Michael M. Andregg

Interview

What was your favorite book when you were a child?

Kon Tiki, by Thor Hierdahl   

What’s your favorite line from a book?

While we breath, there’s hope! (Tarzan, by H.G. Wells)

Who are your top three favorite authors or illustrators?

Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and the Dalai Lama 

Why did you want to become an author or illustrator?

I never really wanted to become an author, but it happened because I am a teacher and writing is a main way we communicate. Winning a National Peace Writing Award for “On the Causes of War” in 1999 encouraged me, as did reactions to some of the educational videos we produced in the 1990’s and 2000’s.  Now I get invited to places like South Korea, Denmark and Romania because of the papers I write on sustainable development, causes of war and ethics for spies.  Those are all global problems that I usually do not associate with the younger age ranges, however.

Do you have any advice for future authors or illustrators?

If you want to get an important message out, dare to do so even if you hate the work involved.  And remember the importance of rewriting because all of my best text, the kind that gets me expenses paid trips to exotic places, was drafted and redrafted five or ten or more times.