Steve Niemczak is a life-long music lover. Growing up, if he wasn't listening to music, he was reading and learning about it. As he got older, he began to realize the importance of music education and the arts in schools. After his daughter was born in 2004, he would watch children's shows with her and was particularly drawn to the ones that made it a point to teach kids about music. Shows like "Jack's Big Music Show" and "Yo Gabba Gabba" would introduce kids to all different styles of music and he loved the fact that there was no discrimination – they would teach kids that ALL music was good. Wanting to follow in the same vein, he came up with the idea for his book. Once the writing was finished, he reached out to his father-in-law, who was an accomplished artist, and asked if he'd be interested in illustrating it. He jumped at the chance and "Rupert the Rock & Roll Rhino" was born. Steve lives in the suburbs of Chicago with his wife, Nicole, and his kids, Maddie and Brendan.
Born and raised in Chicago, Ron Langlois is a self-taught artist. He enlisted in the army in 1969 and, among other roles, he was an illustrator for military intelligence. After leaving the military he continued to hone his craft. His pen and ink drawings are extremely detailed and his ability to incorporate his pen and ink work with watercolors is equally impressive.
Ron is a published cartoonist and illustrator. His previous website ronlangloisstudio.com specialized in marine life and landscape lithographs. To date, he has sold over 1,500 paintings, drawings and illustrations.
Ron has been married to his wife Kristine for over 50 years and has 2 children, Nicole and Michelle. He is now retired and living in Boca Raton, FL.