Ann Bannon (born 1932) is an American author who wrote six lesbian pulp fiction novels from 1957 to 1962 known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. The books' enduring popularity and impact on lesbian identity has earned her the title "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction". Bannon was a young housewife trying to address her own issues of sexuality when she was inspired to write her first novel. Her subsequent books featured four characters who reappeared throughout the series, including her eponymous heroine, Beebo Brinker, who came to embody the archetype of a butch lesbian. The majority of her characters mirrored people she knew, but their stories reflected a life she did not feel she was able to live. Despite her traditional upbringing and role in married life, her novels defied conventions for romance stories and depictions of lesbians, by addressing complex homosexual relationships positively during the morally repressive era of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her books shaped lesbian identity for lesbians and heterosexuals alike, Bannon was mostly unaware of their impact. She stopped writing in 1962 and later earned a doctorate in linguistics and became an academic. She endured a difficult marriage for 27 years and as she separated from her husband in the 1980s, her books were republished and she was stunned to learn of their influence on society. They were released again in 2001, and have been adapted as an award-winning Off-Broadway production. They are taught in Women's and LGBT studies courses, and Bannon has been given numerous awards for pioneering lesbian and gay literature.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1240:
Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeated the Swedes on the Neva River near Ust-Izhora, present-day Russia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Neva
1410:
The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald, the decisive engagement of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grunwald
1823:
A fire, accidentally started by a workman who was repairing the lead of the roof, destroyed the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. The church was restored by 1840. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint_Paul_Outside_the_Walls
1870:
Manitoba and the Northwest Territories were established following the transfer of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba
1888:
The volcano Mount Bandai erupted, killing at least 470 people in the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1888_eruption_of_Mount_Bandai
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
tractable (adj): 1. (obsolete) Capable of being handled or touched; palpable. 2. Capable of being easily led, taught, or managed; docile, manageable http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tractable
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Choose only one master — Nature. --Rembrandt http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rembrandt