On October 16, 1965, Abbey married Judy Pepper, who accompanied him as a seasonal park ranger in the Florida Everglades and then as a fire lookout in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Judy was separated from Abbey for extended periods of time while she attended the University of Arizona to earn her master's degree. During this time, Abbey had relations with other women—something that Judy gradually became aware of, causing their marriage to suffer. On August 8, 1968 Judy gave birth to a daughter, Susannah "Susie" Mildred Abbey. Ed purchased the family a home in Sabino Canyon, outside of Tucson. Judy died of leukemia on July 11, 1970, an event that crushed Abbey, causing him to go into "bouts of depression and loneliness" for years. It was to Judy that he dedicated his book "Black Sun". However, the book was not an autobiographical novel about his relationship with Judy. Rather, it was a story about a woman with whom Abbey had an affair in 1963. Abbey finished the first draft of "Black Sun" in 1968, two years before Judy died, and it was "a bone of contention in their marriage."