Flo­rence Reiss Kraut is a native New York­er, raised and edu­cat­ed in four of the five bor­oughs of New York City. She holds a BA in Eng­lish and an MSW in social work, and she worked for thir­ty years as a clin­i­cian, a fam­i­ly ther­a­pist and final­ly CEO of a fam­i­ly ser­vice agency before retir­ing to write and trav­el widely.