T a KuepperAbout the Author, T. A. (Ted) Kuepper Ted Kuepper is an environmental engineer by education, with a deep appreciation for nature and the environmental challenges facing all of us today. His particular expertise is water treatment and he uses that knoledge in his writings and his humanitarian work. In his career he has been the managing director of a seawater desalination test facility for the US Navy, and executive director of an international nonprofit organization focused on supplying safe water to rural villages in developing countries. With his humanitarian work, he also has traveled, helping to supply water during natural disasters and emergencies in some of the world's most remote locations. He began writing the first Archie Artichoke story by accident! As the story goes: He was driving his family to Sequoia National Park in California and the kids were getting more fidgety by the minute. When that happened, he'd often start singing a little song to get everyone to stop thinking of how long the drive had been and how uncomfortable their old Chevy station wagon was. For some reason on that day, driving up the hill to the entrance of the park, he sang this single lyric: "Artichoke, you're a funny bloke." He was as surprised as the rest of the family, since he had never heard that lyric before. It appeared at that moment-and probably was the result of him and his wife trying to educate their children on the rewards of eating vegetables. The lyrical line was easy to sing, and from there he wrote more lyrics about Archie Artichoke to finish what eventually became known as "The Artichoke Song." After that, he wrote a song about a silly dance he did with his kids around the house, and its title became "Archie's Dance Tune." The lyric, "Artichoke, you're a funny bloke," started a rewarding journey that Ted continues to enjoy as he writes stories and songs about his favorite vegetables, Archie Artichoke and his friends. He invites you to visit his website, www.ArchieArtichoke.com. Read More Read Less