Born in Vienna, Austria, on February 15th, Doris Adelberg Orgel's family fled to Yugoslavia and later New York during the Nazi occupation. She worked in magazine and book publishing for many years. After her three children were born, she used her language skills to translate several fairy and folk tales including Willhelm Hauff's Dwarf Long Nose (1960), winner of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Other titles include We Goddesses (1999) and Merry Merry February (1977). Inspiration comes from leaving herself open: "ready for I don't know what. And with luck," she writes, "at four am, or when I take a bath, or do the dishes, or watch birds in Central Parkflash! Suddenly there's an ideaor a glimpse of one."