Mary Pope Osborne (edit name/settings)

Mary Pope was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the daughter of William Pope, a United States Army Colonel, and Barnette (née Dickens), a homemaker. Osborne has a twin brother, Bill, a younger brother, and an older sister, Natalie, who has collaborated with her. Until she was 15, Osborne's family relocated often for her father's career; the family lived in Oklahoma, Austria, Florida and on four different Army posts before ending up in North Carolina, where the family settled once her father retired. Osborne credits her lifelong peripatetic tendencies and love of adventure to this nomadic childhood.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Osborne traveled extensively around the world before settling in New York City. In 1976, she married Will Osborne, actor and children's playwright. He is Osborne's occasional collaborator.
From 1993 to 1997, Osborne served as the 27th president of the Authors Guild, the oldest organization for writers in the United States.