Helen Pruden Kaufmann, a native of Edenton, graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in American History. She was the community liaison for a public school desegregation program in Massachusetts before relocating with her family to California, where she has done writing and editorial work for educational organizations such as the Santa Clara County Office of Education, The Challenge 2000 education initiative of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford. Helen and her husband now live in the San Diego area.