Mary MacCracken was born Mary Burnham on June 6, 1926 in Englewood, New Jersey. She attended Wellesley College from 1943 to 1945 but left to get married. She entered the special education field in the late 1960s as a once-a-week volunteer at a private school in New Jersey. She volunteered for about seven years. During that time she received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree with a focus on learning disabilities from what is now William Paterson University. She had a private practice diagnosing and treating children with learning disabilities until she was in her 70s. She wrote several books during her lifetime including A Circle of Children, Lovey: A Very Special Child, City Kid,… and Turnabout Children: Overcoming Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities. Two of her books, A Circle of Children and Lovey, were made into television movies. She died from complications of melanoma on July 23, 2014 at the age of 88.