Even aside from the murder she eventually committed, Alice Bradley Sheldon was a fascinating person with a very interesting history.
“I have what every child wants, a real secret life … not a bite-the-capsule-when-they-get-you secret, nobody else’s damn secret but mine.”
-Alice Bradley Sheldon
the story of alice
Alice Bradley Sheldon was born 24 August 1915 in Chicago, Illinois. She came from a family where education was a priority. Her father was a lawyer and a naturalist, and her mother was a writer of both fiction and travel books. She was well-traveled and well-educated, a girl with advantages that many others in that time did not.[1]Speller, Maureen K. “James Tiptree, Jr.” Magill’s Literary Annual, EBSCOhost.
However, Sheldon’s childhood was not idyllic. There were moments that, at the very least, approached an incestual relationship between her mother and herself. According to Sheldon, her mother once told her that she had “weird erotic” feelings for Alice. And when she was 14, her mother tried to sleep with her in an intimate way. Alice herself has admitted that she almost did, saying no simply because she didn’t know how to do so.[2]Manheim, Noa. “‘His Pen Was My Prick’: The Incredible Secret Life of Author Alice B. Sheldon, Aka James Tiptree Jr.” Haaretz, 6 Oct. 2018, Haaretz, … Continue reading
She married in 1934 at the age of 19 at the behest of her mother, a man named Bill Davey. The marriage forced her to drop out of Sarah Lawrence College because the school didn’t allow married students within their student body. She and her husband moved to Berkeley, California where they took classes. However, the marriage was brief, as her husband was an alcoholic who was far too free with their money. They divorced in 1940.
Soon after, Sheldon joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps as a supply officer. Two years later, she joined the US Army Air Forces and worked in the photo-intelligence group. Eventually, she was promoted to the rank of Major, which was a very high rank for a woman at that time. She became an expert in her field, that of aerial intelligence photography and their analysis. In 1945, she was stationed in Paris where she met and married her second husband, Huntington Sheldon. After her discharge from the military in 1946, she published her first story in the 16 November issue of The New Yorker.
Just six years later, she and her husband both were approached by the CIA. She worked for three years as an intelligence, cutting her own career short because she disliked the work. Instead, she went back to school. It was during this time that she began to write in earnest. However, she published under the name James Tiptree, Jr.[3]Speller, Maureen K. “James Tiptree, Jr.” Magill’s Literary Annual, EBSCOhost.
Her more intimate personal life was equally shrouded in mystery. Alice was extremely progressive in terms of sexuality and gender, especially in the times in which she lived. Over the years, she described her own sexuality in different and complex ways.
on sexuality…
“I like some men a lot, but from the start, before I knew anything, it was always girls and women who lit me up.”
on gender…
“To grow up as a ‘girl’ is to be nearly fatally spoiled, deformed, and terrified; … to be reacted to … as a thing … and nearly–to become that thing.”
“I do not ‘fit’ my body. Never really have.”
She expressed her complex orientation and identity, as well as her feminist ideals, through her writing. Writing as a man gave her the freedom to explore topics that would have been otherwise next to impossible for an openly female writer of the time. Much of her work included genderbending, along with open expression of sex, violence, and situations “unbecoming” for women.[4]Wolfe, Kathi. “She Blinded Me with Science Fiction.” Houston Voice, 2 Sept. 2006, Houston Voice, … Continue reading There were some that believed that Tiptree/Sheldon was actually either J.D. Salinger or Henry Kissinger.[5]Manheim, Noa. “‘His Pen Was My Prick’: The Incredible Secret Life of Author Alice B. Sheldon, Aka James Tiptree Jr.” Haaretz, 6 Oct. 2018, Haaretz, … Continue reading
When Sheldon was outed as the hand behind James Tiptree, Jr., much of the book world was shocked. Fellow writer and friend Robert Silverberg had always been convinced that Tiptree’s books had to be written by a man because of the experiences within her stories and her writing style. Later, Sheldon wrote him a letter, apologizing for having mislead him. Her outing to the book world came after the death of her mother, Mary Hastings Bradley. A casual mention by “Tiptree” was linked to the death notice of Mary, which led fans to draw conclusions that Alice and “Tiptree” were one in the same. The outing was said to be devastating for Sheldon who had lived with the protection of the pseudonym for more than a decade.[6]Davis, Patricia. “Bullets End 2 ‘Fragile’ Lives.” The Washington Post, 20 May 1987, The Washington Post, … Continue reading
the crime
On 20 May 1987, Alice Sheldon called her attorney to tell him that she was planning to kill both her husband and herself. She wanted him to call the police. At approximately 3:30 in the morning, the shooting took place. Police found them in bed together with gunshots to their upper bodies. Alice Sheldon was 71 and Huntington Sheldon was 84.[7]Associated Press. “Author Kills Herself and Aged Husband in Suburb of Capital.” New York Times, 20 May 1987, New York Times, … Continue reading
the motive
According to police, Alice Sheldon had become severely depressed about the health of her husband. Earlier in the year, he’d gone blind and become bedridden. However, a week earlier, she’d called her agent who reported that Sheldon had seemed fine.[8]Associated Press. “Author Kills Herself and Aged Husband in Suburb of Capital.” New York Times, 20 May 1987, New York Times, … Continue reading Notes were left behind, stating that there had been a pact between the two to die if living became too difficult. Interestingly, years earlier, in a letter dated 28 December 1976, she wrote to the friend mentioned above, Silverberg, about killing herself. This is a quote from this letter.[9]Washington Post. “Writer Kills Mate, Herself in Death Pact Alice Sheldon Wrote as James Tiptree, Jr.” Orlando Sentinel, 20 May 1987, Orlando Sentinel, … Continue reading
“I had always meant to take myself off the scene gracefully about now while I am still me. And now I find I can’t, because to do it would mean leaving him alone, and I can’t bring myself to put a bullet through that sleeping head — to take him too, when he doesn’t want to go . . . . “
The letter was dated 13 September 1979.[10]Manheim, Noa. “‘His Pen Was My Prick’: The Incredible Secret Life of Author Alice B. Sheldon, Aka James Tiptree Jr.” Haaretz, 6 Oct. 2018, Haaretz, … Continue reading
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