Raised on a small farm in Maine, Ellen Bryan Obed first went to Labrador at the age of twenty to work at Cartwright Summer Camp. After University, she returned to Labrador to teach school and to research its flora. She married Enoch Obed of Nain and they had three children, Keturah, Natan, and Seth.

Ellen is the author of ten books for children. Her Borrowed Black has been translated into seven languages and appeared in thirteen different editions since it was first published in 1979. The seasons and nature provide the subjects for most of Ellen’s writing. She and her husband, Robert, reside in the town of Ellsworth on the Coast of Maine.