garson attended the university of california, berkeley, where she earned a b.a. specializing in classical history in 1964. she was active in the free speech movement, as the editor of "the free speech movement newsletter", which was printed on an offset press that she herself had restored. she was one of 800 arrested on december 2, 1964 at a sit-in at sproul hall, berkeley, following the "machine speech" by mario savio. in 1968, garson had a child, juliet, and in 1969 she went to work at the shelter half, an anti-war gi coffee house near fort lewis army base in tacoma, washington. in the early 1970s, she moved to manhattan, publishing short, humorous essays and theater reviews primarily for the village voice as well as plays.