The caretakers of a nation's culture are its storytellers. Through the stories they tell, people remember their history and envision their future.

For more than a quarter of a century, Andrews McMeel Universal and its divisions, Universal Press Syndicate, Andrews McMeel Publishing and Universal New Media, have helped define American popular culture by giving a voice to storytellers of our age. Through comic strips, newspaper columns, books, calendars, greeting cards, gift items and Web sites, this quiet Kansas City company has discovered, nurtured and promoted many of the bards of our time.

Andrews McMeel Universal is the largest independent newspaper syndicate in the world and an emerging leader in book and calendar publishing and gift and stationery merchandising. In 1997, the privately-held company became Andrews McMeel Universal to reflect its diversification into magazine publishing and new media.

Every year, the company publishes the work of more than 125 syndicate creators and writers, more than 300 books, and a prestigious line of calendars and gift and stationery items. Andrews McMeel Universal continues to exert a lasting influence on American popular culture.