Martha Thompson spent the first twenty years of her professional life performing as an actor. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama and Marymount Manhattan College, she toured more than eighty U.S. cities as a member of John Houseman’s Acting Company. She also performed at Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre in New York, The Eugene O’Neill Playwright’s Conference in Connecticut, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and many regional theatres throughout the country.

When physical and emotional illness disabled her, Martha was forced to retire from acting. Inspired by her love for her German shepherd, Gus, she explored career options that involved animals, which led her to volunteering, and eventually working at a local zoo where she coordinated volunteers and wrote and edited a weekly newsletter called "ZOONOOZ."

Her first book, The Oxygen Mask Rule: How My Battle with Anorexia Taught Me to Survive, published in February 2012 by CreateSpace, was a Finalist in the Women's Issues category of the 2012 International Book Awards.

Martha lives in Los Angeles and continues to heal with the help of her husband Don, her service dog Henry, another beautiful dog named Cassie, four turtles, two Bobwhite and three Button quail.