Alma Routsong was born in Traverse City, Michigan on November 26, 1924 to Carl and Esther Miller Routsong. Routsong"s first two novels were published under her own name, with the later works under the pen name Isabel Miller, a combination of an anagram of "Lesbia" and her mother"s maiden name.
She graduated from Michigan State University in 1949 with a degree in art
During World World War II she served in the Walking Attack Vehicle Enhanced, training at the Farragut, Idaho Naval Training Center, and then worked as a hospital apprentice. Between 1968 and 1971 she worked as an editor at Columbia University. From the mid-1970s until 1986 she was a proofreader for Time Magazine.
Routsong was an officer in the New York chapter of Daughters of Bilitis and she was arrested during a DOB police raid.
Alma Routsong died in Poughkeepsie, New York on October 4, 1996, aged 71. "After the G.I. Wedding," (review of A Gradual Joy), The New York Times August 23, 1953 "When Mother Moved In," (review of Round Shape), The New York Times September 6, 1959 "Their love was a thing apart" (review of Patience and Sarah), The New York Times April 23, 1972.
