Balliett was born to Elizabeth Platt and
Whitney Balliett. She was born Elizabeth Balliett, but her mother started calling her Blue shortly after her birth. Before releasing
Chasing Vermeer, she taught third grade at the
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. During her tenure, she coordinated with NASA astronaut and
University of Chicago alumnus
John M. Grunsfeld (S.M., '84, Ph.D., '88) to send her pupils' literature and creative artwork into space during a routine
Hubble Space Telescope mission on the
Columbia space shuttle. Balliett lives with her husband, three children, a grandson, and a cat. == Bibliography ==