[1][2] She attended the Birch Wathen School in Manhattan, and graduated from Smith College in 1950.

[3] Barbara Heine was an editor at Esquire magazine, and a political hostess through her second husband's work in New York City.

During the 1980 Democratic National Convention, she hosted a reception for the Alaska delegation.

[4] Costikyan became a contributor to New York magazine in 1980, writing the "Underground Gourmet" column,[1] and other features about affordable dining in the city.

[6] She also wrote for The New York Times,[7] Harper's Bazaar,[8] and Cosmopolitan magazine,[9] and published a children's book, Be Kind to Your Dog at Christmas (1982).