Brenda Ueland was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (October 24, 1891). Brenda attended Wells and Barnard colleges, receiving her baccalaureate degree from Barnard in 1913. After a brief newspaper career as the first woman reporter on the Minneapolis Tribune and a stint on the St. Paul Daily News, Ueland moved to New York City. In 1930 Ueland returned to Minneapolis where she continued to write. Brenda Ueland died on March 5, 1985.