O’Meara is now a screenwriter and producer who makes monster movies and works for an independent film company. Her continuing admiration (and tattoo) of Patrick — and dismay at the lack of a proper biography — propelled her to begin work on “The Lady From the Black Lagoon” when she was 25. Learning that Patrick had to deal with a serious amount of Hollywood sexism further reinforced her bond with her subject. “I could easily put myself in her shoes,” she writes. “I have the same pair — every woman in film has them. They’re standard issue and they’re uncomfortable as hell.”