Valerie Alia was born in New York and raised in Oklahoma, where she passionately joined the civil rights movement and early lunch counter sit-ins. She reviewed music, dance and theatre; produced, wrote and commented for newspapers, radio and television; and co-directed the documentary film, Opening Doors, on arts and accessibility. In the UK she was Running Stream Professor of Ethics and Identity at Leeds Metropolitan University and Scott Polar Research Institute Senior Associate. She has a PhD from York (Canada) and is profiled in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World. She was Distinguished Professor of Canadian Culture at Western Washington University (Bellingham), where she created the Pete Steffens Native American Journalism Scholarship to honor her late husband, whose life and work continued the world-changing journalism of his father, Lincoln Steffens.