I have been unable to find a web page dedicated to Catherine Lucile Moore (there was one, by Jinna, but it is now gone), so here are some reasons why I'm interested in her.
She wrote (and published) science fiction when there were no women who did - in the 30s (gasp!), and, as Lester Del Rey said in the introduction to her "Best Of" collection, influenced every SF writer of the time. Her recurring characters, Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry, are best known. Jirel of Joiry is probably the first strong female lead in SF and also very realistic in that she can be afraid, impulsive and intensely sexual (while also being a true warrior). In fact, a lot of Moore's work explores human sexuality (think about it... in the 30s... in science-fiction). Stories about Northwest Smith first give you an impression of straightforward pure action combined with some real weirdness (her aliens are alien), until you suddenly realize that in all of them the reason of action, the spring of action, or the instigator of action is a female. It's really eerie, how one fails to notice that in the first place.
In 1938 she met and then married a very well-known SF writer, Henry Kuttner, and most of came out under his name and the pseudonyms Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O'Donnell (and apparently many others, which I don't know) is their joint work. It is really spectacular, and I strongly recommend it (the Hogben and Gallegher sequences are in particular funny). Be warned that many of their joint efforts are published under Henry Kuttner's name only. By the way, this person thinks that they both stank before starting to write together - I don't know Henry Kuttner's early work, but it is patently untrue for Moore.
