John R. Erickson, author of the well known Hank the Cowdog children’s book series, will speak at the Friends of ACU Library Spring Event on 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Hunter Welcome Center.

Erickson, an award-winning author, has published 75 books and more than 600 articles, including the popular children’s series, Hank the Cowdog. He drew most of his inspiration for the series from his experiences working as a ranch cowboy in Texas and Oklahoma, according to his website. Erickson and his wife also founded their own publishing company, Maverick Books, that first made Hank the Cowdog popular.

“I think it is great that ACU is bringing such a well known author come to campus,” said Rebecca Fowler, a senior english major from Coppell said. “Erickson is an author many of us read as children, and it’s fun to get to re-live his stories years later.”

Dr. Jonathan Camp, associate professor of communication, serves on the FACUL board as vice-president and said that Erickson is one of the better-known speakers they have had at their events.

“We have had people such as Bible scholars come speak in the past, but Erickson is the most well known by the general public,” Camp said. “It should be very family friendly in the sense that all ages will enjoy hearing him speak.”

The FACUL Spring Event is an annual dinner and fundraiser that helps fund the library’s special collections.

Erickson is being brought to ACU through his friend and ACU alumna Sandra Morrow, a retired librarian who runs Crown Book Awards, a children’s book award program. Morrow informed FACUL that because of his ties to West Texas, Erickson was interested in visiting ACU.

“We anticipate him to do some readings from his body of work and give us a bit of backstory to his writings,” Camp said. “I think it will be a very entertaining presentation.”

Tickets are $15 for children 13 and under and $25 for adults. They will be on sale until Friday and can be purchased at http://blogs.acu.edu/facul/.