Fannie Hurst (1889-1968) was born in Ohio, grew up in St. Louis, and spent her adult life in New York City. She is the author of seventeen novels and more than 250 short stories, as well as plays, screenplays, memoirs, essays, and articles. Her best-remembered works are those turned into films, including Imitation of Life, Back Street, Humoresque, The Younger Generation, and Young at Heart. She was also active in a variety of progressive Jewish, social justice, labor, peace, and women's organizations.

Susan Koppelman is a pioneering literary historian, acknowledged as the leading authority on the women's short story in the United States. Her ten anthologies include Between Mothers and Daughters and The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe.