Phyllis Ayame Whitney was born of American parents on September 9, 1903 in Yokohama, Japan.

After graduating from Chicago's McKinley High School in 1924, Phyllis began to write seriously. Beginning with short stories, she finally sold one to the Chicago Daily News.

During the 1940's, Phyllis A. Whitney served as Children's Book Editor of the Chicago Sun's Book Week (1942-1946) and the Philadelphia Inquirer (1947-1948). In 1941, her first book for young people, A Place for Ann, was published by Houghton Mifflin. And in 1943, her first adult suspense novel, Red is for Murder, was published by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. She also taught juvenile fiction writing courses at Northwestern University in 1945 and at New York University from 1947-1958.

Phyllis A. Whitney has one daughter, Georgia, three grandchildren -- Barbara, Michael, and Lorraine, and two great-grandchildren, Danny and Matthew.

Phyllis A. Whitney passed away on February 8, 2008 at the age of 104.