Elaine Williams (December 28, 1932 - December 23, 1963) was an American lesbian pulp fiction author and editor of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She wrote under a pseudonym, largely either as Sloan Britton or Sloane Britain.
Personal life
Elaine Williams was born as Elaine H. Cumming in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York on December 28, 1932.[1][2] Her father was Alexander Cumming and her mother was Edna Louise Westpfal or Westphall Cumming.[2][3][4] Fellow pulp author Gilbert Fox said of Williams: "Her family refused to accept the fact that she was a lesbian".[5][better source needed]
Williams married Ernest E Williams in 1950 and thus changed her name to Elaine Cumming Williams.[6] Together, they had four children and lived in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York.[2]
Career
Cover of These Curious Pleasures by Sloane Britain - Illustration by Paul Rader - 1961
Williams became one of the first editors at Midwood Books in 1959.[7][better source needed] Along with editing for Midwood, Williams was asked to author her own lesbian pulp books.[8]
Her 1961 novel These Curious Pleasures revolves around a main character named Sloane Britain. It is thought[by whom?] that the plot is somewhat autobiographical of Williams, or at least depicts a lesbian relationship which Williams dreamed of.[citation needed] Also in this book is a character named Harry “Happy” Broadman, who is curiously similar to Midwood Books co-founder and publisher Harry Shorten.[citation needed] Both in real life and fiction, Shorten has been said to have been an unpredictable and at times aggressive man.[7][better source needed] Williams' inclusion of this character might clue readers into what it was like as one of the first editors and writers at Midwood.[according to whom?]
Williams published eight other lesbian pulp novels in her career, plus two posthumous short novels published as Midwood Doubles.[7] She was and still is praised for her realistic and sympathetic portrayals of lesbian and bisexual characters, but her later novels are notably more cynical, with dismal endings.[9]
Death
Williams died just six days before her 31st birthday, December 23, 1963. She and her husband had been driving home from a workplace holiday party for the hotel at which her husband was a chef.[2] Newspaper reports from the time disagree on who was driving; around 3:00 AM and a block from home the car skidded on snow and hit a tree head-on, killing Williams and gravely injuring her husband.[2][11][12]
^"Alexander Cumming" in the New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 (New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 5).
^"Edna Louise Cumming" in the New York, New York, Index to Death Certificates, 1862-1948 (New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Death Certificates; Borough: Queens; Year: 1937).
^"Elaine H Cumming" in the New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 (New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 44).