That's a lot of bears.

Today is the birthday of the late co-creator of one of the most beloved and famous children's book series, Jan Berenstain of the Berenstain Bears. She and her husband, Stan, met in 1941 at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. Wikipedia tells us, "During WWII, Stan served as a military medical illustrator while Jan was a draft artist for the Army Corps of Engineers in addition to working in an aircraft factory. Jan fashioned a pair of wedding rings from spare aluminum collected at the latter job, and the two married on April 17, 1946." They were married for 59 years until Stan's death, in 2005. Jan died in 2012.

They created more than 300 books featuring the Berenstain Bears, a family of cartoon bears that faced typical family dilemmas such as having a new baby, entering a science fair, watching too much television, and playing sports. That's a lot of bear books. I can't think of a single series produced by the same creators that had that many titles. And it hasn't stopped; Berenstain Bear books remain in print and seem to have acquired a more religious bent of late, with a series published by Christian publisher Zonderkidz. Their son Mike seems to have taken over the creative duties.

It's a remarkable run, and the thing that puzzles me is that I don't recall ever seeing any of their books when I was a kid. The only classics I remember are series and books like Curious George and Babar the Elephant and Frog and Toad and Frederick (great name) and Katy and the Big Snow and the awful ones by Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak and a bunch of others I was supposed to like but scared me. I don't think I saw a Berenstain book until I was an adult, but they'd been around my whole life.

A lot of kids grew up surrounded by Berenstain Bear books, and while they're often Photoshopped for cynical humor like Family Circus strips, they obviously have a lot of appeal. So good for you, Jan, and happy birthday to you in the Great Beyond.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Department: Today is also the birthday of author George Barr McCutcheon, who you and I never heard of but was well known in his day, that day ending with his passing in 1928. He wrote many novels and plays, but one that may ring a bell is Brewster's Millions (1902). That story had an irresistible catch -- the title hero must spend a fortune within one year, getting nothing of value for his money, if he is to inherit a much larger fortune at the end of the year. Readers found the idea so appealing it was adapted for the stage, and made into thirteen films starting with a Cecil B. DeMille silent in 1914. It has been very popular in India. The most recent film was a Chinese adaptation in 2018. The most recent American film was 1985's Brewster's Millions with Richard Pryor, which was pretty good. And yet its original author has fallen into obscurity.

Ah, but the good folk at Gutenberg, like our friend Mongo, keep the fires of civilization burning by making many of McCutcheon's works available for free online, including Brewster's Millions. Big hand for the gang at Gutenberg!