Geil Evans Butler was born in 1920 and raised on a farm near Rantoul, Illinois. When her family returned to the Central Illinois area from Japan, she later worked as a legal secretary for 19 years and owned an arts and crafts shop in Rantoul called Rainbow's End before retiring in March 1989.

As a wife, mother, grandmother, widow and great-grandmother, she has enjoyed many activities, including sewing, sketching, costume design, painting, genealogy, creating scaled miniatures, and, of course, writing. Her work has been published in craft and miniature magazines and area seniors publications. She also regularly publishes historical columns in local newspapers.

In 1999, Butler was an Illinois recipient of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for her role in helping preserve the history of Rantoul, increasing public awareness through her newspaper columns and working with the Rantoul Historical Society. Also, the Rantoul Area Chamber of Commerce presented Butler with the 2000 Marvin Remmers Volunteer of the Year Award.