Spring Fire

Spring Fire

First edition Gold Medal Books cover, 1952
Author	Vin Packer
Cover artist	Barrye Phillips
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	lesbian pulp fiction
Publisher	Gold Medal Books
Publication date	1952
Media type	Print (Paperback)

Spring Fire, is a 1952 paperback novel written by Marijane Meaker, under the pseudonym "Vin Packer". It is often considered to be the first lesbian pulp novel, although it also addresses issues of conformity in 1950s American society. The novel tells the story of Susan "Mitch" Mitchell, an awkward, lonely freshman at a Midwestern college who falls in love with Leda, her popular but troubled sorority sister. Published by Gold Medal Books, Spring Fire sold 1.5 million copies through at least three printings.

Cleis Press re-released the book in 2004 after extensive negotiations with Meaker, who had long denied permission over her feelings about the ending. Following the exposure of their relationship, Leda is committed to a mental institution and Mitch realizes she never loved Leda. Meaker later wrote, "I still cringe when I think about it. I never wanted it republished. It was too embarrassing." Meaker explained in the 2004 foreword that Dick Carroll, her editor at Gold Medal Books, told her that because the book would be sent through the mail, no references to homosexuality as an attractive life could be portrayed or postal inspectors would send it back to the publishing house. He said that one character must acknowledge that she is not a lesbian, and the other she's involved with "must be sick or crazy".

The story is based on an affair Meaker had in boarding school as a teenager. She was awkward and shy in a new school and fell in love with a more experienced, older girl. They traded love letters, and the other girl's mother found them on the eve of a weekend trip they were to take together. When the girl's mother approached her, "She said she'd rather kill herself than be like me," Meaker remembered.

She initially wished to title the book Sorority Girl, but her business-minded editor changed the title to Spring Fire in order to confuse potential readers with the James A Michener title The Fires of Spring.

Susan ("Mitch") Mitchell is pledging to the Tri Epsilon sorority at fictional Cranston University. She is seen as a boon to the sorority due to her father's significant wealth, and the sorority is promised a new silverware set from the alumni if she is accepted. Large, ungainly, and shy, she is drawn to older sorority member Leda Taylor who is direct and independent; they become roommates and have double dates—Leda with boyfriend Jake and Mitch with the sullen, boorish president of the "Sig Eps" who humiliates her during a fraternity party. Mitch flees the party after striking the fraternity president on the head and the sorority is blackballed. Much-more-experienced Leda trades her exasperation with Mitch's innocence with overt affection for her in rapid mood switches.