Sante has written and edited books and written lyrics and liner notes.
Her books includeLow Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York (1991), a non-fiction book documenting the life and politics of lowerManhattan from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century;[5][6][7]Evidence (1992), the autobiographicalThe Factory of Facts (1998),Walker Evans (1999),Kill All Your Darlings: Pieces 1990-2005 (2007),Folk Photography (2009),The Other Paris (2015),Maybe the People Would Be the Times (2022), andNineteen Reservoirs (2023). She co-editedO. K. You Mugs: Writers on Movie Actors with writerMelissa Holbrook Pierson, her former wife.[8] Sante also translated and editedFélix Fénéon'sNovels in Three Lines (2007) forNew York Review Books.[9]
In the early 1980s, Sante wrote lyrics for the New York City-based bandThe Del-Byzanteens.[10] She served as historical consultant on Martin Scorsese's 2002 filmGangs of New York,[11] and, withJem Cohen, made the short filmLe Bled (Buildings in a Field) (2009).[12] Sante has exhibited her collages at Picture Theory in Manhattan and elsewhere.[13]
Sante lived as a man until announcing that she was transitioning to being a woman in 2021. She wrote on her Instagram account: "Yes, this is me, and yes, I am transitioning–I have joined the other team. Yes, I've known since at least age 11 but probably earlier and yes, I suppressed and denied it for decades.... I started...hormone replacement therapy in early May....You can call me Lucy (but I won't freak out if you misgender me) and my pronoun, thankyouverymuch, is she."[15] In February 2022 she wrote an essay in the magazineVanity Fair explaining her transition at almost 70 years old.[16] Her 2024 memoir,I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition, follows her process of coming out and was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2024 by theNew York Times.[17][18] Sante has been married twice, and has a son.[18]
Kill All Your Darlings: Pieces 1990-2005. Portland, OR: Yeti/Verse Chorus Press. 2007.ISBN9781891241536.
Folk Photography: The American Real-Photo Postcard, 1905–1930. Portland, OR: Yeti/Verse Chorus Press. 2009.ISBN9781891241550. New edition: The Visible Spectrum, 2022. ISBN 9781953835185.[20]
