Mary is an editor with 20 years experience in various aspects of journalism, including reporting, writing, and magazine and book management. She currently runs her own freelance editorial business. Her clients include Yoga Journal, San Francisco Medicine, San Francisco Classical Voice, Sunset Books, and Wells Fargo. She spent eight years as chief editor of Strings Magazine and, prior to that, was a radio news reporter and anchor for KPFA and KQED in the Bay Area and KXPR/KXJZ in Sacramento.

Mary holds master's degrees in journalism and linguistics from UC Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in linguistics from Bryn Mawr College.