A wide-ranging timeline of the events in John Bellairs’ life: from his birth in the 1930s and his activities at college in the 1950s to the changin’ times of the 1960s and the rise of the “famous author” in the 1970s.

Marilyn Fitschen first met John Bellairs in Chicago and she and her husband, Dale, went on to become life-long friends. While Dale edited, Marilyn let flow with oodles of doodles, illustrating John’s early work, St. Fidgeta and Other Parodies; The Pedant and the Shuffly; and The Face in the Frost.

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) was the most popular illustrator of John Bellairs' books, as well as a well-known author and illustrator in his own right. Gorey's bizarre stories and macabre black-and-white illustrations reflected an elegantly morbid sense of humor in books, on television, and on the stage - his costume design for the Broadway production of "Dracula" won a Tony Award in 1978.

Brad Strickland is the author (or co-author) of over 60 novels and over 60 pieces of short fiction and poetry. After the death of John Bellairs, Strickland was approached to complete four books and went on to write the further adventures of Johnny Dixon and Lewis Barnavelt.