Terry Ryan had a pretty incredible life of her own -- after her childhood in Defiance, Ohio, she moved out to San Francisco, joined the Daughters of Bilitis, one of the first lesbian rights organizations in the country, and promptly got a gig working at the San Francisco Chronicle, writing the popular 1980s-90s comic T.E. Sylvester.

She was diagnosed with cancer right after the movie of her mother's life wrapped in 2004, and died on Wednesday. She is survived by her partner Pat Holt (former Chron book review editor) and her nine siblings.