Author Biography
Mel LeCompte Jr is a life-long resident of Louisiana who has traveled the state almost as much as that Terrible Turtle he's written about! From New Orleans to Natchitoches to Prairie Ronde (yeah, we never heard of that place, either), he loves experiencing the culture of the great Bayou State. Along his travels, Mel has written and drawn editorial cartoons for over a dozen newspapers and magazines, gathering awards from institutions such as the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press. He's also a veteran of the Louisiana music scene and a seasoned art instructor at those 'Painty-Twisty' places that dot suburbia. Today, Mel is busy in the classroom in his 23rd(!) year as an elementary school educator. When not in front of a classroom, Mel and his roving children's entertainment group Mel + Moodoggies are hitting the road at festivals, libraries, summer camps, and some places that even the Terrible Turtle hasn't been yet. Mel LeCompte has previously released two other books. 'The Ice Cream Cow' is a bedtime reader for little ones, which deals with an ornery cow that will not moo! The Ind magazine called the Ice Cream Cow a tale 'that reads with the cadence of Good Night Moon and the whimsy of Dr. Seuss. His other book, for older readers and adults, is Sharpened Iron: The Tee Cotton Bowl Story (also released as The Tee Cotton Bowl: A Bayou Tale of Grace, Race, and Small-Town Football ). This true faith-and-football tale traces the history of a football rivalry in Ville Platte, LA, that has been awarded by Tony Dungy, documented by NFL Films for ESPN, and even Blessed by Pope John Paul II.
