Tristan Taormino (born May 9, 1971) is an American feminist author, columnist, sex educator, activist, editor, speaker, radio host, and pornographic film director. She is most recently known for her book Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships, which is often recommended as an starter guide to polyamory and non-monogamy. Early life Taormino is the only child of Judith Bennett Pynchon and William J. Taormino. On her mother's side of the family, Taormino is a descendant of William Pynchon, an early English-American settler. She is also the niece of author Thomas Pynchon. Her parents divorced before she turned two years old, when her father came out as gay. She was raised primarily by her mother on Long Island. She maintained a close relationship with her father Bill Taormino, who died of AIDS in 1995. Taormino attended Sayville High School on Long Island and was salutatorian of her graduating class. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University in 1993. Career Books Taormino is the author of seven books, including the Firecracker Book Award-winning The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women. She has edited anthologies including the Lambda Literary Award-winning annual anthology series she created and edited from 1996 to 2009, Best Lesbian Erotica, published by Cleis Press. She was a regular columnist for The Village Voice from 1999 to 2008, where she wrote the bi-weekly sex column "Pucker Up." In print, her column appeared opposite Dan Savage's column Savage Love. She popularized and re-defined the term "queer heterosexual," in her 1995 column "The Queer Heterosexual." She wrote: "In some cases, it's based on either one or both partners having non-traditional gender expressions...or they actively work against their assigned gender roles. Some queer heterosexuals are strongly aligned with queer community, culture, politics, and activism but happen to love and lust after people of a different gender. I also consider folks who embrace alternative models of sexuality and relationships (polyamory, non-monogamy, BDSM, cross-dressing) to be queer, since labeling them "straight," considering their lifestyle choices, seems inappropriate." She was laid off from The Village Voice in 2008. She has written "The Anal Advisor" column for Hustler's Taboo magazine since 1999, and she is a former columnist for Velvetpark. She is the former editor of On Our Backs, the USA's oldest lesbian-produced lesbian sex magazine. Lectures and controversy Taormino has lectured at many