[Deathwatch] Andrea Dworkin, writer, 58

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Several readers sent this one in - Ed.

Tuesday April 12

Feminist writer Andrea Dworkin dies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Feminist author Andrea Dworkin, best known for
her writing on pornography and violence against women, died on Saturday
at her home in Washington at age 58, her agent Elaine Markson says.

Dworkin viewed pornography as a civil rights violation against women
and helped draft a 1983 law in Indianapolis that allowed women to sue
producers and distributors of pornography in civil court.

The law was overturned by a federal appeals court in 1985, but later
upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dworkin published more than a dozen books in a writing career that
began in 1974 with "Woman Hating: A Radical Look at Sexuality."

Dworkin's memoir, "Heartbreak: The Political Memoir of a Feminist
Militant," was published in 2002.

Despite her public persona as radical feminist, Dworkin had a side that
was not often seen, said Markson, her agent of 30 years.

"Some in the media liked to picture her as tough and hard and difficult
but she was soft and with a lovely voice and a good sense of humor,"
Markson said on Tuesday.

"She'd had knee surgery and she seemed not to have recovered very well
from the surgery. She was rather frail of late," Markson said.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, Dworkin is survived by her husband John
Stoltenberg, also a feminist activist and author.