Brett Helquist was born in Ganado, Arizona, and grew up in Orem, Utah. Soon after Mr. Helquist’s own dreams of becoming a pirate were sunk, he became an illustrator and took on the dangerous work of illustrating the New York Times best-selling Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. He lives in Brooklyn, where he keeps a very old and mysterious map marked with an "X."