Lynn Bretz was born in Ruston, Louisiana. She earned a bachelor's degree in English with honors from the University of Kansas (KU) in 1971, a Master's degree in English from the University of Denver (Colorado) in 1973, and a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas in 1979.

During the early 1980s, Bretz worked as a journalist for the Lawrence, Kansas-based newspaper Lawrence Journal-World as the arts editor. She wrote the portrait of the artist portion of the exhibit catalog Through the Looking Glass: Drawings by Elizabeth Layton and the foreword to the book Landscapes in Kansas: paintings by Robert Sudlow. Bretz later worked at KU, first as a writer/editor at University Relations and working her way up to Director of University Communications in 2006. She was inducted in KU's Women's Hall of Fame in 2011.

Bretz had one sister, Anne Bretz-Aronoff, and two brothers, Bob and Lewis Bretz. Her partner, Janet Hamburg (1951-2010), was a KU dance professor.

[Biographical information from Lynn Bretz obituary on the Warren-McElwain Mortuary, Lawrence, Kansas website, https://warrenmcelwain.com/obituary/Lynn-Marion-Bretz/.]

Asa Converse was born in Louisburg, Kansas in 1875 to John Melvin and Cynthia (Finch) Converse. In 1897, Asa Converse was the manager of the football team of Ottawa University, in Ottawa, Kansas. He graduated from Ottawa University in 1898, after completing the scientific course. Shortly after graduating, at the age of 23, Converse purchased the Wellsville Globe newspaper in Wellsville, Franklin County, Kansas for $750.

Converse married May Frink in 1900; she wrote a weekly column in the newspaper. Converse and May had three children: Adelbert Frink, Carolyn Maude, and Elizabeth Hope. Elizabeth Hope (Converse) Layton became a well-known artist late in life.

Asa Converse was active in Republican politics in the state of Kansas, served on the city council in Wellsville and represented the 13th district in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1935-1939 and in 1941. He remained the publisher of the Wellsville Globe until his death in 1942. After his death, his wife and daughter Elizabeth edited the newspaper until 1957.

[Biographical information from collection materials, from the Don Lambert collection of Elizabeth Layton papers, RH MS 1538, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas and from franklincokshistory.org.]

Elizabeth Hope Converse was a native of Wellsville, Franklin County, Kansas, the daughter of newspaper people. She married Clyde Nichols in 1929 but returned home in the early 1940s with her five children after the marriage failed and her father passed away. She helped her mother run the Wellsville Globe newspaper. Elizabeth later married Glenn F. Layton.

After years of suffering from depression without relief, Layton's sister suggested that she take an art class as a form of therapy. The local college was offering a class on "blind" contour drawing, a technique that involves looking at the paper only briefly for reference while concentrating on the artist's subject. Layton took the class at the age of 68, in 1977, her only training in drawing. Layton signed her artwork as "Grandma" because she was so much older than the other college students in the art class. The art class had an exhibit to showcase their work, and local journalist Don Lambert discovered Layton.

Through Lambert's promotion, Layton's artwork has been exhibited across the country and has been featured in numerous books, magazines, and newspapers. Layton's work focused on personal matters and rejected stereotypes about old age, mental health and illness, and gender. From the late 1970s until her death in 1993, Layton created thousands of drawings with social commentary and truthful depictions of aging and depression. Because Layton saw her artistic talent as a gift, she decided never to sell any of her artwork.

[Biographical information from Don Lambert collection of Elizabeth Layton papers, RH MS 1538, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas.]