Patsy Millett is the eldest daughter of the six children of pioneering aviator H.C. (Horrie) Miller and the author Dame Mary Durack Miller. Born at the outbreak of World War II and educated in Perth, WA, she travelled frequently to the West and East Kimberley regions where her family had property and pastoral stations. On leaving school she was employed in various capacities in Perth, London and Canada. A regular contributor of book reviews for the ABC and Sunday Times, she also wrote a humorous column for the Sunday Independent. From 1994 to 2006 she worked to collate the extensive Durack and Miller family archives for the State Library of WA and the National Library of Canberra. She has since continued to write on aspects of her family history.