I don't use Lenormand, although I have been following this thread, and I'll chime in to Le Fanu's post, that the same could be said of Pixie Smith. I've seen, over the years, a growing deification of her, and people saying of her the same things you mentioned about Lenormand. An early feminist, feisty, possessing magic powers of channeling, she did the deck without any intervention, it was actually her idea and not Waite's, etc. The list of things people say about her goes on and on, possibly as a counter reaction to Waite being a stodgy white male. There is hardly any hard, factual evidence about PCS, almost all of it being anecdotal. Most people don't even know the anecdotal evidence, mostly basing themselves on a single photograph in which she looks like kind of a cool person. The thing to remember is that even though she may have been ahead of her time, it was still her time, and projecting what stands today for "ahead of her time" has little to do with what that meant then.
There is a lot more to go on when discussing Frieda Harris or Moina Mathers or Netta Fornario, but people still project whatever they want onto those women as well, even though real evidence can be found as to what they were actually like.
Point is that the work exists independently of its creator, and its social impact can be seen whether or not the fables told about either woman are true.