Judith Rascoe

She attended Stanford University, spent a year as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Bristol, studied at Harvard for a time, and soon after began publishing short stories.

She later worked as a journalist and as a teacher of fiction at Yale before turning to screenwriting almost by accident. Independent director Joe Strick came across one of her stories in The Atlantic and asked her if she'd like to write a script. That offer turned into her 1973 debut, Road Movie.

In 1973, she also published a book of short stories called Yours, and Mine.