Deeply interested in children's literature, John Micklos Jr. saw a need in his community and set out to fill it. He initiated a monthly newspaper column, "Children's Book Bag," in which he reviews several of the latest titles in children's books for his local weekly newspaper. And that's only one way John's knowledge and enthusiasm for good reading serves others. John is Managing Editor, Newspaper, Book, and Special Projects for the International Reading Association. He is editor of Reading Today, IRA's bimonthly membership newspaper, and is also involved in editing book manuscripts. In addition, he handles print marketing for the IRA publications program. An active free-lance writer in his… spare time, John knew he wanted to be a writer since age eight, when he wrote a twenty page book about a talking pig that travels into space. His first book since that effort, Leonard Nimoy: A Star's Trek, was published in 1988 by Dillon Press of Minneapolis. The author of nearly 75 newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, John is a former contributing editor to Delaware Today magazine. John is a member of the Educational Press Association, Education Writer's Association, National Writer's Club, and St. David's Christian Writer's Association. John and his wife, Deborah Amsden, a home economist with the New Castle County Cooperative Extension Service, live in Newark, Delaware.