A native of the Republic of Panama, Brenilda R. Bauer was born in the province of Chiriqui and grew up in a family of six brothers and four sisters in a small village near the frontier in Costa Rica. After finishing high school in Panama, Brenilda attended Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge. While a student at LSU, she also took courses at the University of Innsbruck in Austria and graduated from LSU with a bachelor of arts degree with a major in history and a minor in English. Subsequently, she moved to West Texas, where she enrolled at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, earning a master of arts degree in history. Presently, Brenilda resides with her husband, Bruce, and five hopelessly spoiled cats in a former restaurant known as the Best Café in his hometown of Pecos, Texas, from which they occasionally travel to and from Panama overland and by air.
