Christie (Cummings) Finley grew up in Bakersfield where she graduated from Bakersfield High School and Bakersfield College. At UCLA, she studied Germanic languages and literature and earned the Master of Arts degree in 1973. That same year, she began teaching German at Santa Monica College and continued teaching there for 30 years. She also did work for various Los Angeles law firms. She is retired and lives with her husband in Sherman Oaks, California.