It’s funny, but Norton was actually my first introduction to fantasy, pre-dating even my exposure to Tolkien. Specifically Dragon Magic and Here Abide Monsters, both of which I still have a soft spot for, despite their flaws. That said I ultimately wasn’t a huge fan
But her contribution to the field(s) was tremendous, especially as she was one of those writers like Heinlein who was a gateway for so many young people. A great loss.
Probably because she chose her pen name to sound like a guy, which was common in sf in those days. I guess they thought geeky adolescents like me wouldn’t read books by a girl.
The Stars Are Ours as half of an Ace double is I think the first sf book I ever owned, glommed from my uncle’s house (with permission.) Still have it, of course.
My intro to her was The Crystal Griffin and Star Rangers. I read everything of hers in my junior high school library. I remember being very annoyed that my high school library did not have many of her books.
Goodbye, Gentle Fem. You will be missed.
For those who are also cat lovers, she edited a series of Anthologies “Catfantastic”. I loved her stories about Noble Warrior. No one has mentioned her collaborative works The Halfblood chronicles yet? 
Elvenbane, Elvenblood, and Elvenborn are all good (if lighthearted) reads IMO. mbh did you ever read her work with A.C. Crispin “Gryphon’s Eyrie”? That continues the storyline.
Oh, yeah, I read one of her detective novels, At Swords’ Points, which I liked a lot. So I looked for other stuff by her, and found myself in a plushy chair in the back of the Sioux City AFB library reading “Sargasso of Space.” And that’s how I got hooked on SF alrighty.
I always meant to read *Gryphon in Glory * and Gryphon’s Eyrie, but by the time they were published, I had gone on to other authors, and I never got around to it. Maybe it’s time to go back.