May Featured Author: Sue Katz
Author Sue Katz’s business card identifies her as a “wordsmith and rebel.” A lifelong activist for social justice, she has lived and worked on three continents: first as a martial arts master, then promoting transnational volunteering, and most recently teaching fitness and dance to seniors and elders. She earned her BA from Boston University in 1970, her Tae Kwon Do Black Belt in 1975, and her MA in English Literature in 1985.
Sue’s fiction and non-fiction work has been published for decades in anthologies, magazines, and online. Her journalism includes travelogues, dance reviews, and political commentary. Her two most recent books are her collection of short fiction about the love lives of older people Lillian’s Last Affair and other stories, and her novel about the love affair between two old women in senior housing Lillian in Love. She is now working on a collection of “flash fiction” – extremely short stories.
About Sue Katz’s Activism
At 13 Sue began her activist life as co-founder of Pittsburgh’s civil rights youth group, and later was a pioneer in the women’s and gay liberation movements in the late 1960s and early 70s. She has been involved in progressive movements in several countries and is now focused on working for the rights of elders, in particular for LGBTQ seniors. Her intergenerational projects are particularly gratifying to her. She is a popular speaker and M.C.
Lillian’s Last Affair and other stories
“If I’m going to go after one more affair of the heart at 84, I’d better get my ass in gear,” says Lillian, speaking for all the characters in these six stories.
Ruby has a run-in with a waterbed and Catherine tokes her first joint in the bathtub with Victor. Elegant Anna’s introduction to kinky sex is bittersweet. And then there’s the neighbor with the strange attachment to the grocery cart. Sue Katz’s hilarious, tender, and impeccably written stories confirm that age fails to erode our eccentricities or dull our ardor.
Praise for Lillian’s Last Affair
“Buckle your seatbelt for an exhilarating ride. Lillian, Ruby, and other habitants of Sue Katz’s deeply irreverent stories… are touching, shining, tawdry, and sometimes hilarious.”
– Gina Ogden, PhD, LMFT, author of Women Who Love Sex and The Return of Desire
“Sue Katz’s deftly understated narrative authority and the descriptive bull’s eyes… astonish us page after page. Brava!”
– Steve Windwalker, bestselling author and founder of BookGorilla.com and Kindle Nation
How do two old women negotiate new love? Will slow-dancing and vibrators help smooth the way?
Lillian’s life at 84 is tumultuous. She is moving to Manor House to be near Sarah, abandoning the demands of her own home, which has been colonized by her children. How will she and Sarah deal with the reactions of relatives, ex’s, and neighbors to their romance?
“I’ve never been involved with a woman before, but Sarah has identified as a lesbian all her life. The word is as common to her as ‘widow’ is to me.”
“I started reading Lillian in Love this afternoon. It’s now 7:00pm. What a lovely day it has been. I couldn’t stop reading except to pee and smoke a joint. At 86, maybe I’ll fall in love, like Lillian, just one last time.”
– Betty Dodson, artist, author, and PhD sexologist
“Humor, good sex, enticing characters, familial drama -this 76-year-old reader enjoyed it all. Katz breaks new ground with verve, compassion, and sensuality.”
– Joan Nestle, archivist, activist, and award-winning author, including A Fragile Union
Sue Katz can be reached at sue.katz@yahoo.com. Her blog Consenting Adult is at http://www.suekatz.com. And she spends too much time on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sue.katz.