Don McLeod

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Actor and professional mime, Don McLeod, writes unbelievable stories about his career as gorilla and other fantastic creatures. Famous for his role as the American Tourister gorilla and his appearance as the gorilla in the Eddie Murphy / Don Aykrod / Jamie Lee Curtis movie, “Trading Places” and many other films, Don shares the trials and tribulations of traveling with his gorilla suit, awkward public situations, and much more. Entertaining and enlightening, this memoir gives the reader great respect for those actors who portray non-human characters in the movies!

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Daniel Boyd is an acclaimed filmmaker (Chillers, Strangest Dreams, Paradise Park), a two-time television regional Emmy nominee, a multi-nominated graphic novelist (Chillers I & II, CARBON, SALT, and playwright (Paradise Park the Musical, Space Preachers the Musical, Miss Dirt Turtle’s Garden Club Musical.)

A retired media studies professor at West Virginia State University, Boyd also taught around the world including in Tanzania as a three-time Fulbright scholar. He recently retired as Artist in Residence at WV State University’s Economic Development Center.

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Film and television writer/director/cartoonist/voice actor/author/musician

Dave, an award winning film and television writer, cartoonist, author, musician, voice actor and freak nerd, has had his writing compared to the likes of Ray Bradbury and David Lynch and his cartoon work to that of Charles Schulz, one of Dave’s idols. As senior writer and head of cartoons at National Lampoon, he put out two best-selling cartoon collections while handling writing and cartooning for the flagship magazine. He was also involved with Comic Relief. His early work includes art and design for Nickelodeon’s “Double Dare” and MTV and art for Tim Allen and Robert Wuhl’s HBO specials. As a cartoonist and writer for Tiger Beat’s Superteen Magazine he created the popular cartoon Toon Groupies©. Dave is also the creator of the popular Hackidu characters from “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Dave illustrated the award winning children’s book, The Lemming Shepherds, which is being adapted into a feature film. He also illustrated and helped edit the book Full Frontal Tenudity from famed comedienne Judy Tenuta. Dave’s humor book, Brain Explosion, a collection of his cartoons and writings from his National Lampoon days has become a big seller and is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

His kids TV special, “Professor Creepy’s Scream Party(c),” starring some of horror’s most iconic figures, was one of the most watched specials on Roku for Halloween, 2018. Professor Creepy has secured a deal memo with a national TV network. Dave’s documentary, “From Cheesecake to Cheesecake: The Joy Harmon Story” (WGAw), about the life of 1960s film/TV icon Joy Harmon, has won numerous festival awards around the world.

Dave’s sitcom special, “Against Type,” starring Roland Kickinger (Terminator Salvation), Stephen Furst (Animal House) and ICarly’s Jennette McCurdy, aired domestically in over forty US markets including NBC. His voice work can be heard on the SyFy Channel films “Path of Destruction” and “Lake Placid vs. Anaconda” and in the animated series “Alien House,” co-starring Kim Possible’s, Christy Carlson Romano, and the new series “Cozmo’s.” In October, 2016, Dave’s song, “I am A Zombie,” charted on kids syndicated radio network JenniRadio. Dave also played guitar on the single, “Running,” by actor Larry Thomas (Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi).

Taking a break from crazy LA and proving you don’t have to live there to produce on a major level, Dave relocated to historic Sistersville, West Virginia for a gig as a features and investigative reporter for a newspaper. While there, he began producing and hosting a national horror radio show, Cemetery GoGo(c), on WRSG 91.5 FM out of Tyler County, on Dec. 14th, 2019. It has since become one of the most popular shows on the station. True to his book title, Brain Explosion (which has become a permanent part of the West Virginia library system), Dave has not stopped creating. He has begun an audio podcast on Spotify and has several animated and live action series and film projects also in the pipeline.

Other credits:

Dave has worked with legendary bands Cheap Trick and The Dickies and his cartoon work is part of the Charles M. Schulz (Snoopy) museum in Santa Rosa, CA and the Haig Museum of Cartoons in New York. He is the former song writing partner of the late Albert Hague (Fame, How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and is a direct descendent of Vlad the Impaler (inspiration for Dracula). Dave is an avid golfer and athlete and got to coach basketball with legendary UCLA coach Jim Harrick and former LA Lakers and Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy.

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LEONARD ECKHAUS is the founder of AFCOM, the leading organization in the world for data center managers. His comments and opinions have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He also co-founded the record label LL MUSIC LLC and received two Grammy nominations in 2018.

Leonard’s first book, My Journey: Lessons I’ve Learned Along the Way, The Memoirs of Leonard I. Eckhaus, was published in 2018 and more recently Grinza’s Orchard – An Enchanted Tale, the story of a gypsy girl born in Romania in 1890, a Mom’s Choice Award Recipient.

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Jan Thornton Jones graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s in Communication Studies, and another Master’s in Early Intervention Special Education. She is a retired Early Childhood teacher. Jan has written two award winning children’s books, The Angel In The Park and Why Me? She has always been fascinated by the heroism, patriotism and bravery of the soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. These acts of valor, along with the ageless wisdom of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, served as the inspiration for Last Letter To Gettysburg.

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Suzanne Alexander has been a docent for the Huntington Museum of Art for over ten years as well as an outreach teacher for their Museum Making Connections program. Throughout her career as an elementary school librarian, language arts teacher, children’s librarian in a public library, and book columnist, Suzanne has shared her love of reading and art. She currently writes stories and articles for children and young adults, and is a member of the West Virginia Writers, Inc. and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. In her free time, Suzanne enjoys traveling which often creates inspiration for her writing.

Author Photo courtesy of Toby Werthammer

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