Susan Leigh Bennett received her bachelor of science in biological sciences/science teaching from Clemson University, and her masters-plus-thirty in speech and language pathology from the University of South Carolina. She is the proud daughter of a Coast Guardsman and a descendant of three heroes of the former United States Life-Saving Service who were stationed along the New Jersey coastline. She resides in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with her mother, Barbara Bennett, and sister Lorri."