Elsje van Munster was born in the Netherlands where she spent her childhood. Then she moved to Cambridge, England to polish up her English where she met her American husband. She moved to the U.S. at the age of twenty. After receiving her BA in Psychology and Philosophy from SUNY Geneseo she went to law school and earned her J.D. degree (1980) from SUNY Buffalo. She worked in a small-town law firm and did a short stint in corporate law but her real interest was conflict resolution. For decades she practiced mediation and arbitration at a not-for-profit agency and in her own private practice. She spent sixteen years as a Town Justice where cases included everything from minor traffic infractions and small claims to misdemeanors and felonies. In addition, Elsje worked as an adjunct faculty member in SUNY Geneseo’s Political Science and Philosophy departments where she taught pre-law courses as well as writing. After spending a couple of years as Associate Dean of Students she retired to the beautiful Finger Lakes property she shares with her husband, Eugene Stelzig, and Theo the rescue dog. In her retirement, she enjoys hiking through the woods, writing, and volunteering at the local Food Pantry.