Author, Illustrator. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she demonstrated a true talent for drawing in high school, where she was co-art editor of the senior yearbook. These skills soon led to a scholarship to the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art, where she enrolled in the fall of 1941. It was there, on the first day of class, that she met the man who would become her husband and collaborator, Stan Berenstain. The couple often visited the local zoo, where they drew animals, including bears. During World War II, while Stan worked as a military medical artist, Jan did drafting work for the Army Corps of Engineers and worked as a riveter on Navy seaplanes. The couple married in 1946, with Jan crafting their wedding rings out of airplane aluminum. In 1951, after the birth of their first son, she and Stan published their first work, "The Berenstains' Baby Book," an illustrated book which addressed pregnancy and raising a young child. Beginning in 1956, based on their own experiences as the parents of two young boys, the couple created a monthly cartoon series, called "It's All in the Family," which ran in Good Housekeeping and McCall's magazines for more than three decades. By the early 1960's, and inspired by their children's' love of Dr. Seuss books, the couple decided to try to write a children's book. After submitting the work to none other than Dr. Seuss himself, Theodor Geisel, their first children's book, "The Big Honey Hunt," was published in 1962. It was Geisel who came up with the idea of naming the family of anthropomorphic bears after the Berenstains. Soon, Jan and her husband had created a successful franchise which, over the years, resulted in more than 300 titles released in 23 languages. In an interview with "The Washington Post," she once admitted that Mama bear was "based on me. But I'm not as nice or stalwart." Cause of death: stroke