Helen Yglesias was the author of five published novels, the first written when she was a 54-year-old mother of three. Self-educated beyond high school, this daughter of Yiddish-speaking immigrants had jobs selling underwear, stuffing envelopes, teaching ballroom dancing, typing manuscripts, writing book reviews, and, eventually, editing. She did a stint as literary editor of The Nation before turning to fiction writing full time in 1972. As her daughter Tamar Cole told the New York Times at her death in March 2008, "she managed to maintain a family and a career. She was an original feminist, before the road was paved."

Read Lewis Fried's full article on Helen Yglesias in Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia.