TAM O’SHAUGHNESSY has a story that is out of this world – after spending 27 years as the partner of the third woman in space.
But her incredible journey took her from the US Open to biology degrees to school teaching to writing children’s books.
GettyTam O’Shaughnessy played at three US Opens and one Wimbledon[/caption]
Born in California, O’Shaughnessy’s first love was tennis and developed her game under the coaching of the legendary Billie Jean King.
King won an incredible 39 Grand Slams – including 12 singles titles – and took the youngster under her wing after playing a tournament organised by her mother.
O’Shaughnessy continued to progress and made her way to the top of the sport, winning the American 18-and-under national championship before playing in the US Open in 1966, 1970 and 1972.
She lost to British hero and No5 seed Virginia Wade in the first round in 1970, two years before her solo Wimbledon appearance.
O’Shaughnessy, who was also trained by Arthur Ashe’s ex-coach Dr Robert Walter Johnson, reached a career-high ranking of No52 in the world.
However, her retirement from tennis was just the start of the next exciting chapter in her journey.
She studied biology and earned a PhD in school psychology before moving into being a school science teacher and university professor.
And it was that love of science and helping kids learn that led her to write 12 children’s books – including six with Sally Ride.
O’Shaughnessy and Ride first met through tennis aged 12, growing up in California and remaining friends as they went down their different career paths.
As O’Shaughnessy honed her tennis skills, Ride qualified as an astronaut and joined NASA where she became the first American woman to go to space in 1983 aged 32.
Ride returned to space the following year and spent a total of 14 days away from Earth across the two missions, earning her a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama.
The two women teamed up to run Sally Ride Science, a non-profit organisation based at the UC San Diego to inspire young people to get into science, technology, engineering and math – with the pair particularly keen to encourage girls into the field.
As well as being professional partners, O’Shaughnessy and Ride were also romantic lovers – although their relationship was kept largely private until Ride’s sad death in 2012.
O’Shaughnessy told Windy City Times in 2013: “Sally and I had a lot of fun doing the things we did over our 27 years together and actually even before, because we knew each other when we were kids, so we always spent time together and it was actually a big surprise when we got together romantically.
I wish I could’ve married Sally, I would’ve married her in a heartbeat
Tam O’Shaughnessy
“We both grew up in Southern California, and we both started playing junior tennis at about the same time, when we were about ten or 11.
“Sally never verbally, openly told her mother, her father, or her sister, Bear, that she was gay and that we were a couple. But Sally never hid it from them. Her family are really smart – they knew a long time ago that we were a couple
“I went everywhere with Sally, and she went everywhere with me so over the almost three decades, I was really part of the Ride family.
“In hindsight, Sally and I could’ve been open. We should’ve been open quite a few years ago.
“Quite frankly, starting our company in 2001 – we were just really afraid that our company wouldn’t get off the ground if people knew that the two of us were together.
“I wish I could’ve married Sally, I would’ve married her in a heartbeat. We were domestic partners for the last 12 years.”
O’Shaughnessy added: “After Sally’s first flight, she was the most famous person on earth and gave tons of talks.
“She’d see teachers, kids, parents, CEOs and the light would go off in their eyeballs when she’d talk about looking back at earth from space, floating weightless and floating grapes into the mouths of the other astronauts – all these fun stories.
“Sally realized she could use space as a way to motivate and inspire teachers and kids and science.”
GettySally Ride was the first American woman to go to space[/caption]
GettyShe received Ride’s posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama[/caption]