About Us
- About Nettie Thomas-Lark the Author -
Nettie Thomas-Lark was born in Mobile, Alabama. She earned a Bachelor Degree in History from Alabama State University. She taught briefly in Mobile, before moving to New Jersey. Mrs. Lark soon realized she wanted to teach younger children so she decided to pursue her Elementary Education Certification from Jersey City State University. Later, she received a Master’s degree from the same university. During her years in New Jersey, she worked exclusively in Elementary schools.
Some years later, the author lived briefly in Maryland and South Carolina. While in South Carolina, she met and married Charles Lark Sr. and moved to Brooklyn, New York with him and his ten-year old son, Courtney. At the writing of this book, that ten-year-old boy is now an adult and married to Yolanda Sangweni, an amazing South African woman. He is the father in this true story, “That Baby Is No Fun.” During her tenure in New York, Mrs. Lark continued to work as an Elementary teacher. Later, she became the Director of Staff Development for a School District and a Principal. While Director of Staff Development, she and a few dedicated teachers researched and publish curriculum material related to Black history as a supplement to the Social Studies and English Language Arts curriculum. In addition, during this time, the author attended Brooklyn College where she received a Professional Diploma in Supervision and Administration. For her exceptional work as Director of Staff Development, she received the Educator of the year Award for her school district in 2000 from the New York School City School Chancellor. One of the most important legacies of Mrs. Lark’s tenure is that in 2002 she became the first principal of an inner city school in New York City to set-up a Robotics lab as well as, send a teacher to Robotics camp to be trained to teach students Robotics. She was and still is an innovator who thinks of creative ways to help young children improve their minds via creating children’s books.
​
​
Together with her husband, Charles, they received numerous awards from various community organization for service to communities in Brooklyn. In 2005, the New York Daily News featured Mrs. Lark and her husband, Charles for outstanding service to others in Brooklyn. Presently, she is a member of Charlotte Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority where she still gives service to her community. She has organized several book clubs, one of which members have given assistance to help others by donating gas cards to people looking for employment and monetary contributions to a local food bank to help feed the hungry.
​
The author retired as a principal from New York City. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Presently, she is working on two other children books to complete a trilogy based on true experiences of the same character, Mellie. This trilogy of books will take young readers on a journey to new places and allow them to experience new things. They will enjoy and have fun as they read about Mellie’s adventures again and again.
Ms. Pinkston is a Contemporary Impressionist Artist. Her paintings have been selected for two prestigious juried art exhibitions in New Jersey; The Mercer County College gallery in 2005 and the College of New Jersey Gallery, Alumni Exhibition in 2010. Additionally, she has exhibited her work in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Most recently, she displayed pieces of her work at the Delta Authors on Tour event in Charlotte, and in a virtual Delta Jazz Brunch. Pieces of her art were recently featured in a short film. Presently, she is planning a one-woman show sometime this fall of 2021 at 9189 Gallery in Charlotte.
​
Ms. Pinkston moved to Charlotte with her daughter, Aris. She enjoys living and working in her gallery and studio. She has now added Illustrator to her resume of artistic work. She remains committed to painting fine art and creating wonderful children’s book illustrations. www.pinkstonart.com
Brenda Pinkston is a native of New Jersey. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Arts and Advertising and Design from the College of New Jersey. Ms. Pinkston worked several years as Art Director for Don Vereen’s Applause. A woman’s designer salon in New Jersey. It was at Applause that she mastered her art style by forcing pen and ink fashion illustrations to display a sense of gradual shading using vertical lines. This method has become her trademark.
Her work has been featured in newspapers, magazines, billboards and various other print media. In addition, she was the art editor for a community-based newspaper and a web developer for the state of New Jersey’s Office of Information Technology. While employed by the State, she stayed connected to the art community by painting and exhibiting her artwork.
​
​
- About Brenda Pinkston, the Illustrator -
