Biographies

Doug DuCharme, Author

Doug was born in Lowell, Massachusetts and was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada - a small town environment in those days. That is where he met and eventually married his high school sweetheart Judy Howell DuCharme. They have two adult children, Dennis and Desiree and one precious granddaughter, Marissa as well as one wonderful step-grandson, Austin.

The Adventures of Lexi and Boomer – FAMILY is Doug’s first attempt at writing a children’s picture book. Now retired, in his former life he was Vice President of Casino Operations at a Las Vegas casino.

Why did Doug write The Adventures of Lexi and Boomer?

First and foremost, he wanted to affirm that love of FAMILY has no boundaries – race, color, creed, gender or species. Doug also wanted to honor the love that Marissa, Desiree and Judy provide to their extended FAMILY. They are truly special women.

Doug is a member of the Henderson Writer’s Group of Henderson, Nevada.

“It is never to early, nor late, to begin reading to a child.” 

Deryl Skelton, Illustrator

Beginning his professional life as a fashion illustrator, Deryl Skelton  produced his first published comic strip in his Fremont, Nebraska hometown paper. The strip gave birth characters like Nick Gutso, and Planet of the Italian Cowboy Apes. It was a portent of things to come.

Moving to Las Vegas, opportunities began with portrait and caricature work, meeting luminaries such as George Foreman, Lou Rawls and Blood Sweat & Tears.

Multimedia came next, producing music animations for that dark time in our nation's history known as the disco craze.

No longer an art director, Deryl went to work illustrating for the Las Vegas Sun. Doing cover art for the paper's entertainment magazine proved to be a career breakthrough, as various Vegas stars requested the cover originals.

Two years after working at a Vegas ad agency, Skelton finally went into free-lance work full time. In the early eighties, the Dallas TV phenomenon was translated from the small screen to an even smaller medium: the comic strip. Even though he hadn't previously seen the show, Deryl soon found himself steeped in the lives of J.R. Ewing and company on an unrelenting daily basis for the L.A Times Syndicate until the strip ended.

The chance to fulfill a lifelong dream of doing comic books finally presented itself shortly after Dallas folded. After drawing the super hero the Fly, Skelton moved to DC Comics doing some western and super hero work. After meeting fellow artist Steve Carr, the two formed Kirkowood Studios. Together they worked on virtually every Marvel Comics' character from the Avengers to the X-Men. Skelton left the studio when offered the job of bringing to comic book life the crew of the USS Enterprise in DC's Star Trek: The Next Generation.  He happily served there, with occasional forrays into other strips like Wonder Woman, until DC's contract with Star Trek's parent company ended.  His final DC work was in their Big Book series.

Family responsibilties now required a less intense work schedule, so Deryl went back to free-lance writing and illustration in Vegas, with occasional comic work for independent publishers.