Gary Sternberg grew up in Germany, witnessing anti-Semitic propaganda as early as age 7. He describes some of the experiences his father endured at a concentration camp, and his escape to China. He and his mother reunited with his father in Shanghai in 1940. They left Shanghai in 1948, eventually settling in Cleveland. He and his family came to Las Vegas in 1969.
Nevada politician and women's advocate Imogene "Jean" Young was born in Miami, Oklahoma, on December 28, 1929, to Daisy Adelphia (Flook) and Clarence Nathan Young. She had one brother, Byron Young. Her family moved to Joplin, Missouri, where she attended kindergarten through high school. In 1951 she graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with a B.A. in Sociology. After graduation she worked as a recreational therapist for the American Red Cross in military hospitals until 1955.