Bette Richart (circa 1916-1963) was born in Providence, Rhode Island and experienced paralysis due to a childhood illness. A surgery on her right elbow in her youth allowed her to eventually feed herself, dial a telephone, and hold a pencil to write. Richart attended Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, where she was promised a position as an English teacher once she graduated from college, which she did from Butler University in 1940. However, just before she graduated, legislation was passed which barred individuals with disabilities from teaching in public schools. Despite being kept from this opportunity, Richart pursued writing from home, where friends and family often visited her. Her work was published in the New York Times, the Saturday Review of Literature, the Atlantic Monthly, and other periodicals. For some time, she lived in New York in Greenwich Village. Richart was eventually diagnosed with cancer, moving back to Indianapolis to be taken care of by an aunt until she passed away in 1963.