Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

A really fantastic read. Edie was so candid with how she told her story - definitely not your typical memoir/autobiography. It was interesting to read about all the ups and downs, and it didn't seem like she held back on the good and bad in life. Would definitely recommend this!

I find myself crying, thankful that this account exists so that I could bear witness to such a lovely, long-lasting relationship.

Despite the fact that she was well-known among NYC’s lesbian community, I had never heard of Edie Windsor before her landmark Supreme Court case. A case that was being argued on March 27, 2013 as Gloria and I were getting married in New York City’s Carl Schurz Park.

Gloria and I—as well as countless other LGBTQ+ couples—owe a debt of gratitude to Edie’s grit and determination and I wish more people would read this book so that they might not just understand that we are all just humans or that love is love, but also that this brave woman is a pioneer and a hero who deserves acclaim and recognition across the USA.

It must be immensely challenging to be working with someone on their memoir, only to have them pass away before the book is finished. I think the coauthor did an amazing job of filling in the blanks left at Edie Windsor's death.

She was a remarkable woman who made a significant difference with the "wild and precious life" she had. I have worked in LGBT advocacy for several decades, and while our paths did not cross while she was alive, some people I know are mentioned in the book, and am reasonably familiar with the world she inhabited. I went to the Supreme Court the day her case was argued before the Court, and read some of the briefing in her case, and so it was wonderful to know the woman behind the pleadings.

Because she's gone, the book gets a pass on whether editing should have been tighter and whether the flow could have been better, as all of those are things that could only be fixed with the assistance of the memoir's subject. If you care about the subject matter and find memoirs interesting, then you'll want to make sure you read this book.

I was provided with an advance copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Edie Windsor never could have expected to be at the forefront of a Supreme Court decision that would ultimately provide marriage equality at the federal level in the United States, and yet that’s exactly where she found herself in 2015. While that one day in June would catapult her into being an international icon within the LGBTQIA+ community, it was merely one defining moment in a life full of them. From her first moment of personal acceptance as a lesbian to her rise up the ranks of IBM, with all the love and loss that came along the way, she truly lived a wild and precious life.

While Edie Windsor became famous for The United States vs. Windsor, it’s almost quaint that it’s become the most discussed portion of her life—and that’s perhaps why her memoir pulls the focus away from the court. With fierce confidence tamped down by wicked fun, Edie lays out a life not totally unlike many lesbians who navigated the 1950s and 60s. After ending an early marriage to a man, she grabbed at every opportunity she could, eventually entering the world of IBM as a computer programmer and finding love that would last four decades. She attacks these sections, spelling out the facts, warts and all, in her trademark firecracker style.

Unfortunately, Edie died before completing this book. Fortunately, her co-author, Joshua Lyon, picked up the pieces and delivered an incredibly moving portrait. Lyon leaves Edie’s voice intact, letting her guide the action. But he also adds sections after every chapter which give greater depth and historical context for what was happening at the time. Through his own research as well as her own files, he provides a rich examination of both Edie and the world she occupied. Rather than seeing Edie only as she saw herself, Lyon taps into a host of contemporaries, including himself, who knew her. And while no one glosses over the difficult portions of her life, the result is a true celebration.

Inspiring and deeply entertaining, A Wild and Precious Life shows what all memoirs should be.

Edie Windsor is an icon in the lgbtq community.She shares with us her personal intimate story her life in New York in the fifties and sixties through her activism.An eye opening read that I enjoyed and learned so much from. @netgalley@st.martinsbooks,

Edie Windsor really did lead a wild and precious life!

Edie had a brilliant mind, a passion for life, and the stubbornness you need to make love last. She became internationally famous for taking on the supreme court regarding discrimination against the LGBTQ community, but while incredibly important, that case came in the last decade of her life and this book focuses more on all the living she did both before and after.

Given where we find ourselves today and that Edie literally had to fight the government for the rights many heterosexuals take for granted, I believe this is a particularly poignant and timely story with love and discrimination the two recurring and intertwined themes. As she passed away before this book was completed, her co-author wisely chose to intersperse the chapters with tidbits from her loved ones as well as history. Edie lived from The Great Depression though wars, the civil rights movement, and the beginning of AIDS and it was interesting to hear her take on major historical events.

So many of us need the reminder of the stories of others throughout history. The story of a gay woman who had to hide who she was and who she loved, who excelled in a field largely dominated by men, who still managed to be bold and unapologetic, is one for us all.

Edie Windsor’s name belongs in the history books as the lead plaintiff in the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor, which overturned the Defense of Marriage Act. But Windsor should also be in the history books as one of the leading systems architects and one of the first personal computer users. Windsor’s new memoir, A Wild and Precious Life, covers her mathematical studies, her epic romances, and her unofficial IT support at numerous LGBTQ organizations, along with her other adventures. Finished by Joshua Lyon after Windsor’s death in 2017, the memoir is a mix of Windsor’s memories and Lyon’s interviews with friends and family. Lyon brings perspective to Windsor’s writing, both discussing Windsor’s relatively privileged background and putting names to the experiences Windsor had long before vocabulary evolved to describe those experiences.

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Edie Windsor was clearly a force, the kind of self-assured , unapologetic, curious, complicated human I would've loved to know, especially as a queer elder. Her voice comes through strongly in this memoir, which is enhanced by anecdotes and reflections from her co-writer Lyons as well as some of her family and friends. This was really well executed even though Windsor passed away before it was completed. Also, as an aside, the cover is perfect.

The images of Edie Windsor on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court steps, with her arms raised in triumph, beautiful in her dark suit and pink and orange scarf, is one of those images that will forever be part of history. As the lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court case that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, Edie Windsor rose to fame as an LGBT activist in 2013. A Wild and Precious Life is Edie's story.

This memoir, with the assistance of Joshua Lyon, is one of a powerful, dynamic, and inspiring woman who from birth, was a spitfire. Brilliant, funny, open, honest and determined, Edie is a powerful example of a woman who lived her life by her own terms. While she is most famous because of who she loved, she contained multitudes. Throughout this book, I was most overwhelming impressed by Edie's brilliance. Her work with programming and IBM was so....beyond and just...inspiring. What an icon for women who code/in tech.

This is a book that should be required reading for everyone. It's the story of women's rights, of LGBTQ rights, of human rights. It's a love story, it's a memoir, it's an adventure.

Edie Windsor is an American hero and statues of her should be erected in every city. What a woman.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Edie Windsor didn't become an LGBTQ+ icon by choice, but her decision to fight for equal rights was truly life-changing for many people in the LGBTQ+ community (myself included). If it wasn't for Windsor's battle to avoid paying inheritance taxes after her partner of 40 years died, same-sex marriage would probably still be illegal in the United States. Thankfully, she not only fought that battle but won. I'm grateful for her personal sacrifices every single day because they made it possible for me to marry the love of my life.

This book is so much more than an examination of that very important court case, though. It's a true autobiography that covers much of Windsor's life in the '50s and '60s. There are also biographical sections that were pieced together by the co-writer after Windsor passed away in 2017. Readers are taken on a wild journey through Windsor's life, including her six-month first marriage to a man and the extremely turbulent beginning of the 40-year relationship that ultimately changed U.S. law.

Windsor was rightfully known as a firecracker. She was also a brilliant IBM technology manager whose love of computers certainly made yet another notable difference in the nation's development. From 1958 to 1975 she worked her way up the IBM chain, which led to her being the first person in New York City to have an IBM PC.

This book is inspiring, tragic, romantic, turbulent, and triumphant. Highly recommended to everyone, not just members of the LGBTQ+ community.

A Wild and Precious Life is truly a fascinating look at Edie Windsor's life and the LGBTQ life in the 50's and 60s. Well written and interesting.

Edie Windsor was a reluctant gay rights activist. The descriptions in the book of the lesbian culture in the 1950's and 60's was interesting and enlightening. Ultimately this was a sort of memoir/biography hybrid and is all the stronger for it. We get both her point of view and the journalistic research as well.

Edie Windsor's best-known legacy will forever be the 2013 Supreme Court case of The United States vs. Windsor. This case overturned the section of the Defense of Marriage Act, which stated that only one woman and one man could claim the rights associated with marriage, including inheritance rights. Windsor had been forced to pay inheritance taxes on her deceased spouse Thea Spyer's estate that she wouldn't have had to pay if either she or her spouse had been male. Windsor's case brought American LGBT people and same-sex relationships further along the path to full legal equality.

This is not what A Wild and Precious Life is about. This is a full memoir of Windsor's life, written with plenty of assistance by Joshua Lyon. Windsor died in 2017, so Lyon interviewed other people who had been part of Windsor's life to complete the job. The book alternates between Windsor's wonderfully intelligent voice and amazing stories and passages by Lyon that provide another point of view or some historical context. For example, after Windsor recounts her relatively comfortable adolescence in Philadelphia during World War II, Lyon mentions that Thea Spyer, her future spouse, was escaping the Nazis in the Netherlands at that time.

Windsor's story is an amazing one of a determined, brilliant, willful, and confident woman trying to create the best life for herself and, eventually, the love of her life. She was born Edith Schlain, but in her early 20s, she asked the man who wanted to marry her to change his last name to Windsor because she didn't wish to be Mrs. Weiner. He complied, and she ended up divorcing him after 6 months when she realized that she was never going to be a straight woman. (The man, Saul, changed his last name back to Weiner, but Edie remained Windsor for the rest of her life.)

Windsor's life encompassed many key moments in 20th century American history before she became a part of early 21st century history. Her descriptions of lesbian life in the 1950s and 1960s are valuable for anyone interested in that time and place. So is her account of her career as an early computer programmer at IBM. She became well-known for her skills at debugging programs. Technology would remain an important interest of hers. She would have the first IBM personal computer in New York City.

Edie and Thea both left a trail of broken hearts behind them, but eventually, they found each other. Their love story is complex and fascinating. They eventually begin to pass on some hard-earned good advice, including using a number system to describe their anger (similar to the pain scale a medical doctor uses), "keep it hot", and "don't postpone joy". Even after Thea was weakened by MS and Edie became her caretaker, they practiced what they preached.

This book will no doubt be inspirational for many gay and bisexual people. It is also a fantastic story of love, persistence, and the American quest for freedom and authenticity.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC, and to St. Martin's Press for granting my wish at NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Edie Windsor rose to national fame as an LGBT activist in 2013 as the lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court case that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act. But before becoming the queer icon many remember her as today, she led what is truly a wild and precious life. In this memoir, she looks back on exploring her identity, queer life in 1960s New York, and her decades long relationship with her wife, Thea Spyer.

Edie Windsor was a legend, absolutely original and inimitable. And the Edie we all saw on TV interviews and in pride parades is only part of the story. She was a firecracker, and her tale is full of surprises and personality that you wouldn't necessarily expect if you only know her as the nice old lady waving from the Supreme Court steps. Her relationship with Thea was a bit tumultuous, but is also incredibly inspiring.

Her co-writer, Joshua Lyons, ended up with a much tougher job than he realized going in, as Windsor passed away unexpectedly before the memoir was completed. I really admire how he chose to complete the book. Lyons says in the introduction that he didn't feel comfortable writing in Windsor's voice without her review and approval, so he chose to supplement what was already written with interviews with her family and friends, discoveries from her personal files, and his own comments on working with her. This works incredibly well, and makes for such a rich and meaningful view of Windsor's life. I absolutely adored this book and walked away with many life lessons on love, self-exploration, and living authentically. I'm incredibly grateful to Windsor, and to Lyons for making sure her story was told in the way she wanted it to be.