Tiptree Immortalized in Germany's Frauen-Gedenk-Labyrinth: A Personal Report‪.‬

* In June 2000, I participated in the Fest der 2000 Frauen, a grandiose celebration of the heritage of women, at the Old Opera in Frankfurt/Germany. Each registered participant represented a woman of her choice she felt deserved to be remembered, be she a historical or mythical figure, well-known or unknown. To this figure she dedicated a mosaic-stone with her name engraved in gold letters. This stone became part of the labyrinth inaugurated that day in front of the Opera. My choice was Tiptree, the only SF writer thus honoured and immortalized in the labyrinth. Why she? When I studied and taught literature, SF was considered non-literature. By chance and very late in my career, I met Joanna Russ at the University of Washington and was fascinated by her work. And so I started to look for other female SF writers. Tiptree caught my attention. What attracted me to her, I must confess, were not merely her stories, but also the secrecy about her person, her unusual biography. Having led myself a rather adventurous life, I saw my nonconformity validated by other women who had broken free of the conventional female role. Yet Tiptree's adventures were not of her own choosing. The strange childhood environment imposed on her led to her sense of alienation she described in an interview with Charles Platt. Not from people, but "in the indifference of the universe" she says she found consolation. Looking up at the stars, she'd think: "There's Sirius, and Sirius looks on all things, and Sirius doesn't care" ("Profile Interview by Charles Platt," 262).