Partner Irma Wolf, Stella Rush, Wilna Onthank, Gingere Blakeley
Joan Corbin aka Eve Elloree (May 21, 1921 – March 4, 2004) served as ONE magazine’s main illustrator from 1953 to 1963. Her long-time partner, Irma Wolf, publishing under the pseudonym Ann Carll Reid, served as chief editor.
Joan Corbin was born on May 25, 1921, in Armada, Michigan. She grew up in Richmand, Michigan, and moved to Los Angeles, California, in January 1946. She soon moved in with Irma "Corky" Wolf, and both joined ONE Incorporated as founding board members in 1953. Using the pseudonym Eve Elloree, Joan Corbin planned, designed, and illustrated ONE Magazine as an editorial staff member, 1953-1954, and art director, 1954-1963.
February 1954 was ONE’s first special edition, “The Feminine Viewpoint.” A section by that name later occupied about a third of each magazine issue for years. Leading ONE was the team of Editor-in-Chief (and Board President) “Ann Carll Reid” (“Corky” Wolf) and Art Editor, elfin Joan Corbin, aka “Eve Elloree,” whose delicate, clever sketches long set the magazine’s tone. Corky and Joan had grown up together in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and had subscribed to Lisa Ben’s pioneer lesbian publication, Vice Versa: America’s Gayest Magazine (1947-48). Some items from that early carbon-copied newsletter were reprinted in the Feb. 1953 issue of ONE Magazine.
Tiny, hard-driving Corky was a breadwinning butch who wanted her femme at home and limited to wifely concerns. Joan, one of the most personable and talented individuals I’ve ever worked with, eventually grew restive, spending more time working at ONE’s office — by then across the hall from Elaine’s quarters — and by 1957, a game of musical chairs began. Joan moved in with Stella Rush, aka “Sten Russell,” who did verse and excellent reporting for ONE and for The Ladder, the magazine of The Daughters of Bilitis. Corky partnered with a woman, who wrote chunks of “The Feminine Viewpoint” under several names, including Gabrielle Ganelle. Corky was unwilling to admit that homophile women’s and men’s interests and goals sometimes diverged. She became upset by the suggestion that we start a separate women’s magazine. Troubled by ill health, Corky eventually returned to the midwest.
Joan, who continued occasional work with ONE and later with Tangents magazine, joined with fellow artist Wilna Onthank, aka “Willi” or “Dawn Frederic,” a victim of Catholic guilt (her gay brother committed suicide). Eventually Joan joined with a handsome horsewoman, Gingere Blakeley, and moved on to a life in the canyons north of Los Angeles.
Joan Corbin continued to draw and write poetry when in August 2000 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died in 2004.
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