Betty Berzon
Betty Berzon (born January 18, 1928 in St. Louis , † January 24, 2006 in San Fernando Valley , California ) was an American author and psychotherapist .
Life
Her family moved from St. Louis to Arizona when she was a child. After finishing school, Berzon first attended Stanford University and then studied psychology at the University of California in Los Angeles , where she graduated in 1957. In 1962 Berzon received her Masters from San Diego State University . After completing her studies, Berzon worked as a psychotherapist. In 1973 she met Teresa DeCrescenzo, who worked as chair of the organization Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services . In 1993 they symbolically married during a mass wedding ceremony at the March on Washington for LGBT Rights and Freedom .
Berzon wrote several books, particularly on the subject of homosexuality . In 1979, Berzon published Positively Gay , in 1988 Permanent Partners appeared, and in 1996 she published The Intimacy Dance . In 2002 she wrote her memoir Surviving Madness, a Therapist's Own Story . For this she received the Lambda Literary Award . For several years she was represented in the gay magazine PlanetOut with a column on gay relationships as an author. In 1986 Berzon was diagnosed with breast cancer. After treatment, the disease could be combated for a few years, but the cancer returned in 2001, from which Berzon died in January 2006.
Works (selection)
- Positively Gay , 1979
- Permanent Partners , 1988
- The Intimacy Dance , 1996
- Setting Them Straight , 1996
- Surviving Madness, a Therapist's Own Story , Memoirs ( Lambda Literary Award )
Prizes and awards (selection)
- Lambda Literary Award
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Berzon, Betty |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American author and psychotherapist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 18, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Louis |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 24, 2006 |
| Place of death | San Fernando Valley , California |