Join us in welcoming Deborah Winchell & Renee Andriani, author and illustrator of Rocky’s Lighthouse Adventure.

​Deborah Winchell was inspired to write about Rocky while interviewing a former lighthouse keeper for an article in Lake Superior Magazine. The man revealed that a dog lived on Rock of Ages in the 1970s. Deborah has camped, paddled, and hiked all along the North Shore and Keweenaw Peninsula of Lake Superior, including Isle Royale National Park. She retired from Cornell University and serves on the board of Rock of Ages Lighthouse Preservation Society. She’s been a freelance writer for over 20 years, has written for Boreal Community Media out of Grand Marais, MN, and runs women’s retreats.

Her most valuable contribution to society is her children and grandchildren. She lives on a lake in northern Minnesota.

​Renée Andriani’s illustrations have appeared in numerous picture books and on cards for Hallmark’s Shoebox Greetings line. An avid Isle Royale National Park hiker and backpacker, she volunteered for Rock of Ages Lighthouse Preservation Society and worked on the lighthouse for two seasons. Her specialties are scraping paint and stripping wood! Working at and sleeping in the lighthouse was a unique and exciting experience, but it also was an invaluable inspiration for creating images that depict the lighthouse, its interiors, and “The Big Lake.”

A native of Connecticut, she lives in Kansas with her husband and two big dogs and tries to visit the Lake Superior region whenever possible.