Cotton, Peter B.: - Peter Cotton is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the MUSC in Charleston. Now semi-retired, and encouraged by his grandchildren, he has so far written five books about Fred the friendly snake. The first one, When Fred the Snake got Squished and Mended, was a bed-time story to teach his small children to be careful crossing the street. When they had their own children, they asked what happened to Fred-Fred? Peter revamped the text, found a wonderful illustrator (Bonnie Lemaire in Canada) and started publishing the Fred the Snake series.