Judith Merkle Riley
# Judith Merkle Riley

Judith Merkle Riley (January 14, 1942 – September 12, 2010) was an American writer, teacher and academic who wrote six historical romance novels.

## Biography

Judith Astria Merkle was born in 1942 and grew up in Livermore, California. Her great-uncle was baseball player Fred Merkle. Her father, Theodore Charles Merkle, ran Project Pluto, and her brothers, Ted Merkle DVM is a well respected veterinarian serving Shasta County, Ralph is a pioneer in public key cryptography, and more recently a researcher and speaker on molecular nanotechnology and cryonics. She earned a MA from Harvard University and held a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and taught in the Department of Government at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California.

She wrote six historical fiction novels, starting in 1988.

She was married and had two children, a daughter Elizabeth and a son Marlow.

Riley died on September 12, 2010, from ovarian cancer.

