Gordon Merrick Born August 3rd

Gordon Merrick was born August 3rd, 1916 in a suburb of Philadelphia. Merrick enrolled in Princeton where he studied French literature and was involved in student theater until the middle of his junior year when he quit to become an  actor in New York City. There, Merrick became playwright Moss Hart's lover, only then to become a reporter an d move to Washington DC. After a stint with the Office of Strategic services and a mission in Algeria, Merrick returned to the US with the hope of becoming a reporter again. When  these attempts failed, Merrick went to Mexico to begin writing. The Strumpet Wind, Merrick's first novel, was published in 1947. Merrick is important because he ignored contemporary attitudes that gay men had to be shown as objectionable and have tragic ends in books and movies. All of his stories featured well adjusted gay men and his books all have happy endings.

Read gay.net's Merrick bio.