Jane Vance Rule (28 March 1931 – 27 November 2007) was a
Canadian-American
Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...
writer of
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
-themed works. Her first novel, ''
Desert of the Heart'', appeared in 1964, when gay activity was still a criminal offence. It turned Rule into a reluctant media celebrity, and brought her massive correspondence from women who had never dared explore lesbianism. Rule became an active anti-censorship campaigner, and served on the executive of the Writers' Union of Canada.
Early life
Born in
Plainfield,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, Jane Vance Rule was the oldest daughter of Carlotta Jane Hink-Packer and Arthur Richards Rule.
["Jane Rule" in the 1940 United States Federal Census (Year: ''1940''; Census Place: ''Hinsdale, DuPage, Illinois''; Roll: ''m-t0627-00797''; Page: ''19A''; Enumeration District: ''22-38)''] Both her parents were college educated and her father worked in the military.
Rule described her mother as "a materially spoiled and emotionally depraved only child". Rule was also the middle of three children, with an older brother and a younger sister.
Because she grew up in a military family, Rule moved frequently—to
Hinsdale, Illinois,
and later to
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, and then back to California where her father served in the Pacific during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
She says she was a
tomboy growing up and felt like an outsider for reaching six feet tall by age 12 and being
dyslexic. When she was 15 she read ''
The Well of Loneliness'' and wrote later that she, "suddenly discovered that
hewas a freak."
Rule earned a
BA in
English from
Mills College in California in 1952.
Almost immediately after graduation, she sailed in the
Queen Mary to spend a year in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, following a female lover. There, she was an occasional student at
University College, London, and began work on her first novel.
Rule returned to the U.S. to work at the writing department at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
, but she quit after a few months because of "the competitive, commercial atmosphere of the school, the condescending attitude toward women students". She then lived at home with her parents until 1954.
Beginning in 1954, Rule taught at
Concord Academy in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
where she met
Helen Sonthoff (September 11, 1916 - January 3, 2000), a fellow creative writing and literature teacher. The two fell in love, but at the time of their meeting, Sonthoff was married.
Worried about politics and McCarthyism of the 50s in America, Rule moved with her friend and literary critic,
John Hulcoop, to
Vancouver, British Columbia in 1956. While there, she worked at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
, as well as wrote her first novel.
While living together, Rule and Hulcoop's relationship became romantic. However, that became complicated by the arrival of the woman Hulcoop would marry, as well as the arrival of Helen Sonthoff. Sonthoff was recently divorced and went to Vancouver for a vacation, which turned into a life-long relationship with Jane Rule.
Career
Although Rule had finished writing her first novel, ''
Desert of the Heart,'' in 1961, it was not published until 1964, after 22 rejections from publishers. The book features two women who fall in love, and ends overall-positively for the two. It caused Rule to be inundated with letters from desperate women discovering their lesbianism, as well as fearful and chilly reviews surrounding the homosexual theme. It was, after all, published five years before the decriminalization of
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
in Canada.
Therefore, Rule became the spokesperson of all issues surrounding homosexuality in Canada, and she later wrote "I became, for the media, the only lesbian in Canada. A role I gradually and very reluctantly accepted and used to educate people as I could."
Rule wrote 11 more novels in the 70s and 80s, including her book ''Lesbian Images'', a study of lesbian writers. Her other works during this time included fiction novels, essays, and short stories. In all of her work, she has become known for her eloquence in describing human relationships, both hetero and homosexual. Rule's wish was to be remembered as a Canadian writer, more than a lesbian or woman writer.
Rule served on the executive of the
Writers' Union of Canada.
[Compiled by Hives, Christopher. Revised by Pitblado, Beth, et al. "Jane Rule Fonds." University of British Columbia Archives, last modified 2016, accessed 21 Jul 2020, http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/u_arch/janerule.pdf] She was an outspoken advocate of both
free speech and
gay rights, included in the various controversies surrounding the gay magazine ''
The Body Politic,'' which she wrote for regularly, along with ''
The Ladder.'' She was also a prominent anti-censorship figure (specifically about the seizure of gay and lesbian books).
In 1989, Rule donated a collection of her writings to the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
.
The collection was updated with more writings in 2016, and Helen Sonthoff's papers now also belong to the University of British Columbia.
Rule was inducted into the
Order of British Columbia in 1998, and into the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
in 2007, both award ceremonies taking place, at Rule's initiative, in her home community of
Galiano Island. Rule remarked "I chose Canada over 50 years ago. So it is very nice to have Canada choose me", about receiving the latter honor.
Rule received the
Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from
Publishing Triangle in 2002.
''
Desert of the Heart'' was the inspiration for the now cult-classic lesbian 1985 film ''
Desert Hearts'', directed by
Donna Deitch.
Rule was also the subject of
Lynne Fernie and
Aerlyn Weissman's 1995 documentary film ''
Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule''.
Personal life and death
Rule and Helen Sonthoff lived together from 1957 until Sonthoff's death in 2000. Sonthoff also taught at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
. The two became Canadian citizens in 1960.
Rule surprised some in the gay community by declaring herself against
gay marriage, writing "To be forced back into the
heterosexual cage of coupledom is not a step forward but a step back into state-imposed definitions of relationship. With all that we have learned, we should be helping our heterosexual brothers and sisters out of their state-defined prisons, not volunteering to join them there."
In 1976, Rule moved to
Galiano Island along with Helen Sonthoff; the two remained there until the end of both their lives. They were well-known and loved on the island; Helen and Jane would give loans to the island's residents in need, as well as teach all the neighborhood children how to swim in their backyard pool.
By age 60, Rule was plagued with chronic arthritis, which ultimately dulled her desire to write. In 2007, she was diagnosed with liver cancer. She refused any radical treatment and instead continued swimming and living her life as usual. Prior to her death, Rule had already had two "living wakes" and felt that because of this, she would die elegantly. She died later that year, at the age of 76 on November 28, 2007, at home on Galiano Island. The ashes of Jane Vance Rule were interred in the Galiano Island Cemetery next to those of her beloved Helen Sonthoff.
The manuscript of Rule's memoir was found and published posthumously, ''Taking My Life'', published in 2011. The manuscript was discovered by
Linda M. Morra, who edited and annotated the book.
Works
* ''
Desert of the Heart'' (1964)
* ''This Is Not for You'' (1970),
Naiad Press
* ''Against the Season'' (1971), Naiad Press
* ''
Lesbian Images'' (1975),
The Crossing Press
* ''
Theme for Diverse Instruments'' (1975)
* ''
The Young in One Another's Arms'' (1977), Naiad Press
* ''
In the Attic of the House'' (July 1979),
Christopher Street magazine
* ''
Contract with the World'' (1980)
* ''
Outlander'', (1981) Naiad Press
* ''
Inland Passage and Other Stories'' (1985), Naiad Press
* ''
A Hot-Eyed Moderate'' (1985), Naiad Press
* ''
Memory Board'' (1987), Naiad Press
* ''
After the Fire'' (1989), Naiad Press
* ''
Loving the Difficult'' (2008),
Hedgerow Press
* ''Taking My Life'' (2011),
Talonbooks
* ''A Queer Love Story: The Letters of Jane Rule and Rick Bébout'' (2017),
UBC Press
References
Further reading
"Jane Rule, Canadian Novelist Dies at 76" in The Times, 13 December 2007"Helen Sonthoff Fonds" by Hernandez, Erica, in University of British Columbia Archives, 2000"Jane Rule Fonds" compiled by Hives, Christopher. Revised by Pitblado, Beth, et al. University of British Columbia Archives, last modified 2016, accessed 21 Jul 2020"Jane Rules: Reflections on Living and Loving" by Bealy, Joanne, Herizons.
*
Ellen Bosman. "Jane Rule Publishes ''Lesbian Images''." in ''Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender Events''. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2006. 287–289.
* Marilyn R. Schuster, Sonya L. Jones (editor). ''Gay and Lesbian Literature Since World War II: History and Memory'', "Inscribing a Lesbian Reader, Projecting a Lesbian Subject." Routledge, Haworth Press, 1998. p. 87–113.
*
Linda M. Morra. ''Unarrested Archives: Case Studies in Twentieth-Century Canadian Women's Authorship'', Chapter 4: "Jane Rule and the Archive of Activism: Negotiating Imaginative – and Literal – Space for a Nation." Toronto University Press, 2014. , ,
* Marilyn R. Schuster. ''Passionate Communities: Reading Lesbian Resistance in Jane Rule's Fiction,'' NYU Press, 1998.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rule, Jane
1931 births
2007 deaths
20th-century American educators
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American women writers
20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people
20th-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian women writers
21st-century American women writers
American emigrants to Canada
American expatriate writers in Canada
American free speech activists
American lesbian writers
American LGBTQ rights activists
American women novelists
Canadian activists
Canadian free speech activists
Canadian lesbian writers
Canadian LGBTQ novelists
Canadian LGBTQ rights activists
Canadian women novelists
Concord Academy faculty
Deaths from cancer in British Columbia
Deaths from liver cancer in Canada
Lambda Literary Award winners
Lesbian novelists
Members of the Order of British Columbia
Members of the Order of Canada
Mills College alumni
Novelists from New Jersey
Writers from Plainfield, New Jersey
LGBTQ people from New Jersey