Liz Murray - Biography

Biography

Murray was born in the Bronx, New York on September 23, 1980 to poor and drug-addicted parents who would later each contract HIV. She became homeless just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS, and her father moved to a homeless shelter. Murray fought through some incredibly difficult circumstances and was finally able to turn her life around when she began attending the Humanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan. Though she started high school later than most students, and remained without a stable home while supporting herself and her sister, Murray graduated in only two years. She was awarded a New York Times scholarship for needy students and was accepted into Harvard University, matriculating in the fall semester of 2000. According to her book Breaking Night, her older sister Lisa graduated from Purchase College in New York State and is a school teacher for autistic children.

In late 2006, her father died of AIDS. She returned to Harvard in 2006 and graduated in June 2009. As of August 2009, she began taking graduate courses at Harvard Summer School and would like to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology to counsel people from all walks of life.

She is the founder and director of Manifest Living, a company that provides a series of workshops that empower adults to create the extraordinary things in their lives. A made-for-TV film about Murray's life Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, was released in 2003. Liz Murray's New York Times (USA) & Sunday Times (UK) bestselling memoir "Breaking Night" was released in September 2010.