Melody Hope Stein was born March 26, 1948 in Oceanside, Long Island, New York. She got her education from SUNY Binghamton, Harpur College, and Hofstra University. She taught art education for 46 years, in New York before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1996. She served for fourteen years as the arts director and art teacher at the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Educational Campus (formerly Milton I Schwartz Hebrew Academy) in Summerlin, Nevada.

Jack LeVine was born in 1954 and was raised Columbus, Ohio. He first started visiting Las Vegas, Nevada whenever his truck driver routes allowed him to visit his parents who had moved there in 1977. They owned a downtown sandwich and catering business called “Your Place or Mine.”