Losing Carolyn

via a visit to sappho's breathing i have just found out that Carolyn Heilbrun died last month.  i feel a personal sense of loss at this.  she was one of the first feminist writers i discovered when i began my search for a new vision of a woman's universe.  her Writing a Woman's Life  is a feminist classic, which i will go find on my bookshelves and begin a memorial reading.  i'll miss the Kate Fansler mysteries, which Heilbrun wrote under the pseudonym of Amanda Cross.  I've read most of them and passed them on to sisters and friends.  according to the NYT obituary, and her son, she committed suicide.  not because of illness, but because she felt her life had reached its conclusion and wanted to maintain control over her final destiny.  i entirely understand this decision, but don't know that i could have the courage to implement it.  she was a strong woman, to the end.