October 27th

10-27-1846 – 09-26-1914 Katharine Harris Bradley – Born in Birmingham, England. She, along with Edith Emma Cooper (b. January 12, 1862), wrote under the pseudonym Michael Field. As Field, they wrote about 40 works together, including a journal Work and Days. From the late 1870s, they lived together and over the next 40 years were lovers and co-authors. Their intention was to keep the pen-name a secret, but it became public knowledge, not long after they had confided in their friend, Rober Browning. They wrote a number of love poems to each other, and their name Michael Field was their way of declaring their oneness. Edith died of cancer in 1913 and Katherine died less than a year later. They are buried together at St. Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, in Mortlake, England. Their extensive diaries are stored in the British Library and have been digitized and made available by the Victorian Lives and Letters Consortium.

10-27-1950 Fran Lebowitz – Born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey. She is an American author and public speaker and is known for her sardonic commentary on American life. Lebowitz was expelled from high school (reason unknown) but she did get her GED. Andy Warhol hired her as a columnist for his magazine, Interview. Her books, Metropolitan Life (1978) and Social Studies (1981) are a collection of essays. In September 2007, Lebowitz was named one of the year’s most stylish women in Vanity Fair’s 68th Annual International Best-Dressed List; she is known for wearing the following: men’s suit jackets tailored by the Savile Row tailor Anderson & Sheppard, wing-tip cowboy boots, men’s white button-down shirt, Levi’s 501 jeans, and tortoiseshell glasses. On November 22, 2010, HBO debuted Public Speaking, Martin Scorsese’s documentary about her (available on NetFlix). She’s ambiguous about being a lesbian in the documentary and is named as a lesbian in many of the articles that I’ve read about her.

10-27-1926 – 03-11-1982 June Arnold – Born in Greenville, South Carolina. She was an American novelist and publisher known for her novel Sister Gin and Baby Houston (published posthumously), and the books she published through her press, Daughters, Inc. (founded by her and her partner, Parke Bowman). Her writing focused on telling the stories of lesbian lives and relationships. Her publishing house also produced Lois Gould’s X: A Fabulous Child’s Story and Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle.

10-27-1921 – 01-09-2017   Warren Allen Smith – Place of birth unknown. He was an American gay rights activist and writer. In 1961, Smith and his longtime partner, Fernando Vargas, started the Variety Recording Studio, which became a major independent company in New York City. Smith ran the company for almost thirty years. In 1969, he took part in the Stonewall riots. He died at the age of 95.

10-27-1956 Patty Sheehan – Born in Middlebury, Vermont. She is a retired American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1980 and won six major championships and 35 LPGA Tour events in all. Sheehan is the only woman to have won both the U.S. Women’s Open and Women’s British Open in the same year. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sheehan became one of the first LPGA players to publicly announce that she was a lesbian. Sheehan and her wife Rebecca Gaston have two adopted children. The couple married on New Year’s Eve in 2013.

10-27-1977 Jessica Harrison – Born in Sheffield, United Kingdom. She is a British-born French triathlete. She competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics representing France. She is openly lesbian and has been in a relationship with French triathlete Carole Péon since 2005. Harrison announced that she was retiring from international competition after the Grand Final of the 2013 ITU World Triathlon Series held in London on September 14.

10-27-1987 Ashley Nick – Born in Monrovia, California. She is an American soccer player. Nick is openly lesbian and one of 49 out LGBT athletes to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As of 2016, she is dating Western New York Flash player Lianne Sanderson.