She received a bachelor's degree from Agnes Scott College and a master's degree from the University of Louisville.[2] She worked as a journalist for The Louisville Times newspaper, and also wrote for Kentucky Educational Television. She taught young children and adolescents in mental institutions and hospitals. These were perhaps her biggest influence on her writing, especially a 13-year-old girl who influenced her play Getting Out.[3] She also taught English at the J. Graham Brown School and Prestonia Elementary School in Louisville.