Groundbreaking lesbian publisher Barbara Greir, who created Naiad Press in 1973, has died from lung cancer in Florida, aged 78. Grier and her long-time partner Donna McBride launched Naiad Press with a US$2,000 loan and built it into a US$1-million business. By 2003 when it was sold, it had published more than 500 titles by authors such as Rita Mae Brown, Katherine V. Forrest, Jane Rule and Sheila Ortiz Taylor. "She created Naiad Press because the mainstream would not publish any of our books," Forrest, whose career was launched by Naiad in 1983 with the publication of her novel "Curious Wine," told The Los Angeles Times. "Her accomplishments are just monumental, given the obstacles she faced. There was such virulent homophobia. Barbara was nothing if not fearless." Naiad published primarily romances and mysteries, but its top-selling book was the nonfiction "Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence" (1985) by Rosemary Curb and Nancy Manahan, which sold 500,000 copies.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 14th November 2011 - 11:56am