Brian Crane is an American cartoonist who created Pickles, a comic strip featuring a retired couple, Earl and Opal Pickles, their family, and their family pets, Muffin (cat) and Roscoe (dog). Crane was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, but was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to his mother, Crane began drawing at an young age and had hopes to become a comic strip artist when he was older. As a young man, Crane served as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Uruguay and in 1973 he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Brigham Young University, with an emphasis on design and illustration. As Crane got older, he felt that he lacked the talent and sense of humor needed to write material for a successful daily comic strip, so he pursued a career in graphic design and art direction and for a time was employed with art studios, publishing companies, and advertising agencies. As Crane neared the age of forty, he became disillusioned and grew tired of creating ads for products that he didn't believe in. Reminiscing about his childhood dream of being a comic strip artist, Crane decided to look into the syndication process by reading Mort Walker's autobiography. "I figured it was a better midlife option than buying a red Ferrari," Crane said. Crane eventually created Pickles, which has seen success since its creation in 1990.