Elaine Mikels is not a professional writer, which makes her wonderful book of memoirs , Just Lucky I Guess, all the more truthful, unadorned and moving. Mikels lived through crucial epochs in lesbian history: The McCarthy era (in which she lost her job because she was a lesbian) the butch-femme bar scene of the 1950s, the rise of feminism and lesbian-feminism in the 1960s and '70s and the changes those movements wrought in the '80s and '90s. Throughout the last half century her lesbianism came together with her life as a social activist and a world traveler. In her seventies, Mikels looked back on her rich and diverse adventures, on her triumphs through adversities, on all that she has learned and as the title of her memories suggests, can characterize her lesbian life as "lucky". She is truly a hero. Elaine Mikels passed away on Feb 16th, 2004 and these copies of her book will be the last sold. - from Amzon