DIANE MINTZ was born in Newark, New Jersey where she lived until her family moved to California when she was 9. With the exception of graduate school and travel, she has spent her adult life in Berkeley where she got her B.A. from UC Berkeley and raised her two sons. She has worked as a teacher, an editor, a translator, a secretary, a newspaper reporter and a realtor (while founding a nonprofit, YES.Families.org), all while stashing her writings in drawers.  This is the first time some of her writing has been allowed the light of day.