American writer Kathy Acker was BOTD in 1947. Born Karen Lehman in New York City to a prosperous middle-class family, her father abandoned the family home before she was born, and she was raised by her mother and stepfather. She attended private schools on the Upper East Side, and enrolled at Brandeis University to study Classics. In 1966, she married Robert Acker in 1966, moving with him to San Diego where she studied at the University of California. They separated after two years, and Acker returned to New York, attending graduate school and supporting herself as a stripper and porn actress. She emerged as part of the New York literary underground of the 1970s, writing in an experimental style heavily influenced by William S. Burroughs, Marguerite Duras and Jean Genet. A prolific writer, her work included novels, short stories, plays, essays and newspaper articles, typically dealing with themes of sex addiction, suicide, violence, family trauma and illness. Her breakthrough came when she won the Pushcart Prize for her short story New York City in 1979. Other notable works include a punk rewriting of Great Expectations and the 1984 novel Blood and Guts in High School. Openly bisexual, she had a number of relationships with men and women. She died in 1997 in Mexico, aged 50, after seeking alternative medical treatment for breast cancer. Her literary reputation has grown since her death, with essays, academic studies and biographies published about her life and work.