25 Facts About Catherine Yronwode

Catherine Anna Yronwode is an American writer, editor, graphic designer, typesetter, and publisher with an extensive career in the comic book industry.

Catherine Yronwode's father was Joseph Manfredi, a Sicilian American abstract artist, and her mother, Liselotte Erlanger, a writer, was an Ashkenazi Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany.

Catherine Yronwode is a cousin of the composer Franz Reizenstein and the economist Otto Eckstein.

Catherine Yronwode attended Shimer College in Illinois as an early entrant, but dropped out.

Catherine Yronwode began writing while in her teens, contributing to science fiction fanzines during the 1960s.

Catherine Yronwode was a member of the Bay Area Astrologers Group, co-writing its weekly astrology column for an underground newspaper, San Francisco Express Times.

Catherine Yronwode produced record reviews on a freelance basis for the nascent Rolling Stone magazine, and short articles on low-tech living for the Whole Earth Catalog and Country Women magazine.

Catherine Yronwode wrote a lengthy letter to the title in 1978, which took over nearly the entire column; Yronwode's address was printed in the column; she received large amounts of fan mail, including a marriage proposal.

Catherine Yronwode began a career as a freelance magazine writer while continuing to contribute to fanzines.

In 1980, Catherine Yronwode began work at Ken Pierce Books, editing and writing introductions to a line of comic strip reprint books.

Also in 1980 Catherine Yronwode succeeded Murray Bishoff as news reporter for Comics Buyer's Guide and began a long-running column "Fit to Print," presenting a variety of industry news, reviews, obituaries, and opinion pieces.

Catherine Yronwode wrote The Art of Will Eisner in 1981 and produced several other books for Kitchen Sink over the next few years.

Catherine Yronwode was in the post unofficially for around a year; she and Mullaney kept their relationship private to avoid accusations she had only gotten the job because they were lovers.

When Catherine Yronwode officially took over as Editor-in-Chief in October 1984, Dean Mullaney moved over to the role of publisher.

Catherine Yronwode quickly became the public face of the company at conventions and other events, and began a column called Penumbra that was printed on the inside cover of all of Eclipse's comic books, while continuing to write Fit to Print.

Catherine Yronwode remained outspoken, often criticising the editorial and business policies of both Marvel and DC Comics.

In 1983, Catherine Yronwode won an Inkpot Award, given for lifetime achievement in comics and related areas.

Catherine Yronwode and the cartoonist Trina Robbins co-wrote Women and the Comics in 1985; the book was a history of female comics creators.

Catherine Yronwode was writing another non-fiction book, a biography of Steve Ditko, but the work was lost when Eclipse's offices were flooded in February 1986.

Catherine Yronwode covered the events - which included herself and Mullaney losing most of their possessions when their house flooded - in Fit to Print and Penumbra columns.

Catherine Yronwode was widely interviewed in the media about her role in their creation.

Catherine Yronwode is the co-proprietor, with her husband Nagasiva Yronwode, of the Lucky Mojo Curio Company, an occult shop, spiritual supply manufactory, book publishing firm, and internet radio network for which she writes, edits, and produces graphic label art.

Catherine Yronwode is on the board of the Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology, a 5013 not-for-profit foundation that archives the material culture of 19th and 20th century folk magic and divination.

From 1965 to 1980, Catherine Yronwode lived as a rural back-to-the-land hippie at Tolstoy Peace Farm, an anarchist commune in Washington; the Equitable Farm commune in Mendocino County, California, and the Garden of Joy Blues commune in Oregon County, Missouri.

In 1967, Catherine Yronwode began a relationship with Peter Paskin; in 1969, they devised the new surname Catherine Yronwode.