The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

August 24, 2018

August 24, 1915

James Tiptree, Jr was one of the pseudonyms Alice Bradley Sheldon (August 24, 1915 to May 19, 1987) , used for her science fiction writing.
A Jstor article says:

'When popular science fiction writer James Tiptree, Jr., acclaimed as an epitome of masculine writing, publicly revealed in 1977 that she was actually Alice Bradley Sheldon, readers were gobsmacked. “Tiptree” was known to be a pseudonym, but readers in the know had assumed it was the pen name of a guy in the CIA who couldn’t reveal his identity.

'Alice Sheldon (1915-1987) certainly had a rather unconventional career. She worked in Army intelligence during WWII, when she became an expert in reading aerial photographs. For a time, she raised chickens. She did indeed work for the CIA. In fact, Tiptree’s biography was accurate except for the gender. At the age of forty, Sheldon went to college, eventually earning a PhD in experimental psychology in 1967. Then she took to writing science fiction. Her first story was published in 1968 under the Tiptree byline. She also used a number of other pen names, including Raccoona Sheldo

'“Men have so preempted the area of human experience that when you write about universal motives, you are assumed to be writing like a man.”

'Alice Sheldon (a.k.a. James Tiptree, Jr.) Sheldon called the name “James Tiptree, Jr.”—inspired by a brand of jams—”good camouflage.” Among her reasons for the masquerade: “I’ve had too many experiences in my life of being the first woman in some damned occupation.”'

Some of her titles include:
Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home (1973)
Warm Worlds and Otherwise 
(1975)
Star Songs of an Old Primate (1978.)

Her biographer Julie Philips mentions cats and daffodils in the youth of her subject. There is a very informative book review of The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon (2011) here. You should read it.

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