Warren Norman (R.W. Norman) and Jay Thompson (JBird) got together in 2006 on an idea that Warren had to create a children’s book with Ball Characters. Warren and Jay grew up together in Rock Hill, SC. After two years of diligent work to create this series, in 2008 they established Baxter’s Bunch LLC, an independent trade publishing company, and printed their first book of the series, Adam Learns to Share.
Warren (RW) created the idea for the Baxter’s Bunch ball characters and is the author of the stories. As a father and sports lover, he thought it was unusual that there were not any “ball characters” in the children’s book industry. Warren is a 1999 graduate of Presbyterian College, where he majored in special education, and spent 6 years working with children and adults with Autism. Warren has spent the last 14 years as a commercial real estate developer (www.warrennorman.com) in Rock Hill, SC, where he lives with his wife Chrissi, his two sons, Ren and Walker, and his daughter Riley.
Jay (Bird) created the characters and scenes of Baxter’s Bunch. He wanted to have “cool” characters that kids could grow up with, and use nice bright colors that children respond to. His interest in kids stems from his passion of impacting lives, in which he did with his tenure of 8 successful years as the Director of Camp Cherokee, the Upper Palmetto YMCA’s summer resident camp, and most recently the establishment of Camp Luck, a camp for children with Heart Disease. Bird is a 1998 graduate of Clemson University, and currently owns his own company, Bird LLC (www.birdllc.com) which involves 2 independent departments: Art Services and Fitness Consultation. He lives in Charlotte, NC and follows his passions of making life an adventure, continuing to be a positive influence, and immersing himself in travels.