Mary Stanton has been writing professionally most of her adult life. She divides her time between a goat farm in upstate New York near the Finger Lakes region and a small home in West Palm Beach.
Stanton is the oldest daughter of William Bishop Whitaker and Caroline Whitaker, both of whom were college professors for parts of their careers. She has two sisters; Cynthia Bishop Whitaker, Esquire of Seattle, Washington and Deborah Susan Whitaker Hairston of Ithaca, New York. She was born in Winter Park, Florida while her father was Dean of Men at Rollins College. When William Whitaker was recruited back into the Navy in the early fifties, he and his family were posted to Japan. Leaving active Naval service for the Reserves and a position in the State Department, Whitaker was posted to Hawaii where he occupied a position as Director of Educational Services for Southeast Asia.
