Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Patrick John Atkinson was raised in North Dakota and attended Minnesota State University-Moorhead. After graduating, Patrick turned down lucrative corporate job offers to work with runaways, prostitutes, and gang members in New York. Two years later, Patrick moved to Central America where he began an international career in war-zone reconciliation and post-war reconstruction. He has been knighted, is the recipient of human rights awards (including the Guatemalan Congressional Medal) and is the subject of The Dream Maker, by Monica Hannan. Patrick is most proud of having been named Father of the Year by his son, Ernesto, this book’s illustrator. He is the founder of the Institute for Trafficked, Exploited & Missing Persons (ITEMP). He is the author of six books and is still writing. When not advocating on behalf of abused or human-trafficking victims, Patrick resides in North Dakota, in Guatemala, and at Hippo Wallow Pond in Minnesota.
Ernesto ”Neto” Atkinson was born and raised in Antigua, Guatemala. Even as a young boy, Ernesto expressed a great interest in art, and over the years his artistic influences grew with tremendous passion. He attended North Dakota State University and graduated with a degree in visual arts. He earned his Master’s in art therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is both a professional artist and practicing Licensed Professional Counselor. He has been called ”an artist who truly sees art as an active agent of change”; his work represents a contemporary movement that observes his experiences with everyday life, political and religious concepts, and philosophies. Ernesto’s art is a mix of different media that represents the different faces and dissimilarities of society with incomparable and multiple textures and colors. Ernesto resides with his family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, works nationally, and displays his art online and through galleries worldwide.
