VALERIE TAYLOR (d: 1997) The Lesbian novelist, poet, and activist, was born Velma Nacella Young on this date. She also published as Nacella Young and Francine Davenport. Her publishers included Naiad Press, Banned Books, Universal, Fawcett, Womanpress, Ace and Midwood-Tower. Writing as Valerie Taylor, she was one of the most prominent of the authors of Lesbian pulp fiction during the second half of the 20th Century. Cornell University, which houses her literary estate, calls her novels “pulp fiction classics.” She was prominent in activist causes of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, including gay/lesbian rights, feminism, and the rights of the aged. She was a Quaker and a member of the Gray Panthers.