Elizabeth was born in Coaldale, Alberta, and feels fortunate to have lived in 11 rural communities  throughout the province. She currently resides in Lethbridge, Alberta, where she works as a freelance writer, editor and public speaker. 

Inspired by her father’s memoirs of life as a rural teacher during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Elizabeth was moved to record the stories of other teachers before they were lost forever. The result – a NeWest Press bestseller - was With Unshakeable Persistence: Rural Teachers of the Depression Era.  Her sequel, With Unfailing Dedication: Rural Teachers in the War Years, is the first to chronicle the experiences of the brave young people who stepped forward to take the job. In her acclaimed bestseller, Gone but Not Forgotten: Tales of the Disappearing Grain Elevators, Elizabeth puts a human face on the  rapidly vanishing wooden grain elevators as she relates true stories of those whose lives and  communities revolved around the prairie icons. Her latest book, Herbert Has Lots for a Buck, looks at the unique ways 12 prairie towns found to survive after losing population and services to urban centres.  Elizabeth continues to be a strong voice in the community.  She has served as a jury member for the  Alberta Literary Awards, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the High Plains Book Award, as well as writer-in-residence for the  Shortgrass Regional Library System and the Wallace Stegner House (Eastend, Saskatchewan).  Elizabeth is an active member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, the Editors’ Association of Canada,  and Toastmasters International. She is a regular contributor to the University of Lethbridge Faculty of  Education alumni magazine, Legacy.