Dick Gackenbach was born 9 February 1927, in Allentown, PA, the son of William and Gertrude (Reichenbach) Gackenbach. He attended Jameson Franklin School of Art, NY, and Abbott School of Art, Washington, DC. He worked for J. C. Penney Company (New York City, 1950-1972) as a paste-up artist and later, creative director. He went out on his own as a free-lance author and illustrator beginning in 1972 to the present. Mr. Gackenbach died in 2001.