She dropped out of junior high school at the age of 13, and says she spent most of her youth running the streets of Harlem.
Although she was not officially home-schooled, her parents both insisted that she continue her education on her own, and gave her an extensive reading list.
[1] It was then that her interest in Harlem history was born, as she read novels and poetry by Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Nella Larsen, and Claude McKay.
While there, she wrote letters to the City Editor complaining about what she considered the biased coverage of people of color.
Finally fed up, Miller gave her two-week notice, and enrolled at Temple University to major in journalism.
[4] Miller is included in the book Literary Divas: The Top 100+ Most Admired African-American Women in Literature.
Du Bois, Charles Fuller, David Goodis, Ken Kalfus, Beth Kephart, Michael Swanick, Judith Schachner, and Lisa Scottoline.