Elizabeth (Boggs) Barzditis Lewis was born on November 15, 1902 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The family relocated when she was young and Elizabeth grew up in Sheboygan where she completed her early education, but at the age of 17, she became blind, and her schooling was prematurly cut short. Lewis was an accomplished singer from a young age and at 13 auditioned and became a regular performer on a local radio station. In 1924 she married Walter Barzditis and raised two children in Wisconsin before relocating to Hancock, Michigan. There she resumed her education at Suomi College in 1952 with the aid of other students, completing one year of schooling. After her husband's death in 1956, Lewis was hired as the first switchboard operator at Michigan Technological University working in Wadsworth Hall. In 1960 Lewis relocated to California where she became an accomplished writer, her works often referencing her life in the Copper Country. She met and married George Lewis in 1966, traveling extensively until his death in 1968. She continued to write and publish until her own death in 1996.