Jane Vance Rule (28 March 1931 – 27 November 2007) was a Canadian writer of
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. 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 n ...
-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 state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, 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
Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...
,
and later to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and
Missouri
Missouri 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 is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, and then back to California where her father served in the Pacific during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
She says she was a
tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
growing up and felt like an outsider for reaching six feet tall by age 12 and being
dyslexic
Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...
. When she was 15 she read ''
The Well of Loneliness
''The Well of Loneliness'' is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose " sexual inversion" (hom ...
'' and wrote later that she, "suddenly discovered that
hewas a freak."
Rule graduated with a degree in English from
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...
in California in 1952.
Almost immediately after graduation, she traveled on the ship "Queen Mary" to spend a year in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, following a female lover. There, she was an occasional student at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
, and began work on her first novel.
Rule returned to the U.S. to work at the writing department at Stanford University, 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
Concord Academy (also known as CA), established in 1922, is a coeducational, independent college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12. The school is situated in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1971, Concord Academy became t ...
in
where she met
Helen Sonthoff
Jane Vance Rule (28 March 1931 – 27 November 2007) was a Canadian writer of lesbian-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 m ...
(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
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, to
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
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 Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
, as well as wrote her first novel.
At some point while living together, Rule and Hulcoop's relationship turned 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 sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
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-so than a lesbian or woman writer.
Rule served on the executive of the
Writers' Union of Canada
The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC), founded in 1973, describes itself as supporting "the country's authors by advocating for their rights, freedoms, and economic well-being." Its members are professional writers who must have published at least o ...
.
[Compiled by Hives, Crhistopher. 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
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...
and
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 3 ...
, included in the various controversies surrounding the gay magazine ''
The Body Politic
''The Body Politic'' was a Canadian monthly magazine, which was published from 1971 to 1987. ,'' 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 Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
.
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
The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier B ...
in 1998, and into the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
in 2007, both award ceremonies taking place, at Rule's initiative, in her home community of
Galiano Island
Galiano Island (Hul'qumi'num: ''Swiikw'') is one of the Southern Gulf Islands located between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the west side of the Strait of Georgia, the island is bordered by Mayne I ...
. 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
The Bill Whitehead Award is an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle to honour lifetime achievement by writers within the LGBT community. First presented in 1989, the award was named in honour of Bill Whitehead, an editor with ...
for Lifetime Achievement from
Publishing Triangle
The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...
in 2002.
''
Desert of the Heart'' was the inspiration for the now cult-classic lesbian 1985 film
Desert Hearts
''Desert Hearts'' is a 1985 American romantic drama film directed by Donna Deitch. The screenplay, written by Natalie Cooper, is an adaptation of the 1964 lesbian novel '' Desert of the Heart'' by Jane Rule. Set in Reno, Nevada in 1959, it te ...
, directed by
Donna Deitch
Donna Deitch (born June 8, 1945, San Francisco, California) is an American film and television director, producer, and writer best known for her 1985 film ''Desert Hearts''. The movie was the first feature film to depict a lesbian love story in ...
.
Rule was also the subject of
Lynne Fernie
Lynne Fernie (born 1946) is a Canadian filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist. She spent fourteen years as the Canadian Spectrum programmer for the Hot Docs Festival from 2002 to 2016, and was described as having a passion as "deep as her knowled ...
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 Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
. The two became Canadian citizens in 1960.
Rule surprised some in the gay community by declaring herself against
gay marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, writing "To be forced back into the
heterosexual
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
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
Galiano Island (Hul'qumi'num: ''Swiikw'') is one of the Southern Gulf Islands located between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the west side of the Strait of Georgia, the island is bordered by Mayne I ...
along with Helen Sonthoff, and the two remained there until the end of both their lives. They were well-known and loved on the island, and purportedly 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
Naiad Press (1973–2003) was an American publishing company, one of the first dedicated to lesbian literature. At its closing it was the oldest and largest lesbian/feminist publisher in the world.
History
Naiad Press was founded by partners Barb ...
* ''Against the Season'' (1971), Naiad Press
* ''
Lesbian Images
A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. 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 fem ...
'' (1975),
The Crossing Press
* ''
Theme for Diverse Instruments'' (1975)
* ''
The Young in One Another's Arms'' (1977), Naiad Press
* ''
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
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
'' (1987), Naiad Press
* ''
After the Fire
After the Fire (or ATF) were a British rock band that evolved from playing progressive rock to new wave over ten years, while having only one hit in the United States (" Der Kommissar") and one hit in the United Kingdom (" One Rule for You") ...
'' (1989), Naiad Press
* ''
Loving the Difficult'' (2008),
Hedgerow Press
* ''Taking My Life'' (2011),
Talonbooks
Talonbooks is an independent publisher of Canadian literature based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its repertoire features authors writing in the literary genres of poetry, fiction and drama, as well as non-fiction books in the fields of ethnogra ...
* ''A Queer Love Story: The Letters of Jane Rule and Rick Bébout'' (2017),
UBC Press
The University of British Columbia Press (UBC Press) is a university press that is part of the University of British Columbia. It was established in 1971. The press is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and has editorial offices in Kelo ...
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. , ,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rule, Jane
1931 births
2007 deaths
20th-century American novelists
American emigrants to Canada
American expatriate writers in Canada
American women novelists
Canadian activists
Deaths from cancer in British Columbia
Deaths from liver cancer
Free speech activists
LGBT rights activists from Canada
LGBT rights activists from the United States
American LGBT writers
Canadian lesbian writers
Members of the Order of British Columbia
Members of the Order of Canada
Lambda Literary Award winners
Novelists from New Jersey
20th-century Canadian novelists
Canadian LGBT novelists
20th-century American women writers
Canadian women novelists
Mills College alumni
Concord Academy faculty
20th-century American educators
20th-century Canadian women writers
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century American women