I’m writing this on Purim, the holiday when Queen Esther is purported to have saved the ancient Hebrews from destruction. As you will see below, it is a perfect day to review Judy Grahn’s new book, Eruptions of Inanna. For those unfamiliar with her, Inanna was the chief goddess of the Sumerian pantheon—the Queen of […]
Author Archive | Martha Shelley
Code Blue
I moved to Oakland at the beginning of October 1974, into a big old rundown house which I shared with two couples: Judy Grahn and Wendy Cadden, and Carol Wilson and Alice Molloy. Each woman had her own room. Mine was in the attic. I was the extra person, most welcome but still feeling like […]
The Ecstasy of the Banana Slug
One night Sylvia and I were talking about this and that, when Shakespeare’s sonnet #55 came up–where he brags about how his poem will live until the end of time; that is, until Judgment Day: “Not marble nor the gilded monuments/Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme…” I submit this humble response: Not sonnets […]
My Escape from New York
When I was in high school, my best friend Yehudit repeated a sarcastic line about New Yorkers’ provincialism: “The world ends west of the Hudson.” At that time I hadn’t been west of the Hudson River before and had no idea what the rest of the country was like. Ten years later, in February 1968, […]
Deals with the Devil
The other day a young friend expressed shock at Trump’s half-assed attempt at a coup. I’ve read comments in the news expressing shock at the attempt to overturn a legitimate election, at the attack on democracy. But anyone paying close attention to our would-be dictator over the last few years could have predicted it, as […]
In the Eye of the Beholder
In the case of Aileen Wuornos, the basic facts aren’t disputed. The question is one of interpretation. In her latest—and very provocative—book, Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, Phyllis Chesler presents a complex picture of this complex woman. Born in 1956, Wuornos was abandoned by her parents, beaten viciously by her adoptive grandfather, and raped […]
Backpack, Mic, and Tampons
I’d just started producing Lesbian Nation at WBAI when a student group at Arizona State U. invited me to speak. They were paying my air fare! I bought a one-way ticket, packed my mic and cassette, and flew out. My plan was to use the other half of the money for a hitchhiking trip around […]
A Brawl on a Boat
“I’ve got tickets to the Ms. party tomorrow night, but I’m not going,” Phyllis told me. “They’re yours if you want them.” I did. It was July 1973, and the first anniversary of Ms. Magazine. They’d rented a Circle Line boat for the celebration. Phyllis Chesler was a big name in the feminist literary world—Women […]
My Brief Radio Career
Early in 1972 Nanette Rainone, program director at WBAI-FM, asked me if I’d be interested in doing a lesbian show. Would I ever! I knew nothing about radio production but jumped at the chance. She told me to come in for training. WBAI—for those who’ve never lived in NYC—is a member of the Pacifica network […]
Sitting In, Getting Busted – III
1970 was drawing to a close when I got the call. A woman who I knew as a member of a radical feminist group summoned me to a meeting at their office. We were to gather on New Years Eve, wearing warm clothes and bringing sleeping bags if we had them. She wouldn’t say what […]