Sophie Pearl Schaffer was the youngest of four children, born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to Romanian immigrant parents. After attending high school in Pawtucket she attended Pembroke College and graduated with an A.B. in English. She married Elmer Blistein who became a member of the English faculty at Brown University. After graduation she was active in the Alumnae Association, the Friends of the Library, the Corporation and the Library Corporation Committee, and the Pembroke Associates. She died on June 6, 2009.