 She attended the Brearley School in Manhattan, and majored in music at Wellesley College.She began writing music at the age of 16 and her professional career began with writing songs for Little Golden Records, which were albums for children with three-minute songs.One of these recordings, "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves 40", which was released in 1957, featured performances by Bing Crosby of songs Mary Rodgers wrote with lyricist Sammy Cahn.