Flory Sommers grew up in Detroit, Michigan, the oldest of 13 children. She graduated with a degree in Education with Bilingual Certification from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received an M.A. from the University of MN in Second Language Acquisition.

Over her 41-year career, she taught in Austin, TX; Milwaukee, WI; and Minneapolis, MN. Besides teaching English and Spanish Language Arts, Flory also coached basketball and Spoken Word, directed student theatre productions, and choreographed student dance performances. Additionally, she coached in Minnesota Urban Debate League’s English Debate League, Spanish Debate League, and Somali Debate League.

Over the years, Flory has combined her love of languages and her love of traveling. Sometimes she travels with friends or family, sometimes solo, always enjoying opportunities to practice her nascent skills in French, Portuguese, German, and Turkish. She is currently studying Somali through the University of Minnesota.

Breast cancer and subsequent surgeries set Flory on a path to recover health through running. She finished her first marathon at age 58 with her oldest son and her second marathon at age 66 with a niece and nephew.

After her first marathon, she started cross-training and has participated in YWCA sprint triathlons with nieces and friends. Initially daunted by these challenges because of her slow pace, “nevertheless, she persisted” and is overwhelmingly grateful for all the community support she received in both her cancer journey and her marathon journey, and now, her writing journey.

Flory lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Dave, and enjoys spending time with their affectionate dog, Leilani and three children: Eamon (born in 1995), Siobhan (born in 1997) and Dashiell (born in 2004.)