Vera Baker Williams was born January 28, 1927 in Hollywood, California. As a child, her family moved to the Bronx, New York. She studied at The High School of Music & Art and Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where she received her BFA in Graphic Arts. She is a writer and illustrator of children's books. Her best known work, A Chair for My Mother, won multiple awards and was featured on the children's television show Reading Rainbow. She was the U.S. Illustrator Nominee for the 2004 Hans Christian Andersen Award.