Mark Stivers was born in Los Angeles but grew up mostly in a suburb of Philadelphia. After graduating from the Tyler School of Art, he spent three years in the Peace Corps in the Caribbean, at the end of which he met his wife Jennifer, who was on a working vacation. She was living in Sacramento and he decided that it would be better to go there than to try to convince Jennifer to move to Philadelphia.
     In the Caribbean, Mark had met a piano tuner/pianist who inspired him to pursue the same path. Following the advice of Jennifer's stepbrother Ben Gaffin (who still tunes in Los Angeles), Mark picked up the Yellow Pages and called every tuner listed. He soon connected with Del Fandrich and Antonio Bombal, who became his main two mentors.
     Mark has had a second career as a keyboardist. After spending seven years accompanying Sacramento's resident Gilbert & Sullivan specialists, he has gone on to play with Music Circus, Sacramento Theater Company, Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento Opera, the Choral Society, and many other groups. In 2005, he toured with Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan. He was musical director of Best of Broadway for ten years and continues to write their arrangements and play in the show band.
     Since 1981, Mark has also published over 1,000 cartoons. His work has appeared in Funny Times, Harper's, Utne Reader, American Enterprise, Sacramento News & Review, and many anthologies and textbooks. In 2006, he published his first cartoon collection, There is Only Unibrow.
Favorite composer: Too many to mention
Favorite piano: any piano that's not a half-step flat.
Fact you might not know about Mark : he juggles.