Jacquelyn Whitney studied at the University of Washington, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1951 and graduated in 1959 with a master's degree in literature. In 1952 she had married the writer Louis Trimble.
In 1964 she published a first novel, The Whisper of Shadows , a scary novel about a mysterious house and its mysterious owner with a librarian as the main character. Her second book, the science fiction novel Guardians of the Gate, was written with her then-husband Louis Trimble.
