Lakewood author and illustrator Dan Gremminger is touring the city’s libraries with his self-published children’s book, Deep River Dark, which is based on his childhood in Weatherford. Gremminger started working on the book about 10 years ago, inspired by summers along the Brazos River.
"We would cookout and camp and go fishing and enjoy the sounds of the summer and look at the fireflies and all that," he said. "The memories have been very strong in my life."
Gremminger wrote the book over several years, in an epic style. Then he partnered with New York-based writer Bradley Harding, who took his story and worked it into a "lyrical, almost haiku," Gremminger said. "The text is amazing. I just love the poetry of it." Gremminger, an advertising art director, took seven years to make the illustrations in his off time.
He will be at the Pleasant Grove Branch Library on July 8 at 1 p.m., and at the Children’s Center of the Central Library on July 9 at 2 p.m. He’ll be reading at the Hampton-Illinois Branch Library Aug. 1 at 2 p.m. The program also includes a craft project, where the kids get to make river-themed book markers.
