possibility. I didn't know it would ever become a reality, however, until William approached me with his idea. He was looking for an artist for this book he had written and had seen some of the drawings I had made on the assignments. He asked if I would be interested and I said, "Sure, let's do it!"
His take on Willie: From start to finish, he has been the driving force, the voice of reason, an energy of creative cheer, and pathfinder while putting this book together.
David was a student at Palma graduating in 2019. Palma is the school where I teach. David and I shared a similar sense of humor, interest in being creative and sorta kindred spirits.
I had written the book over 20 years ago and had asked a couple people along the way to help with illustrating it and it never came to fruition. After graduating from high school, David studied graphic design in Prague where he got stuck due to Covid.
I reached out to him then to see if he was interested in collaborating with me on the book. Originally, the book was satirical based on the classic children's book Are You My Mother entitled Are You My Lover.
As the journey of the bird progressed and my own pursuit in thinking about birds, I came across the quote by Rumi, a 13th century Persian Poet who wrote, “I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.”
And the book became its own, "THE BIRD SONG"
David's ability to take the narrative and make it unique to our bird was extraordinary. Through lots of meetings, and discussions we felt like this book was necessary to publish to help people recognize the gift of their song and the unique blessing each person is.
