On October 10, falls. Found by son Jim seventeen hours later, she is hospitalized. 1997 Dies on October 22 in a Tucson hospice. The Valerie Taylor Collection comprises 8.8 cubic feet and spans the years 1923-1997, with the bulk of the materials in the 1980s and 1990s. It consists mainly of literary manuscripts and correspondence, but includes also materials relating to her personal life, drafts of speeches, book reviews, and news stories.
Unpublished materials represent the vast majority of the literary manuscripts.
The collection is also a rich source for poets who were friends of Valerie Taylor's and sent her their works. Will Inman's works form the bulk of such materials, but there are also unpublished poems by Jeannette Foster. The collection is complemented by audio and visual materials, in particular recordings of Valerie Taylor's appearances on television shows and of lectures and interviews. Materials on tape have been described and listed in various sections according to the nature of their contents, and a cross-reference has been provided to Series X, which lists all the tapes. For conservation reasons tapes have been separated from the papers and placed in a separate location.