Mary Ann Fiery was born on December 13, 1934, in
Martinsburg, West Virginia. She had an older sister, Cynthia. They were raised in nearby
Romney, West Virginia, but moved back to Martinsburg and went to high school there. Mary Ann was an alumna of
Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio. She married Carl Richard Shaffer in 1956, and in 1958 they moved to California, where they raised two daughters, Morgan and Liz. She worked in the public libraries of
San Anselmo,
Larkspur, She died at her home in
San Anselmo, California on February 16, 2008, shortly before the book was published. ==References==