We will soon get to know more about Edie Windsor, the lesbian icon who helped to bring about marriage equality in the United States. St. Martin’s Press announced that her memoir, “A Wild and Precious Life,” will be published in October, more than two years after her death.
Windsor became a household name in 2013 when she was a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, known as “DOMA.” Striking down DOMA was the first step in legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states, which finally happened in 2015. Windsor started writing “A Wild and Precious Life” with a ghost writer, but passed away in 2017, before the book was finished. Now, using her notes and papers, her co-writer has finished the memoir, which will come out later this year.
The importance of Windsor’s activism was apparent at her memorial. Hillary Clinton gave a eulogy of Windsor, saying, “She refused to give up on the promise of America. There was not a cynical, defeatist bone in her body. That’s especially important for us to remember right now… In this moment when so much hard-fought progress is hanging in the balance it is up to all of us to pick up where she left off. We really owe it to her, to ensure that gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights now and forever. It’s easy to go weary fighting these fights, but remember Edie Windsor who took on and won against the U.S. Government. She pushed us all to be better, to stand taller, to dream bigger.”
Now, we we will know more of the stories behind Windsor’s famous battle before the Supreme Court. St. Martin’s press describes the book as “[a] lively, intimate memoir from an icon of the gay rights movement, describing gay life in 1950s and 60s New York City and her longtime activism which opened the door for marriage equality.” The book won’t just focus on her activism, but will tell the story of her life, from her time as one of the first female programmers at IBM to her participation in the underground Greenwich Village gay scene. The book will also, of course, tell the story of how she fell in love with Thea Spyer, Thea’s death, and how their marriage eventually led to the downfall of DOMA. We can’t wait!
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