James Tiptree Jr.

Author profile

born

in Chicago, Illinois, The United States

August 24, 1915

died

May 19, 1987

gender

female

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy

About this author

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"James Tiptree, Jr." was born Alice Bradley in Chicago in 1915. Her mother was the writer Mary Hastings Bradley; her father, Herbert, was a lawyer and explorer. Throughout her childhood she travelled with her parents, mostly to Africa, but also to India and Southeast Asia. Her early work was as an artist and art critic. During World War II she enlisted in the Army and became the first American female photointelligence officer. In Germany after the war, she met and married her commanding officer, Huntington D. Sheldon. In the early 1950s, both Sheldons joined the then-new CIA; he made it his career, but she resigned in 1955, went back to college, and earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology.

At about this same time, Alli Sheldon started writ...more "James Tiptree, Jr." was born Alice Bradley in Chicago in 1915. Her mother was the writer Mary Hastings Bradley; her father, Herbert, was a lawyer and explorer. Throughout her childhood she travelled with her parents, mostly to Africa, but also to India and Southeast Asia. Her early work was as an artist and art critic. During World War II she enlisted in the Army and became the first American female photointelligence officer. In Germany after the war, she met and married her commanding officer, Huntington D. Sheldon. In the early 1950s, both Sheldons joined the then-new CIA; he made it his career, but she resigned in 1955, went back to college, and earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology.

At about this same time, Alli Sheldon started writing science fiction. She wrote four stories and sent them off to four different science fiction magazines. She did not want to publish under her real name, because of her CIA and academic ties, and she intended to use a new pseudonym for each group of stories until some sold. They started selling immediately, and only the first pseudonym—"Tiptree" from a jar of jelly, "James" because she felt editors would be more receptive to a male writer, and "Jr." for fun—was needed. (A second pseudonym, "Raccoona Sheldon," came along later, so she could have a female persona.)

Tiptree quickly became one of the most-respected writers in the field, winning the Hugo Award for "The Girl Who was Plugged In" and "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?," and the Nebula Award for "Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death" and "Houston, Houston." Raccoona won the Nebula for "The Screwfly Solution," and Tiptree won the World Fantasy Award for the collection Tales from the Quintana Roo.

The Tiptree fiction reflects Alli Sheldon's interests and concerns throughout her life: the alien among us (a role she portrayed in her childhood travels), the health of the planet, the quality of perception, the role of women, love, death, and humanity's place in a vast, cold universe. An award in Tiptree's name has celebrated science fiction that "expands and explores gender roles" for ten years now.

Alice Sheldon died in 1987 by her own hand. Writing in her first book about the suicide of Hart Crane, she said succinctly: "Poets extrapolate."

Julie Phillips wrote her biography, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon

Here is a link to a site which now awards Science Fiction authors and their books under Alice's pen name for literature to represent gender issues within the field of writing.
http://www.tiptree.org/
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James Tiptree Jr.'s Books

Average rating: 4.07 · 3,895 ratings · 340 reviews · 115 distinct works · Similar authors

	Her Smoke Rose Up Forever 4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 avg rating — 955 ratings — published 1990 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Brightness Falls from the Air 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 273 ratings — published 1985 — 13 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Up the Walls of the World 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 250 ratings — published 1978 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ten Thousand Light Years From Home 3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 206 ratings — published 1973 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Warm Worlds and Otherwise by James Tiptree Jr., Robert Silverberg (Introduction) 4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 avg rating — 149 ratings — published 1975 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Houston, Houston, Do You Read? 4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 133 ratings — published 1976	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Star Songs of an Old Primate by James Tiptree Jr., Ursula K. Le Guin (Introduction) 4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 1979 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Starry Rift 3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 130 ratings — published 1986 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Girl Who Was Plugged In/Screwtop by James Tiptree Jr., Vonda N. McIntyre 3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 84 ratings — published 1989	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crown of Stars 4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 80 ratings — published 1990 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by James Tiptree Jr.…

Quotes by James Tiptree Jr.

“Certainly my inner world will never be a peaceful place of bloom; it will have some peace, and occasional riots of bloom, but always a little fight going on too. There is no way I can be peacefully happy in this society and in this skin. I am committed to Uneasy Street. I like it; it is my idea that this street leads to the future, and that I am being true to a way of life which is not here yet, but is more real than what is here.”
― James Tiptree Jr.

17 people liked it

“Passing in any crowd are secret people whose hidden response to beauty is the desire to tear it into bleeding meat.”
― James Tiptree Jr.

tags: sf

11 people liked it

“And here is our girl, looking--
If possible, worse than before. (You thought this was Cinderella transistorized?)”
― James Tiptree Jr.

7 people liked it

See all James Tiptree Jr.'s quotes »

Polls

February Science Fiction Book of the Month

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

27 votes, 38.6%

The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl

10 votes, 14.3%

In the Company of Others by Julie E. Czerneda

9 votes, 12.9%

Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer

9 votes, 12.9%

Brightness Falls from the Air by James Tiptree Jr.

6 votes, 8.6%

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

5 votes, 7.1%

World-Mart by Leigh M. Lane

4 votes, 5.7%

70 total votes

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