Mary Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College, Wooster Business College, and Kent State University in the sixties. She was a licensed realtor for ten years. She worked as a volunteer for the Red Cross at the VA hospital and received a pin for services rendered. She also worked for United Torch agencies, which are now defunct. She was attacked by breast cancer in 1991. She is a survivor. Mary has published two other works, There Are Those and Beyond the Box.