Elaine Fantle Shimberg

Elaine Fantle Shimberg was born in Yankton, South Dakota in 1937. She grew up in Fort Dodge, Iowa, detailed in her memoir, GROWING UP JEWISH IN SMALL TOWN AMERICA, although her last two years of her teens was in Sioux City, Iowa. She graduated from Northwestern University. Her first book was published in 1979 and her memoir marks her 23rd book. She's appeared on numerous national radio and TV shows including the TODAY show and AM CHICAGO where she was interviewed by then-little known Oprah.For five years she co-hosted a women's talk show on WFLA-TV in Tampa. Her RELIEF FROM IBS was selected as one of "Best Lay Medical Books for Public Libraries" by LIBRARY JOURNAL. Her articles have appeared in READER'S DIGEST, MEN'S HEALTH, SEVENTEEN, ESSENCE,WRITER'S DIGEST, and others. In 2002, she received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of South Florida. She served as chairman of the Board for Tampa's St. Joseph's Hospitals and presently is the chairman of the Hospitals' Foundation. Elaine is married, has five adult children, and ten grandchildren. She resides in Tampa, Florida and spends much of her summer in Maine.