Fascinating story. I didn’t know any of this (although admittedly I’m not much of an historian). Allow me to add to your list Maggie Bradbury, Ray Bradbury’s wife. In his appreciation following Maggie’s death in 2003, Sam Weller opens by saying, “She changed literature forever.” It’s a fascinating tribute.

On a personal note, I’ve often told people that my wife is the only reason I can write anything publishable. We met in college, and when she read my first attempt at a term paper, she was horrified. She spent the next two decades mercilessly editing my work, beating it into shape, forcing me to do rewrites . . . it was brutal, but over time I learned. Even today, I tend not to feel entirely comfortable with my work until she’s reviewed it.

She’s left her mark on the three mystery novels I’ve published to date, and her contributions to the third were so significant that I credited her as co-author. She doesn’t have any aspirations to publication or the limelight, but in many ways she’s a much better writer than I am.

I hope that testimony gives you some small assurance that things might change for the better . . .