American writer and artist Otis Kidwell Burger was born in 1923 in Staten Island, NY, and has lived in Greenwich Village since 1932. She graduated from Cornell University and married Knox Breckenridge Burger in 1946; they had two daughters, Neall and Katherine. Her published work includes: An Interesting Condition, a novel; The String That Went Up, a children's book; poetry in The New Yorker, Good Housekeeping, and Gourmet Magazine; science fiction in Galaxy and Astounding magazines. She's written book reviews for The New York Times, Book of the Month Club; The Village Voice, and Kirkus Services, as well as articles in the Villager. All of the poems included in CATS, LOVE & OTHER SURPRISES, except "The Stag," were written in the last two years.

Katherine Burger, Otis' second daughter, is a playwright and artist. She and her husband Randy live in the Hudson Valley.