Ellen Anderson Penno is a writer and full-time medical doctor, earning an MD and MS from the University of Minnesota, with rotating surgical internship at Hennepin County Hospital, Minneapolis, and ophthalmology residency at the Mayo Clinic. She has earned a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College and completed her Graduate Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She immigrated to Calgary, Alberta in 1997 where she continues to live with her adult daughters and dog pal Ed.