Career
She served in the United States Navy from 1950 to 1954 and after that received her Master"s in educational psychology. She did not begin publishing until 1966. Her stories have an interest in aliens and have been termed "darkly comic" by admirers.
Despite her military experience, age, and preference for older San Francisco, she is often associated with the New Wave.
Related to that she has a story in The Last Dangerous Visions. She has also been of interest to those in Feminist science fiction.