Michael’s lifelong creative spirit twines natural history with wit, and daily discipline with detours of discovery.The author, editor, or illustrator of a stunning array of over 150 books for readers of all ages, Michael is also the founding literary director of the James Thurber House and editor of seven books devoted to America’s preeminent humorist. His books have included roles as editor, anthologist, illustrator, photographer, author, poet, recipe-writer, and essayist. Recent titles include How to Spacewalk, created with three-time shuttle astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan, A Ben of All Trades (a picture book about Benjamin Franklin’s inventive youth), In the Quiet Noisy Woods (a picture book featuring the calls and sounds of a forest’s creatures), and Every Species of Hope (his fifth collections of poetry.
writing has earned him the National Jewish Book Award, the inaugural Once Upon a World Book Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance, the Sydney Taylor Book Award, Ohioana Library’s Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as grants from the Ingram Merrill Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Ohio Arts Council, and many others.
His ceramics, collages, monotypes, and paintings are housed in many private and public collections including Greater Columbus Arts Council, Columbus Convention Center, Hilton Downtown Columbus, University of Findlay, and the Kerlan Collection of the University of Minnesota. Recent solo exhibits have been presented by Sharon Weiss Gallery (Columbus, Ohio), Ohio State University Faculty Club, Granville Arts Center (Ohio), and the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden.
Michael lives with a rough-coat collie named Trace in the foothills of Appalachia east of Columbus, Ohio.