Title: Patricia Nell Warren "47 Years of Collected Short Writings"

Dates: 1954-2001

Collection Number: GLC 72

Creator/Collector: Warren, Patricia Nell.

Extent: 3 binders (in 2 boxes)

Repository: San Francisco Public Library. James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center

Abstract: The collection contains editorals, essays, magazine articles, poetry, and short stories from the author's file of tear-sheets collected by Wildcat Press. The subjects of her writing include LGBT youth, politics, AIDS, sports, and censorship, among others.

Language of Material: English

The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours.

Copyright retained by Patricia Nell Warren.

Patricia Nell Warren "47 Years of Collected Short Writings". San Francisco Public Library. James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center

Donated by Patricia Nell Warren, December 2001.

Patricia Nell Warren is an openly lesbian American author and journalist. She has also published under the names Patricia Kilina, Pat or Patricia Tarnawsky. Patricia Nell Warren was born in Helena, MT in 1936. She grew up on the Grant-Kohrs Ranch at Deer Lodge, MT, today a national historic site. She began writing at age 10, and got her first literary recognition at age 18, winning the Atlantic Monthly College Fiction Contest with a short story. In 1957 she married Ukrainian emigre poet Yuriy Tarnawsky. Through her marriage, she learned the Ukrainian language and became associated with a group of other young Ukrainian emigre poets who became internationally known as the New York Group. As a part of their publishing collective, she began writing and publishing poetry in Ukrainian. In 1974, as a result of several years' involvement in long-distance running, Warren published her first bestselling novel "The Front Runner" with William Morrow. With this book she returned to her maiden name as author credit. Told from the point of view of a gay track coach, the story chronicled his struggle to get a talented openly gay runner on the U.S. Olympic team, and to quash his own growing love for his protege. The controversial book made the New York Times bestseller list. Since its appearance, there has been long-standing interest in its adaptation as a motion picture. Over the years, "The Front Runner" has been translated into 10 languages, and is still her biggest-selling title today. Eventually settling in southern California, she made the decision to go independent with book publishing. The result was Wildcat Press, which has published all her books since then, including her 2001 novel, "The Wild Man," inspired by her years in Spain. Wildcat has also brought out her first ventures into nonfiction, with two anthologies of her own short writings on gays in sports ("The Lavender Locker Room," 2007) and her Western roots ("My West," 2011). During the 1990s, Warren became more active politically. In 1996-99, as a result of her concerns for LGBT youth, she volunteered as a commissioner of education in Los Angeles Unified School District, serving on the Gay & Lesbian Education Commission and later the Human Relations Education Commission. She often travels at the invitation of colleges and universities, public libraries and LGBT rights groups, and is highly regarded as a speaker. As a sideline, over the years, Warren has done a great deal of magazine and commentary writing, both for print publications and online. Her subjects ranged from human rights to Western history. She writes a monthly column on the politics of AIDS for "A & U Magazine."

The collection contains editorals, essays, magazine articles, poetry, and short stories from the author's file of tear-sheets collected by Wildcat Press. The subjects of her writing include LGBT youth, politics, AIDS, sports, and censorship, among others.