[1][2] Her father, Joseph Winston, worked as an engineer at General Motors and served in the United States Navy during World War II; her mother, Vivienne (Romaine), was a housewife and volunteered at a Dearborn hospital.

[1] During her father's stint in the Navy, the family relocated to Washington, D.C., and San Francisco before going back to Michigan.

[1] After a one-year sojourn in Europe, she undertook postgraduate studies at Columbia University, obtaining a master's degree in 1964 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1972.

It was a finalist for the National Book Award, spent 29 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list, and was eventually translated into 17 languages.

She became a visiting professor at Hunter College and went on to join the permanent faculty there as a distinguished lecturer.

[1] Milford died on March 29, 2022, at her home in Manhattan, three days after her 84th birthday, but no cause of death was disclosed.