Elizabeth Partridge grew up in Berkeley, California.  When her father, Rondal Partridge, decided at seventeen to become a photographer, his mother, Imogen Cunningham, sent him to work with her family friend, Dorothea Lange. Elizabeth became part of this extended, Lange-Partridge intermingled family. Elizabeth was the first student to graduate from the University of California with a degree in Women’s Studies, and went on to study traditional Chinese medicine in the United Kingdom. An Oriental Medical Doctor and acupuncturist for more than twenty years, she closed her practice in 2001 to write full-time. The author of more than a dozen books, Elizabeth has received many honors, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and National Book Award Finalist. She still lives in Berkeley in a large, ramshackle house with her husband, father, son and his girlfriend, as well as numerous animals.