CONTRIBUTED TO THE OBSERVER
The Opelika Public Library will host an evening with “Pete the Cat” creator James Dean on Tuesday, May 14. This event, which will include an Author Talk and book signing, is recommended for all ages. Doors will open at 5 p.m., with all seats first come, first served. The library is located at 1100 Glenn Street.
Dean is a self-taught artist originally from Fort Payne, Alabama. His passion for drawing became apparent at a young age, and as a child, you could find him drawing his favorite characters like Snoopy and Yogi Bear.
Dean earned his degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and worked for Georgia Power for a number of years. Eventually, he was called to pursue his art full-time and began selling his work at art festivals around the Southeast. It was during this time that he began creating paintings and drawings of his cat, Pete. The little blue cat showed up as a character in Dean’s artwork around 1999 and has been a permanent fixture ever since.
Dean’s art has been sold in more than ninety galleries and shops across the United States. He has devoted his paintings to Pete the Cat for 15 years and turned his natural love for cats into his life’s work. He published his first book, “The Misadventures of Pete the Cat”, a history of his artwork, in 2006.
He illustrated his first self-published children’s book, “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes”, in 2008. There are now almost 100 published Pete the Cat titles with more coming out all the time.