Joan Sullivan Peeples (1929-1973) was a writer, illustrator, journalist, fine artist, and musician who grew up in the small Wisconsin town of Neenah. She relocated to South Florida with her husband, Bill, and their two young children in 1959. Joan pursued her art, music, and writing while she and Bill raised their family, and both worked as daily newspaper journalists at The Miami News. A lifelong lover of animals, she also became an in-demand pet portrait artist in Miami and then in Los Angeles, where the family moved in 1968. Joan created the Seymour Dragon character and the "Seymour Goes to School" story and illustrations in 1966 as a special first birthday gift for her nephew, Scott Joachim Peeples. The book remained in the family until 2021, when her two children, Stephen and Ruth, with Scott's blessing, had it published so other children could enjoy it as much as all the Peeples did.