Dave Coverly, a native of Plainwell, Michigan, earned his BS with a double major in Imaginative Writing and Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University in 1987, and received his MA in Creative Writing from Indiana University in 1993. In 2011, EMU awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts. He is the creator of the cartoon panel Speed Bump, which runs internationally in about 400 newspapers and websites, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Detroit Free Press. His cartoons have also appeared in The New Yorker, USA Today, The New York Times, Newsweek, Esquire, and were a regular feature in Parade. Speed Bump has been named “Best in Newspaper Panels” by the National Cartoonists Society in 1995, 2003, 2014, and 2022. In 2009 the same organization gave him its highest honor, the prestigious Reuben Award, for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year”. He has also traveled extensively with the USO, drawing cartoons for wounded soldiers and those stationed at bases in the Middle East.

Coverly is also the author and/or illustrator of numerous children’s books published by Macmillan, including Sue MacDonald Had a Book (with Jim Tobin), The Very Inappropriate Word (with Jim Tobin), and How to Care for Your Pet T-Rex (with Ken Baker). His chapter book series began with Night of the Living Worms: The Misadventures of Speed Bump & Slingshot, and continued with Night of the Living Shadows, and Night of the Living Zombie Bugs. His most recent cartoon collection is Speed Bump: A 25th Anniversary Collection (IDW). His cartoons are also featured on hundreds of greeting cards with NobleWorks, RSVP (including calendars), American Greetings, and Woodmansterne (UK). He has two daughters, Alayna and Simone, and lives with his wife, Chris in Ann Arbor, Michigan.