Alta Ashley was born in Boston, educated at Girls' Latin High School in Boston and received her BA from Mount Holyoke College. She received a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cincinnati and studied medicine at Vanderbilt University, graduating in 1937. She interned at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY and completed her pediatric residency at Children's Hospital in Detroit. She established a private pediatric practice in Wellesley Hills, MA, and later moved to Maine as a Public Health physician, where she was assigned to the district in which Monhegan Island was located. In 1968 Dr. Ashley retired and moved to her family cottage, "The Moorings", on Monhegan Island. She became a correspondent for the Lincoln County News in 1972 and served in that capacity for various papers. She was named Queen of the Country Correspondents by Charles B. Seib of the Washington Post. Dr. Ashley wrote a number of books about Monhegan Island and was extremely involved in community affairs on Monhegan and in Damariscotta, ME. Dr. Ashley died at age 86.