Ralph Lazar

Ralph Lazar is a South African artist, illustrator and a New York Times Bestselling author. Partnering with his wife Lisa Swerling, they are best known for their illustrative works Happiness Is, Harold's Planet, Vimrod and The Brainwaves.

Happiness Is was first published by Chronicle Books of San Francisco. Rights have been sold in over 16 languages. Harold's Planet and Vimrod have been published by Penguin Books, Harper Collins and Andrews McMeel and sell as greetings cards in the millions. The Brainwaves are cartoon characters that populate Dorling Kindersley's children's reference titles, published in over a dozen languages. Their artwork appeared weekly in The Financial Times and The Scotsman from 2006 to 2009.

With Lisa Swerling, he co-authored the book Me Without You which was on the New York Times Bestseller List in March 2015.

Awards and nominations include The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books (shortlist - 2008), Annecy International Animated Film Festival Grand Prix winner 1998 (International Project Competition), The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books (shortlist - 2007 ), The Washington Post Book of the Week (April 2007) and The Parents' Choice Award 2006 and 2009 .

Ralph Lazar was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1967, and has degrees in Law & Economics from the University of Cape Town, and a degree in Economics from The London School of Economics. He was formerly a strategist at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston.

He is married with two children, and divides his time between Marin County, California and southern Africa.