Gary Bogue (left) and Chuck Todd (right) discussed their collaborative process at Benicia Public Library on August 13. (Photo by Eliza Partika)

Many in the community recognize retired columnist Gary Bogue as an inspirational force that has lead the movement in the area to have an awareness of human encroachment on the territory of wild animals, as individuals and as a collective community. The naturalist and wildlife enthusiast has left an incredible legacy of successful conservation and wildlife rescue organizations behind him, including local organizations ARF and Save Diablo, that have substantially increased awareness of humanity’s impact on the environment. He also has provided a written record of his knowledge in 42 years of columns for the Contra Costa Times– now the East Bay Times.
But even before Bogue was sharing his encyclopedic knowledge with his community, he was living it through his job as a curator for the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek.
In 1967, Bogue remembers building up the museum to be the first rescue facility of its kind in the United States.
“I went around convincing [the local veterinarians] they were getting bored treating dogs and cats and would have a lot more fun treating hawks and foxes and other wild animals,” he said.
Within the first year, Bogue and his coworkers at the museum had gotten a permit from the city of Walnut Creek to care for injured and orphaned wild animals, and in the next couple years, got to the point where they were seeing five to six thousand animals a year.
Bogue began his column while he was still working as curator to help publicize the museum, and when he left the museum he was offered a full-time position to write for the Contra Costa Times. Through his column, Bogue not only taught his readers how to protect and respect wildlife, but he used his column as a platform to fundraise for nature organizations like Save Mount Diablo and the Muir Land Trust. His readers would even create discussions and answer each other’s questions in certain editions of Bogue’s column.
Now retired, Bogue, along with Chuck Todd, his illustrator, friend, and former graphics and presentation editor at the Times, are writing children’s books with the goal of educating families about their impact on wildlife. They want to make both adults and children aware of how they impact the lives and habitats of these animals, and teach them to coexist peacefully with their fellow creatures.
“We make up an interesting story that’ll interest kids, but they’re all factual.” Bogue says of his “Animals in my Backyard” series. “In the process of reading this and having fun they’re actually learning something.”
In addition to the factual illustrations, dialogues and descriptions in the story, Bogue also includes a short fact page and a list of internet and book references in the last pages of every book for further research.
Bogue and Todd have written three books about opossums, hummingbirds and raccoons. They are currently working on another book titled “The Big Stink: There’s a Skunk in my Backyard.”
On Aug. 13, Bogue and Todd, sponsored by Benicia Literary Arts, put on an event at the Benicia Public Library as an opportunity for writers and community members to hear their story and to see their collaborative process when working on “Big Stink” as well as their other titles.
Carolyn Plath, a member of Benicia Literary Arts and the host of the event, said Bogue and Todd’s discussion was meant to “demystify the writing and collaboration process.”
“All writers will benefit from seeing the step by step process he and Chuck employ, coupled with their works-in-progress and their illustrations.” Plath said.
The event was indeed very beneficial, with attendees interrupting the narrative now and then to ask questions, especially about the friends’ experiences with their Berkeley-based publishing company, Hey Day Publishing.
“It’s unusual for the artist and the writer to go in to the publisher.” Bogue said. “A lot of the publishers have artists they work with, and someone comes in with their kid’s book and they sell their idea to the publisher, and he says oh yeah, Fred our artist will be the best for this.”
But as a writer-illustrator duo, Bogue said they present a more finished product to the publisher.
“It’s not just a story idea,” Todd chimed in. “But we also have the framework, and that allows creative input from the publishers and the directors. They want to produce something that they are proud of.”
The duo also discussed at length Todd’s illustration process, and how they collaborate to create images for Bogue’s story ideas. Bogue doesn’t begin with a plot, but rather starts with a vague outline of the book and passes it on to Todd, who illustrates the text, and then they come together to make changes and discuss the arc of the story.
Todd uses mixed media to draw his illustrations; some use acrylic and watercolor while others are painted on cardboard.
“It allows me to have a balance between making them realistic and having some fun,” he said. When Todd was creating a drawing depicting the intricate paths hummingbirds fly in real life, he used different colors to highlight each hummingbird’s path across the page.
Todd begins with rough illustrations of the story, loose sketches that allow for changes as he and Bogue discuss the direction of the story. When they have finalized their story, Todd begins the final drafts, which are more defined.
The first illustrations in a story will be more simple shots that establish the setting and the mood of the story, with the scenes and the angles becoming more complex as the story progresses. For one shot in “There’s a Hummingbird in My Backyard,” Todd had to climb on to the roof of his house to get the particular angle that fulfilled the imagery of a hummingbird looking on at the unsuspecting the family in the backyard below. For another scene in “There’s an Opossum in My Backyard,” Todd played with a time-lapse effect to capture the way the story’s main opossum travelled around the backyard at night to hunt. Each movement of the opossum is captured as a single image and drawn on a pink strip representing the opossum’s path through the backyard.
The creative process of both Bogue and Todd has built them a successful industry that doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. After “The Big Stink,” they have discussed tentative plans with the publisher to continue the series. When Bogue and Todd asked their publisher how many books he wanted them to write, his response was “How many animals are there?” The list of potential animals included several species of owl, an alligator lizard, and possibly even insects.
Look for “The Big Stink: There’s a Skunk in My Backyard” and other titles by Gary Bogue and Chuck Todd at Bookshop Benicia, located at 636 First St., or you can order them online at Bookshopbenicia.com or on Amazon.

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