Writer Frances Eleanor Cherry died April 24, 2022 after fighting Parkinson’s disease, leaving an extensive legacy in literature and a life-long commitment to anti-establishment themes, which often accompanied her writing.
Daughter Caitlin Cherry led funeral-goers in a rendition of one of her mother’s favourite songs, Ode to a Gym Teacher. The anthem was a lesbian love song from the 1980s that her mother loved.
Her writing often included themes like identifying with influential female figures and discussing lesbianism and feminism. These subjects were often avoided at the time she wrote, but became mainstream after.
In 1989, Dancing with Strings was published in New Zealand. It was one of the first novels about lesbian relationships written by a New Zealand author.
In 2000, Julie Middleton of the Sunday Star-Times wrote a review of Washing Up in Parrot Bay, a novel featuring lesbians, witches, and man-free conception rituals. She wrote, “Frances Cherry’s third novel, billed all-encompassingly as a ‘provocative and engaging black tragi-comedy’, appears to be the Shortland Street of lesbian literature.”
Although Frances was an author of many words, her short death notice summed up her life succinctly: “A unique, passionate, and fiercely loving woman, who was ahead of her time.”
