Ari while traveling recently in Italy

Ari Warner, a 2007 graduate of Heights High School, is remembered by many in the Cleveland Heights Community as a talented violinist. Now he can add another achievement to his resume: that of published illustrator!

Ari, a 19 year old freshman majoring in illustration at Pratt Institute of Art and Design in New York City, has been commissioned to illustrate a map for a fiction novel entitled Shorn by author Larissa Niec. The book will be marketed and distributed through book stores, Amazon.com and other marketing avenues. It will be released nationally in July of 2008 by Mercury Retrograde Press, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

The launch will be held in Atlanta on July 19. Ari has been invited to exhibit some of his other works during the launch event and reception.

The book is the first in a series of four. The publisher is expected to continue using Ari's illustrations for the upcoming sequels.

Ari is the son of Carolyn Gadiel Warner and Stephen Warner, both members of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Lita Gonzalez, a long time community volunteer and an aspiring writer, artist and gardener, lives in Cleveland Heights with her husband Mark. Both her daughters are Heights High graduates.