About the author

Tad Garrety spent his early childhood in Covington, Kentucky, one of six brothers, before his family moved west to Henderson, Nevada, in 1963. The Mojave was unfamiliar at first. Neighborhood hikes with friends into the foothills of Black Mountain — creosote, rock, sand, and open sky — became the place where he felt he belonged.

On those early mornings he and his friends sometimes met tarantulas moving slowly through the wash. Fear gave way to curiosity, then admiration, then respect. The spiders seemed ancient, vulnerable, patient, and determined — a quiet lesson that strength does not always announce itself loudly, and that survival can require patience as much as power. Those memories helped inspire Tina the Tarantula.

A graduate of Cal Poly Pomona with a B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture, Tad worked in landscaping, city parks operations, and environmental regulation. He is retired now, still learning the craft of publishing, and still close to the desert — with ongoing interest in Joshua Tree National Park and the Chihuahuan Desert near Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. He camps in his little Aspen camper when he can, substitute-teaches, continues to volunteer in his community, and is researching new stories for young readers, including boat-and-fishing friendship adventures.

He lives in the Inland Empire of Southern California. He writes for the curious and the imaginative — young in years or in heart — with a simple conviction that God is present and available. His illustrated Mojave trilogy begins with Tina the Tarantula and continues in Camp Mindfulness. Book 3 is coming in September 2026.

Contact: tadgarrety@gmail.com