Marion Zimmer Bradley

Born on a farm in Albany, New York, during the Great Depression, she began writing in 1949 and sold her first story to Vortex in 1952. She was married to Robert Alden Bradley from October 26, 1949 until their divorce on May 19, 1964. During the 1950s she was introduced to the cultural and campaigning lesbian group the Daughters of Bilitis.

After her divorce she married numismatist Walter Breen on June 3, 1964. They separated in 1979 but remained married until their divorce on May 9, 1990.

In 1965, Bradley graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. Afterward, she moved to Berkeley, California, to pursue graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley between 1965 and 1967. Her first child, David Bradley, and brother, Paul Edwin Zimmer are published science fiction & fantasy authors in their own right. Her daughter, Moira Stern, is a professional harpist and singer.

In 1966, she helped found and named the Society for Creative Anachronism and was involved in developing several local groups, including in New York after her move to Staten Island.

After suffering declining health for years, Marion Zimmer Bradley died at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley on September 25, 1999 four days after suffering a debilitating heart attack. Her ashes were scattered at Glastonbury Tor, in Somerset, England, two months later.

"Marion Zimmer Bradley." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 Dec 2007, 20:18 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 6 Dec 2007