Leeteg

Gold Medal Winner: IBPA Book Award for Best Biography, 2022

Iconoclast, contrarian, pugilist, artist—Edgar Leeteg is unforgettable.

Considered the “American Gaugin,” the rakish ladies’ man originated the modern technique of oil painting on black velvet, a style made famous by the Tiki art craze of the twentieth century.

With just a few paint brushes and oils, Leeteg left California in 1933 for the South Pacific. His home in Tahiti allowed him to paint, drink, and party, earning a reputation as a brilliant, if antagonistic, fixture of the South Pacific art scene. Tourists would seek him out for his generosity of wine, women, and song, while critics found themselves targets of his pen.

Leeteg’s story is vivid and gripping, with both humor and suspense characterizing his rebellious life. What can the artist teach us about what it means to create and love without fear?

Leeteg: Babes, Bars, Beaches, and Black Velvet Art tells the story of this larger-than-life creative, from his early days in California to his legacy as a pioneer of black velvet art.

C.J. Cook is an award-winning author and historian with a long interest in the history of the South Pacific. His first book, Tyree: Artist of the South Pacific (2017), was an incredible success, winning two Gold Awards for Best Cover and Best Biography from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) in April 2018. His second book, Leeteg: Babes, Bars, Beaches, and Black Velvet Art, won a Gold Medal for Best Biography from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) in April 2022. In 2023, Cook released a sequel to his first biography, Beauty in the Beast: Flora, Fauna, and Endangered Species of Artist Ralph Burke Tyree. This work expanded on Ralph Burke Tyree's themes and legacy. Continuing his exploration of South Pacific artists' lives and works, in January 2025, Cook will release his fourth book, Edithe Beutler: Beautifying Hawaii with Color (2025). Beutler was the foremost colorist in Hawaii, painting black and white prints before color photography.

Cook has been a lifelong manuscript collector interested in art and the South Pacific. He is a board member of The Manuscript Society, dedicated to preserving manuscripts and historical documents. 

He also collects art from the South Pacific, including Ralph Burke Tyree, Edgar Leeteg, Edithe Beutler, Madge Tennent, Cece Rodriguez, Robert Lee Eskridge, and William Bloom. Some of these paintings appear in his books.

He has and continues to explore the South Pacific, including Guam, Pohnpei, Taiwan, Truk, Palau, Bali, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, its Great Barrier Reef, Tahiti and its surrounding islands, and the Hawaiian Islands. He visits the last two island paradises multiple times a year.

A former Disney story consultant, Michael is a screenwriting professor at Chapman University. He has written over twenty books on numerous subjects, including four bestsellers. He recently coauthored Own the A.I. Revolution: Unlock Your Artificial Intelligence Strategy to Disrupt Your Competition (McGraw Hill). The United Nations hosted the book launch at its AI for Good Global Summit in May. It has since been named by Soundview as one of 2019’s top business books. Michael also recently published It’s Saturday Morning: Celebrating the Golden Era of Cartoons (becker&mayer).

A columnist with Forbes, Entrepreneur and Green Entrepreneur, Michael began his career as a reporter for the Columbia Missourian. He has been featured in Entertainment Weekly, the National Examiner, the United Nations’ ITU News, the Orange County Business Journal, and the Orange County Register. Michael serves as a professional speaker, delivering keynotes to business groups and guests on thought leader panels.