Marjorie Bicknell Johnson taught mathematics for twenty-five years before she became a pilot, and she published ninety mathematical papers before she wrote a novel. She and her husband Frank live in Santa Clara, California; they have four children.

Marjorie and her husband fly their own small airplane out of Palo Alto Airport, the setting for Bird Watcher. Like many other pilots, Marjorie learned to fly in a Cessna 172. She has landed at every small airport mentioned in Bird Watcher.