Children's Author. A onetime Broadway playwright and lyricist, she worked with producer Harry Rigby on such shows as "No, No Nannette" and "Sugar Babies". She turned to children's fiction at the suggestion of her artist son, Michael, who asked for a book he could illustrate. Their first collaborations were "On the Edge of the Sea" (1982) and the successful "Junior Kroll" (1993). After that they produced 21 more books, and eventually several television series including "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast", "Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse," "The Kids From Room 402," and "The Tangerine Bear." The shows aired on Nick Jr., PBS, Fox Family and other channels. In addition Betty and Michael created a comic strip called "The Green Monkeys". Her son once said their books appealed to parents as well as children because of the smart dialogue his mother could write. Paraskevas succumbed to pancreatic cancer at her home in Southampton, New York just one day shy of her 81st birthday.
Children's Author. A onetime Broadway playwright and lyricist, she worked with producer Harry Rigby on such shows as "No, No Nannette" and "Sugar Babies". She turned to children's fiction at the suggestion of her artist son, Michael, who asked for a book he could illustrate. Their first collaborations were "On the Edge of the Sea" (1982) and the successful "Junior Kroll" (1993). After that they produced 21 more books, and eventually several television series including "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast", "Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse," "The Kids From Room 402," and "The Tangerine Bear." The shows aired on Nick Jr., PBS, Fox Family and other channels. In addition Betty and Michael created a comic strip called "The Green Monkeys". Her son once said their books appealed to parents as well as children because of the smart dialogue his mother could write. Paraskevas succumbed to pancreatic cancer at her home in Southampton, New York just one day shy of her 81st birthday.
Bio by: Susan Beyer
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