GLBT 
Hall Of Fame

Patricia Nell Warren 

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Bio 

Patricia Nell Warren
Curriculum Vitae

1936 - 1953 - born in Helena, MT; grew up on historic Grant-Kohrs Ranch at Deer Lodge, MT. (now a national park). High school salutatorian. President, Powell Champs 4-H Club.

1953-1957 -- Stephens College, Columbia, MO 1953-55, Assoc. of Arts degree, writing; Manhattanville College, Purchase, N. Y. 1955-57, B.A. English literature.

1958 - Assistant to head of R & D, General Precision Laboratory, Pleasantville, N. Y.

1959-1964 - Copy editor, The Reader's Digest. Was the member of the Copy Desk who was solely responsible for text finalizing through press make-ready and checking signatures on the print run, on each issue of the magazine.

l964-l981: Reader's Digest editor, books and articles. Specializing in Soviet affairs, wildlife and historical subjects. During these years, was activist in landmark women's rights victories: the Amateur Athletic Union’s change in women's long-distance rules, allowing female runners up to 50 miles; also a Title VII class action, Susan Smith vs. Reader's Digest.

1962-72,  frequently in and out of Spain, working on Digest book and article projects for the Digest’s Spanish edition Selecciones; became familiar with the country, culture and language.

1969-present: Independent and self-supporting writer and editor. Themes include free speech, women, gay life, youth, education, political commentary, civil rights, religion, Western history, wildlife, the environment, agriculture, art, mythology, sports. Active in writing workshops, youth mentoring, lecturing to colleges and women's groups.

Business Profile: Co-founder and partner (with Tyler St. Mark) of Wildcat International. WI's first division has been Wildcat Press, successful independent publisher located in Los Angeles. Wildcat was a plaintiff in ACLU/ALA vs. Justice Department, the Internet censorship case that went to the Supreme Court. Wildcat also maintains an award-winning Web site that includes the author's popular feature "Secrets of Writing and Publishing."

Wildcat Press has been a spokesman for free speech, and a plaintiff in several key state and federal lawsuits about Internet censorship, notably ACLU/ALA v. Reno over the Communications Decency Act (which went to the U.S. Supreme Court), and the current case, ACLU v. Ashcroft, on the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which the U.S. Supreme Court has just remanded back to a lower court for trial. In 1996 Wildcat Press was given a special award by the ACLU as a "Champion of Free Speech."

Wildcat Press's sister company, Wildcat Entertainment, is dedicated to new film development of Warren’s novel The Front Runner, as well her other books.

Educational Work: 1999 - present, Commissioner, Human Relations Education Commission of Los Angeles Unified School District.  Served on the Commission's bylaws committee, and helped write its bylaws and constitution.  Also Commission  parliamentarian.
1996-8 -- Commissioner, Gay and Lesbian Educational Commission, LAUSD.  Helped fundraise for our youth conference and scholarship program.
1996 - co-chair of Models of Pride Youth Conference, Occidental College, CA.  
1994 -- Six months of volunteer teaching in EAGLES, an LAUSD continuation program for gay and lesbian high-school dropouts.  Taught English and history, served as advisor on EAGLES.  Served on school's council.

School-Related and Educational Lectures:  Addressed the L.A. Board of Education on the 1996 California Youth Lobby and other issues of gay youth. Keynote at Youth Lobby Rally at State Capitol, Sacramento. In the last few years, other college and high-school lectures (on subjects ranging from gay youth issues to writers’ workshops) include: Harvard University, U. of Pennsylvania, Penn State, UCLA, U. of California, CalArts Northridge, U. of Arizona, U. of New Mexico, Montana State College, Montana State University, Montana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, University of Ohio, Sacramento City College, Butte Community College, Santa Monica College, Occidental College, Lebanon Valley College, 2000 Michigan Educators Assn. Conference, Hollywood High School in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, L.A. County High School for the Arts; 1999 Dallas GLSEN conference, attended by Dallas Board of Education. Walt Whitman Community School, Dallas. Grant MacEwan College (Edmonton, Alberta). Latest speaking invitations: University of North Texas Women’s Conference on Diversity, Nov. 2004.

Memberships:  Authors Guild; American Civil Liberties Union. Honorary, American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER).

Boards:  Advisory board, Gay & Lesbian Athletic Foundation (GLAF) and Scouting for All.

Awards and Things of Note:
1954 -- short story, "Slave of the Sky," won the Atlantic Monthly College Fiction Award.
1982 -- Reader's Digest article, "Saga of an American Ranch," won the Western Heritage Award for Magazine Writing given by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. 
1991 -- Modern Maturity article, "Look to the Trees," widely reprinted for Arbor Day.
1995 -- commentary, "Burning Charlie Russell at the Stake," distributed to Montana legislature, contributed to the defeat of a state-wide censorship bill.
1998 -- won 1997 "Editors' Choice" Lambda Literary Award for novel "Billy's Boy" 1999 -- Christopher Street West Arts Award.
2000 -- New York City Public Advocate Mark Green's Advocate Award.

2003 – named to Gay & Lesbian Literary Hall of Fame at Saints & Sinners Literary Festival, New Orleans

2003 – Barry Goldwater Human Rights Award, Arizona Human Rights Fund

Publications of Commentary and Short Fiction:  Acres U.S.A., The Advocate, American West, Antiques, Atlantic Monthly, A & U Magazine, Blueboy, Carnivore Genetics Newsletter, Cats Magazine, Chicago Tribune, CyberSocket, Daily Texan, Deneuve, Denver Post, Deolog, Des Moines Register, Echo Magazine, Edge, Genre, Ground Zero, Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, Hero Magazine, Houston Voice, Joey, L.A. Woman, Lesbian News, Los Angeles Times, Modern Maturity, Montana Magazine, Montana Stockgrower, Ms. David, Mythosphere, NetNoir, Northern California House & Garden, Orange County Blade, OutWord, Outsports, Persimmon Hill, Philadelphia Gay News, Prairie Schooner, Roundup, Runner's World, San Francisco Chronicle, Texas Triangle, The Californians, The Reader's Digest, Track & Field News, Washington Blade, Whosoever, Xyogeny. Also pieces in recent anthologies from Franklin Watts, InsightOut Book Club, Salem Press, Seal Press, Suspect Thoughts Press, Temple.

Novels and Poetry: Have been published by Dial Press, William Morrow, Bantam, Random House/Ballantine, Penguin (UK), Presses de la Renaissance (France), Droemer-Knaur and Argument Verlag (Germany), Fusosha (Japan), Editorial Egales (Spain), among others.

Seven novels, including three national bestsellers. The Front Runner (Morrow, 1974) has 10 million copies in print in 10 languages and has remained the topselling gay book, according to industry publications. Excerpt in Men in Sports: Great Sports Stories of All Time, ed. by Brandt Aymar (Crown, 1995). Was cited as "classic return" by Library Journal. The Fancy Dancer, another national bestseller, has remained in print for 20 years. A Western historical novel, One Is the Sun (Ballantine, 1991), with 30,000 copies in print. Most recent bestseller: critically acclaimed Billy's Boy (Wildcat Press, 1997), sequel to The Front Runner, a novel about gay youth in the 1990s, was on and off gay bestseller lists for two years. These novels have frequently been used in gay literature and American literature courses, as well as by college reading lists, therapists, ministers.

Newest novel: The Wild Man, in April 2001 from Wildcat Press.

Four Ukrainian poetry volumes: Tragedy of Bees, Legends and Dreams, Rose-Hued Cities, Horse With the Green Vinyl Mane. (Novi Poezii, N.Y., 1962-71). Some of this poetry translated and published in Brazil, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine.

Screenplays:  Co-wrote screenplay 1973 with Erik Lee Preminger for film adaptation of first novel The Last Centennial. Write script for S.O.S. for the Small Wildcats, story of the internationally known institute for small wildcat conservation, S.O.S. Care in San Diego; this was a short documentary produced by Labhart Production Group, 1994. 

Scholarly Publications: Ukrainian Dumy: Translations of 16th Century Ukrainian Cossack Epic Poetry, translated with George Tarnawsky, published 1979 by Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Two articles in recent issues of Mythosphere.

Literary agent: Currently handles her own contracts.  Formerly represented by Paul Reynolds, Inc., John Hawkins Associates, Janklow & Nesbitt, ICM, CAA.