Julie Mannix von Zerneck was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She traveled with her parents, living in Paris, on the isle of Capri and in several boarding schools around the world, before settling down at Sunny Hill Farm at the age of nine. There, she lived with a menagerie of animals, including a cheetah and eagle and her very own baby spider monkey. After attending the Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC, she became an actress on Broadway, had running roles in three soap operas and guest starred on many TV series. She is married to the TV producer, Frank von Zerneck. They, along with two of their children, Danielle and Francis, were the owners of Portrait of a Bookstore for twenty-six wonderful years. Julie is a lifelong antiques collector.




"Secret Storms", co-authored with Kathy Hatfield, is her first book.