 Shiller was born in 1947 and raised on Long Island in New York , growing up in a middle @-@ class family . Her parents were home owners . Her father , Morris Shiller , was a self @-@ employed chemist who according to Shiller " perfected fake suede . " Morris emigrated to the United States from Latvia . Some members of his family were Holocaust victims . Shiller 's mother was Sara ( née Trop ) , Sara was born and raised in Belarus , where she lived through various occupations , including by the Germans , Polish , Russians , and Soviet Union . Sara came to America through Ellis Island at the age of six . She became a nurse and married Morris , in 1936 . She died at the age of 96 in the summer of 2011 . 
