Dr. Emily Lucretia Sisley, a psychologist and writer who co-authored “The Joy of Lesbian Sex,” died Oct. 21 in New York City. She was 86.
Sisley was born May 7, 1930, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, daughter of Frederick W. and Harriet Litman Sisley. At 21, she moved to New York City and never looked back. For the last 50 years, she lived in Greenwich Village in a tiny, eccentrically decorated apartment.
Sisley received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Long Island University. She was a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Board of Medical Psychotherapists. She served as chief psychologist at the Gramercy Park Institute. Her teaching appointments included Long Island University, Pima College, the Chiropractic Institute of New York, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.
Sisley is also the author of “The Novel Writers” (1980) and co-author of “The Vitamin C Connection” (1983). She was an avid musician, playing piano, clarinet and viola, and a longtime supporter of the Metropolitan and City operas. Her great friend and neighbor Jean Warfield, now deceased, worked as a set designer for the Metropolitan, and their Morton St. apartments were often the site of musical galas featuring noted performers of the New York stage.
Sisley was a founding member of the Morton St. Block Association, and was active in protecting her corner of the historic West Village for more than 40 years.
She traveled widely, loved dogs, skiing and golf, and was her family historian. Those mourning her include her brother, Brigadier General Frederick E. Sisley (U.S. Marine Corps, retired), his wife Dinny and their children and grandchildren; cousins Mimi Alef, Maude Parkinson and Susan Wilson and their families; cousin Bruce J. Croushore and family; and devoted friends Mary “Gussie” Dimmick of Pittsburgh and Mary Phillips of New York.
“The Joy of Lesbian Sex,” praised as an “informative, sensitively written manual” when it appeared in 1978, may seem somewhat outdated today but was groundbreaking for its time. It has been translated into many languages and has been a support for women exploring their sexuality over several decades.
Contributions in Emily Sisley’s memory can be made to the Morton St. Block Association, P.O. Box 20136, West Village Station, New York, N.Y. 10014; or Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St., New York, N.Y. 10014; or the ASCPA. Please include “in memory of Emily Sisley” on the check.
