Pauline Gibling was raised in the New York City area, and attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, where she was classmates with Alfred Kinsey.

They lived briefly at Taliesin the next year before moving to Los Angeles, where Schindler worked for Frank Lloyd Wright.

[6] The couple hosted social gatherings at Schindler House, with Pauline mainly inviting artists and political thinkers.

She edited the weekly Carmel Pine Cone newspaper and later The Carmelite publication,[9] where she clashed with fellow editor Lincoln Steffens.

[10][11] Schindler moved to Oceano, California, where she helped to edit a monthly arts journal, Dune Forum.