Vicki Lansky was born in Louisville, Ky., on January 6, 1942. She received a B.A. from Connecticut College in 1963, and then began a varied career, working as a clcothing buyerin NYC, as a freelance photographer, and as a childbirth education teaching assistant. In 1974, however, she became involved in publishing when she and several other mothers collaborated on a babyfood cookbook. When none of the publishers they approached were interested in the book, Lansky and her husband, Bruce, decided to publish the book themselves and distribute it from home. Their creative promotional efforts turned Feed Me! I'm Yours into one of the bestselling cookbooks in its category, and Lansky found her niche as a writer and publisher of parenting materials. Her next book, The Taming of the C.A.N.D.Y. Monster, was a New York Times bestseller, and in 1979 Lansky began publishing a bimonthly newsletter called Practical Parenting. This venture led to a nationally syndicated radio feature and a series of parenting books geared toward inexperienced parents. Now divorced, Lansky lives in Minnesota, where she is the founder and owner of Book Peddlers, a publisher company. In addition, she wrote 24 books related to childrearing and Baking Soda, Vinegar and 4 other household help books. She received the 1990 Parent's Choice Award for Vicki Lansky's Divorce Book for Parents: Helping Children Cope with Divorce and Its Aftermath. Lansky was a contributing editor to Family Circle magazine and a columnist for Sesame Street Parents magazine. Lansky, mother of two adult children, has 3 granddaughters and lives in suburban Minneapolis.