Author. Born in Philadelphia  he trained in the fine arts at the city’s Museum School of Industrial Art, now the University of the Arts. He met Janice Grant in 1941 on the first day of drawing class. Stan became a cartoonist during World War II, when he spent more than three years in the US Army, where he served in a field artillery unit and later became a medical illustrator. He sold some cartoons to the Saturday Review of Literature. Stan married Jan in 1946 and the Berenstains started a joint career as cartoonists, eventually becoming regular contributors in the Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s and the Saturday Review. In 1956, they began a popular cartoon called “It’s All in the Family” which ran in McCall’s and Good Housekeeping magazines. In 1962 the Berenstains submitted a book to Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr Seuss, who was an editor for Random House’s Beginner Books. That book, “The Big Honey Hunt”, introduced the Berenstain Bear Family. Stan and Jan Berenstain often produced 10 or so 32-page books a year after the series inception. All told they wrote and illustrated more than 200 Berenstain Bears books. The books were aimed at young children, primarily children ages four to eight years, and dealt with a list of childhood challenges. More than 260 million copies of the books have been sold to date. The Berenstains also launched spinoff books for children ages nine to twelve and a series in which the cubs were detectives, or “Bear Scouts.” The Berenstain Bears have also taken on two television series, stage musicals, toys, cereal and several other products. “We take what we do very seriously,” said Berenstain, “But we can’t solve all the world’s problems in 32 pages.” Stan Berenstain died at age 82 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania due to complications from cancer. (bio by: Iola)  Family links:  Spouse:  Janice Grant Berenstain (1923 – 2012)* *Calculated relationship