If it can happen to me, it can happen to you.
That’s the message author and illustrator James Dean said he hoped to leave with the young writers he came to celebrate recently in Mt. Airy.
The original creator of the bestselling children’s book series “Pete the Cat” was the featured guest speaker at this year’s Young Georgia Authors award ceremony. The event at Habersham Central High School’s auditorium recognized 13 elementary and secondary school students who won this year’s systemwide writing competition. Three of them went on to win regional competitions, giving Habersham more regional winners this year than any other school system in Northeast Georgia.
“For Habersham County to have three winners at the region (RESA) level is a testimony to the quality instruction that is occurring in our classrooms,” said Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper.
Over 200 students, educators, and family members attended the April 21 ceremony. During the event, Dean shared how he went from being an electrical engineer to a New York Times bestselling author.
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Pete the Cat comes to life
Before gaining fame with Pete the Cat, Dean spent 20 years working for Georgia Power. An artist at heart, he drew landscapes around his home in Athens and sold them at galleries and festivals. In time, Dean gained the confidence to quit his engineering job to become a full-time artist.
Dean’s cat, Pete, liked to sit in his lap as he drew. One day, a gallery manager encouraged him to paint Pete. At first, Dean said he balked at the idea but eventually gave in.
The little blue cat showed up as a character in James’s artwork around 1999. He began drawing Pete cartoon style with more of a human persona. He moved to Atlanta and made a living selling Pete the Cat paintings at festivals and galleries throughout the Southeast.
People who bought his paintings told him he needed to write children’s books. Several submitted story ideas to Dean, but it wasn’t until one day while driving his 1965 Chevy Impala through downtown Atlanta that it all came together, he told the audience.
While stopped at a traffic light, a gentleman he didn’t know spoke to him and said, “I just recorded a song for you.” That song was “I love my white shoes.”
‘Most important thing I do’
In 2008, Dean and author Eric Litwin self-published the first title in the series called Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. Within ten months, it was picked up by HarperCollins Publishers.
There are now almost 100 published Pete the Cat titles in the series, with more coming out all the time, according to HarperCollins.
Dean has found success by following his dream and wants young people to know that. At April’s ceremony, he said speaking with students is “the most important thing I do.”
“I wished I had more time to do it. I want to say to them, ‘Look what happened to me; this could happen to you. You have to try things.'”
