Born in Boston (U.S.A.) in 1951, she lives in Paris. She was born Mary Ann, but was called Toots almost from birth. She earned her BFA at the Rhode Island School of Design, then went to Seattle to study with Dale Chihuly at the Pilchuck Glass School.

Since then, she's returned to Pilchuck as a teacher. She started working during the 70s and participated in all the most important glass workshops. In 1981 she reorganised the Experimental Glass Workshop in New York (u.s.a.) and was awarded a scholarship. In this town she met Mario Toso, who introduced her to the use of multicoloured

glass rods produced in Venice. The first stop of the trip to Europe was Murano, where she met the Venini family, for whom she works now. In 1995, her work is being shown at special exhibitions in Tokyo, Zurich, Italy, Philadelphia and Chicago.