She read all the “golden age” science fiction classics, from Robert Heinlein to John Brunner to Theodore Sturgeon, and later fell in love with Frank Herbert’s Dune, but works by women writers particularly resonated with her. She would read all of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series. Ursula K. Le Guin’s work was another favorite. But young Estelle was a zealot for Zenna Henderson—so much so she would buy cheap copies of Pilgrimage from the Salvation Army and pass them out to people because she wanted someone to discuss the book with.
