Jack William Wheaton was born 1932 in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. He taught at Cerritos Community College and the College of the Redwoods, and later was an administrator at the Dick Grove School of Music and at the University of Southern California. He recorded 10 CDs, wrote 15 books on music, won an Emmy for the Stan Kenton Collegiate Neophonic ABC Television Special "Neophonic Spring" and trained 84 pianists for the George Gershwin segment of the 1984 Olympics opening ceremony in Los Angeles. He died from cancer on January 25, 2015 in San Diego County, California, U.S.A.