A notable jazz photographer, Valerie Wilmer was one of the key jazz writers of the 1960s who embraced and wrote intelligently about avant-garde and free jazz. She started as a jazz journalist around 1960 and has since written for such magazines as Melody Maker, Down Beat, Jazz Journal, Swing Journal and Jazz Forum, among many others. Her books include Jazz People, The Face of Black Music, As Serious As Your Life, and her memoir Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide