Vin Packer is a pseudonym of Marijane Meaker, author of the highly acclaimed memoir Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s. In the 1950s and 60s, she wrote 22 novels as Vin Packer and reported on contemporary lesbian life as Ann Aldrich, while under her own name she authored six novels, including Shockproof Sydney Skate. In the 70s, Meaker turned to young adult literature, selecting M.E. Kerr as her pen name. She has won numerous awards for her novels for teens, which include Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack, Hello I Lied, Deliver Us from Evie, and Slap Your Sides. She lives in East Hampton, NY.

Spring Fire

"Packer is an important figure not merely as one of the few women to make her way in the boys’ club of the ‘50s paperback writers, but also as one of the best and most original American novelists of that era." — Pulp Fiction Writers, by Lee Server

"All of Vin Packer’s novels — published as paperback originals in the 50’s, and dealing with 'hot' topics such as lesbianism, race conflict, teen gangs and adultery — are extraordinarily well-written. I really think that Packer is one of the great — and given that her books sold in the millions, one of the most important fiction writers of the 1950’s." — Michael Bronski

"Spring Fire was the first paperback original to deal with a lesbian theme, and it opened up a whole new genre. While many later books were written by men, with little attention to authenticity, and were filled with stereotypical and misogynistic ideas about women and lesbians, this first novel did have the ring of truth because it was written by a lesbian." — Strange Sisters, by Jayne Simet