Barbara Grier, pioneering lesbian publisher, has died
November 11, 2011 9:11 AM   Subscribe

Barbara Grier,founder of the lesbian publishing company Naiad Press, has died at age 78.

Naiad Press was the first publishing company to focus on books for and about lesbians, publishing new content and reprinting classic 1950's lesbian pulp books. Naiad Press closed in 2003, Grier and her partner Donna McBride donated their papers/books/photos/etc to the James Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library.
posted by rmd1023 (29 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by drezdn at 9:13 AM on November 11, 2011


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posted by Faint of Butt at 9:17 AM on November 11, 2011


Have some of their books on my shelf.

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posted by kyrademon at 9:21 AM on November 11, 2011


We're losing our first generation activists at an alarming rate this year.
posted by me & my monkey at 9:22 AM on November 11, 2011


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posted by anya32 at 9:23 AM on November 11, 2011


I just burst into tears at my desk.

I knew Barbara, and Donna, back when I worked in the gay and lesbian publishing world. They are...were...are both revolutionaries. They changed the world.

Thank you, Barbara, for more than you know.

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posted by rtha at 9:23 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


I suppose that should actually read 'co-founder' as there were (iirc) four women who started up Naiad.

And, yeah, all these activists who paved the way for my generation and made it easier for us are dying off. It's sobering.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:23 AM on November 11, 2011


When I was running the bookstore, my customers were not too interested in Naiad material, finding it a bit quaint. On the other hand, without Naiad, the books they wanted probably would never have been published. It's the nature of the young to not appreciate the trailblazing of their elders. So, my hat is off and a minute of silence for these bold pioneers.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:31 AM on November 11, 2011 [3 favorites]


:-(

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posted by mykescipark at 9:42 AM on November 11, 2011


I didn't know about this person or her work, but it sounds like we owe her.

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Can anybody recommend anything good Naiad published?
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 9:44 AM on November 11, 2011


two or three cars parked under the stars, I own, have read, and would recommend:

The Price of Salt

Odd Girl Out, I Am a Woman, Women in the Shadows, Journey to a Woman, Beebo Brinker (the five books that comprise the Beebo Brinker Chronicles)

The Year Seven

Desert of the Heart

I have not read Curious Wine or Faultline, but I plan on getting them.
posted by kyrademon at 9:59 AM on November 11, 2011 [4 favorites]


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posted by OmieWise at 10:18 AM on November 11, 2011


Thank you, kyrademon!
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 10:21 AM on November 11, 2011


Katherine Forrest's Kate Delafield detective novels were always fun. I haven't read them in almost 20 years so I can't vouch for them being good, necessarily. I just remember enjoying them a lot.

I used to like Jane Rule's books very much. Memory Board, a novel about a lesbian couple dealing with one partner's dementia, has stayed with me since I read it in the late 80s or early 90s.
posted by not that girl at 10:27 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


I have one of Fay Jacobs's books at home, which is a great read and provides a lot of anecdotes about the early days of Naiad and what they had to overcome.

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posted by delfin at 10:35 AM on November 11, 2011


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posted by gingerbeer at 11:04 AM on November 11, 2011


Great book suggestions. And I'm getting all nostalgic.

Most of Naiad's catalogue was romance, and it wasn't high-falutin' literary romance either. But those books broke cultural and historical ground - books about lesbians where no one dies at the end! Where girl meets girl and they live happily ever after! - and I'm willing to bet they saved lives, too.
posted by rtha at 11:34 AM on November 11, 2011


Great book suggestions. And I'm getting all nostalgic.

Me., too. I find myself feeling sad about Grier's death, but also missing the young lesbian I was 25 years ago.

Most of Naiad's catalogue was romance, and it wasn't high-falutin' literary romance either. But those books broke cultural and historical ground - books about lesbians where no one dies at the end! Where girl meets girl and they live happily ever after! - and I'm willing to bet they saved lives, too.

Yep.
posted by not that girl at 11:47 AM on November 11, 2011 [2 favorites]


That's very well put rtha. Naiad, together with The Attic Press and perhaps Virago, gave me glimpses into a world that I could maybe survive in and provided me with just about the only lesbian and feminist media I had access to when I was coming up.

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posted by Iteki at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2011


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posted by shakespeherian at 1:01 PM on November 11, 2011


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In the early 90's I wrote to Naiad asking if they had any plans to reprint Marijane Meaker's (who writes YA under M E Kerr) Vin Packer pulps, as they had reprinted pulps from several other authors. I received a very annoyed reply from Grier stating something to the effect of "today's lesbian [ I prefer boys] doesn't want to read this kind of garbage"

Stark House has since reprinted a few.
posted by brujita at 2:25 PM on November 11, 2011


Lord, that sounds just like Barbara.
posted by rtha at 3:23 PM on November 11, 2011


The first lesbian novels I read were from Naiad. I am so grateful for the brave women who could make that happen for a young lesbian in small-town Texas.

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posted by kamikazegopher at 3:30 PM on November 11, 2011 [3 favorites]


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posted by Morrigan at 4:02 PM on November 11, 2011


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posted by kinnakeet at 6:03 PM on November 11, 2011


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posted by Halloween Jack at 6:37 PM on November 11, 2011


I took a short story writing course at Florida State University with the author of Faultline in the late 80s. She was a great teacher.
posted by wittgenstein at 6:37 PM on November 11, 2011


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...I can't even think how many years it's been since I bought a Naiad book, but there was a time when I scoured the shelves looking for new releases from them. I don't particularly like romances, but it was just so good to read books about lesbians when I was a teen and just coming out.
posted by MadGastronomer at 8:14 PM on November 11, 2011


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...we all owe a debt of gratitude to Barbara, and all the other folks of her generation. It has been a sad year, since so many of them have passed.

And kyrademon, definitely seek out Faultline, it is a fabulous read!
posted by PlantGoddess at 9:36 AM on November 12, 2011


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