Gordon Merrick (b. 03 Aug 1916) was an American actor, wartime OSS spy, and a pioneering, best-selling author who broke literary boundaries by writing affirmative gay romance novels for a mass audience. At a time when mainstream literature depicted gay men as tragic figures, Merrick became a commercial phenomenon by giving his characters happy endings and healthy, romantic relationships. Merrick studied French literature at Princeton University before dropping out to pursue acting, landing the role of Richard Stanley in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's 1939 production of The Man Who Came to Dinner. The story of exactly how Merrick, a relative unknown, was cast in such a prestigious Broadway production, remains unverified, but the semi-autobiographical nature of his groundbreaking gay novel sheds light on the audition process of the Broadway theater and strongly suggests that he was sexually seduced by Moss Hart. Discovering that the tedium of appearing in the same show night after night was not for him, Merrick quit The Man Who Came to Dinner (and in fact, acting, altogether) in October of 1940. When the US entered World War II, he attempted to join the military but was denied enlistment due to a hearing problem. Instead, he served as a civilian field officer and spy for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in France, eventually rising to Captain. After the war, he worked as a reporter for several newspapers and contributed to The New Republic before deciding to pursue a career as a novelist. His debut book, The Strumpet Wind (1947), was heavily inspired by his real-life espionage work in the OSS and featured a gay American spy in a minor role. The novel was a critical success and sold well, but his following three efforts were unremarkable and failed to find a readership. After moving to Hydra in 1970, he discovered his true métier and published his most famous commercial success, the gay-centric The Lord Won't Mind, which appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List for 16 weeks and became the first in the Peter & Charlie Trilogy, followed by One for the Gods (1971) and Forth into Light (1974). The trilogy charted the tempestuous, sex-charged relationship between two gorgeous, wealthy, well-hung men struggling to keep their relationship alive in the homophobic culture that surrounds them (represented in the 1st book by Charlie’s manipulative grandmother). While the writing was far from literary, for the times the themes, characters, and conflicts were groundbreaking. A bestseller was born, and The Lord Won’t Mind became a much-adored classic for gay men. Following World War II, shortly after Merrick had resigned from the OSS, he met Robert Blaine “Bob” Richardson, a dashingly handsome U.S. Air Force pilot, at the funeral of another pilot with whom both he and Bob had been in love. The two became romantically involved and relocated to Mexico, where they lived together while Merrick began focusing on his career as a writer. It was during this time that he completed The Strumpet Wind, which he dedicated to Richardson. In 1946, Merrick and Richardson moved to Europe, seeking a culture more tolerant of their relationship than post-war America. In France, the experience of living as an openly gay couple served as a blueprint for the themes that Gordon would later popularize in the Peter & Charlie Trilogy. Their relationship lasted for over a decade, but eventually began to sour, and in 1956, they parted ways when Merrick met dancer Charles “Charley” Hulse, who would become his lifelong partner. Despite the breakup, Merrick's 12 years with Richardson remained a crucial chapter of his life, proving that a long-term, self-affirming gay relationship was entirely possible long before it was widely accepted by the public. Merrick was 40 and living in Paris with Bob when he met 27-year-old Hulse, who was working as a cabaret dancer at the Lido nightclub on the Champs-Élysées. He was immediately smitten and the possibility of a new relationship officially ended his existing partnership. He and Bob separated, although not amicably, and the following year, when Hulse returned to the U.S. to work as a dance instructor in California, Merrick followed, but he quickly found the wide-open gay culture in San Francisco off-putting and counter to his more conservative nature. By 1960, he and Hulse had returned to Paris, then to Hydra, where his career as a writer flourished, and the two remained together until Merrick's death from lung cancer at age 71 on March 27, 1988. Merrick is considered by many historians to be the most commercially successful gay novelist of the 20th century. Despite his massive sales, his work drew intense post-Stonewall critical debate. At the time, his critics dismissed his books as escapist due to his reliance on hyper-attractive, wealthy characters and highly explicit sex scenes, but his readers fiercely defended his novels for providing a rare sense of pride, validation, and joy before gay literature reached mainstream acceptance. 🏳️‍🌈