Shirley Rus­sak Wach­tel is the daugh­ter of Holo­caust sur­vivors and was born and raised in Brook­lyn, New York. She holds a doc­tor of let­ters degree from Drew Uni­ver­si­ty and teach­es Eng­lish lit­er­a­ture at Mid­dle­sex Col­lege in Edi­son, New Jer­sey. Moth­er to three sons, she now has three grand­daugh­ters. She resides in East Brunswick, New Jer­sey, with her hus­band, Arthur.