Sallie Tisdale is a nonfiction writer and essayist. She also teaches part-time in the writing program at Portland State University. Tisdale began her career by writing in her off-hours from medical practice, where she worked as a nurse. Her work has appeared in Harper’s, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Tricycle. Her first book, "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Medical Miracles and Other Disasters," was published in 1986. She is the author of ten books, mostly on various aspects of the human body.