Jane Rule

Jane Vance Rule (28 March 1931 – 27 November 2007) was a Canadian-American 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 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, Jane Vance Rule was the oldest daughter of Carlotta Jane Hink-Packer and Arthur Richards Rule. 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. 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 [she] was a freak." to spend a year in London, 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, 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. 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. 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).

Rule received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from Publishing Triangle in 2002.

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 two became Canadian citizens in 1960.

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.

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

Early life

Personal life and death

Works

References

Further reading