Gerrie Schipske is passionate about the history of her hometown, Long Beach, California. Born in the U.S. Naval Hospital, she later earned degrees and pursued careers in law, health care, teaching and politics. She worked as an intelligence clerk with the CIA, staffed for a member of Congress and is the first lesbian to be elected to public office in Long Beach. She and her spouse, Flo Pickett, have been together since 1980, raising three children and a granddaughter and spoiling their dog, English.