Writer Lucy Sante was born in Belgium near the German border. Her Family emigrated to the United States several times between 1959 and 1963, finally Settling in New Jersey. After college, Lucy attended Columbia University, but did not graduate.

Since 1984, Lucy has been a teacher and a writer. Currently she teaches creative writing and the history of photography at Bard College. She is also a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books. Her publications include Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York, and The Factory of Facts and Folk Photography.  Her latest work is Maybe the People Would Be the Times, a collection of essays.