Lillian Faderman
| Lillian Faderman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 18, 1940 The Bronx, New York |
| Occupation | Writer, professor |
| Nationality | American |
| Subject | Lesbian history, LGBT history |
| Partner | Phyllis Irwin[1] |
| Children | Avrom |
Lillian Faderman (born July 18, 1940) is an American historian whose books on lesbian history and LGBT history have earned critical praise and awards.
Early life
Faderman was raised by her mother, Mary, and her aunt, Ray. In 1914, her mother emigrated from a shtetl in Latvia to New York, planning eventually to send for the rest of the family. Her aunt Ray came in 1923, but the rest of the family was killed during Hitler's extermination of European Jews, and Mary blamed herself for not being able to rescue them. Her guilt contributed to a serious mental illness that would profoundly affect her daughter.[2]
Mary and Ray, Faderman's mother and aunt, worked in the garment industry for very little money. Lillian was her mother's third pregnancy; her mother (unmarried) aborted the first two pregnancies at Lillian's biological father's request, but insisted on bearing and raising the third. Mary married when Lillian was a teenager and died in 1979, continuing to have a profound influence on her daughter’s life.
Coming out
The family moved to Los Angeles, where with her mother’s encouragement Lillian took acting classes. She began modeling as a teenager, discovered the gay bar scene and met her first girlfriend. Before she graduated from high school, she married a gay man much older than herself, a marriage that lasted less than a year.
Scholarship
Faderman studied first at the University of California, Berkeley and later at UCLA. She was a professor of English at California State University, Fresno and a visiting professor at UCLA. She retired in 2007.
Private life
She lives with her partner of forty years (as of 2012), Phyllis Irwin. She has one son, Avrom, who earned a PhD from Stanford University.[3]
Awards & Honors
- New York Times (Notable Book of 1981) for Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present
- Stonewall Book Award (1982) for Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present
- Lambda Literary Award (Editor's Choice Award, 1992) for Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America
- New York Times (Notable Book of 1992) for Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America
- Stonewall Book Award (Nonfiction, 1992) for Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America
- Lambda Literary Award for Best Non-fiction Book (2000) for To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done For America - A History
- Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian/Gay Anthology (2003) for Naked in the Promised Land
- Yale University James Brudner Prize for Exemplary Scholarship in Lesbian/Gay Studies (2001)
- Paul Monette-Roger Horwitz Trust Award (1999)
- Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement (Publishing Triangle, 2004) for Naked in the Promised Land
- Judy Grahn Award for Memoir (Publishing Triangle, 2004) for Naked in the Promised Land
- Two Lambda Literary Award for Best Nonfiction Book & LGBT Arts and Culture Award (2007) both awards for Gay L. A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics and Lipstick Lesbians
- Lambda Literary Award (Pioneer Award, 2013)
- New York Times (Notable Book of 2015) for The Gay Revolution
- Washington Post (Notable Nonfiction Book of 2015) for The Gay Revolution
- Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Nonfiction, 2016) for The Gay Revolution[4]
Works
- Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (1981)
- Scotch Verdict : Miss Pirie and Miss Woods v. Dame Cumming Gordon (1983)
- Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (1991)
- Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the 17th Century to the Present (1994)
- I Begin My Life All Over : The Hmong and the American Immigrant Experience (1998)
- To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done For America - A History (1999)
- Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir (2003)
- Gay L. A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, And Lipstick Lesbians (2006)
- My Mother's Wars (2013)
- The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (2015)
Footnotes
- ↑ "Finding Aid for the Lillian Faderman papers, 1976-1989". Online Archive of California. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
- ↑ Marler, Regina (February 18, 2003). "Naked History". The Advocate. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
- ↑ Wall, Alexandra J. (October 31, 2003). "A life exposed: From student stripper to respected professor, lesbian historian bares her own secrets". Jweekly.com. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- ↑ "Lillian Faderman". Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.