Rachel Pollack, the acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author, Tarot expert, and transgender activist, passed away on Friday at the age of 77. Her wife, Judith Zoe Matoff, announced her death via Facebook, and their friend, Neil Gaiman, shared the post on Twitter. Pollack had been battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the lymphatic system.
Pollack was one of the earliest trans activists, having undergone gender-affirming procedures in her early 20s. She co-authored a manifesto with a trans group affiliated with the Gay Liberation Front in the 1970s. In part, the manifesto read, “Why is [drag performer] Danny La Rue a West End institution, when we get kicked out of our flats for wearing a skirt? Apparently it’s all right if you’re doing it for money, but perverted if you do it for personal satisfaction.” Pollack continued to speak out for trans rights and became a leading figure in the trans movement.
Pollack was also a trailblazer in the world of comic books. In the 1990s, she created Kate Godwin, also known as Coagula, the first trans superhero in a mainstream comic book, for the Doom Patrol series. Though she followed iconic writer Grant Morrison on the series, it is only recently that her work on Doom Patrol has been reassessed and seen as genuinely ahead of its time.
Pollack was also a celebrated author of science fiction and fantasy. Her novel Unquenchable Fire won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction in 1989. She wrote four novels and seven collections of short fiction, and her works were known for their magical realism and heightened reality.
Pollack was also known as “the greatest living authority on the tarot,” according to friend and writer Morgan M. Page. Her book Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom is considered the basis of all modern tarot interpretation. Pollack was a supporter of the women’s spirituality movement and advocated for it to include trans women.
Rachel Pollack’s legacy is one of inspiration and magic. She will be remembered for her pioneering work in the trans movement, her groundbreaking contributions to the world of comic books, and her celebrated works of science fiction and fantasy. She will also be remembered as a beloved writer of magical realism and an expert on the tarot. Pollack’s impact on the world will continue to inspire future generations.