Gordon Merrick
Encyclopedia
William Gordon Merrick was a Broadway actor, best-selling author of gay-themed novels and one of the first authors to write about homosexual themes for a mass audience.
William Gordon Merrick was born in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
, a suburb of Philadelphia. His father, Rodney King Merrick, was a manager of a truck company who eventually became a bank manager. His mother was the former Mary Cartwright Gordon (born Natchez, Mississippi, 26 July 1893). He had one sibling, Samuel Vaughan Merrick 3rd (1914-2000; married 1947, Eleanor Perry; three children, John Rodney, Melvin Gregory, and Thaddeus Merrick). Merrick was a great-grandson of Philadelphia philanthropist Samuel Vaughn Merrick
(1801-1870).
He enrolled at Princeton University
in 1939, studied French literature and was active in campus theater. He quit in the middle of his junior year and moved to New York City
, where he became an actor. He landed a role in George S. Kaufman
and Moss Hart
's The Man Who Came to Dinner
. Although he became Hart's lover for a time, Merrick tired of the theater, with its endless nights playing the same role.
In 1941, Merrick quit Broadway
to become a reporter. Exempt from the draft because of problems with his hearing, Merrick moved to Washington, D.C.
where he got a job with the Washington Star
. He later worked for the Baltimore Sun, then returned to New York to write for the New York Post
. His years as a reporter helped him develop a love of writing as well as a writing style.
Still eager to participate in World War II
, Merrick sought and won a job with the Office of Strategic Services
(O.S.S., the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency
). He was sent to Algeria
as a counter-espionage
officer, rising to the civilian rank of captain. He was diverted to France
and took up residence in Cannes
. Because he spoke excellent French, the O.S.S. gave him papers listing him as a French citizen. He was case officer for the double agent codenamed "Forest".
In August 1945, Merrick returned to the United States. He again tried to find work as a reporter, but failed. So he went to Mexico
and began writing.
With the money he earned, Merrick returned to France. Merrick continued to write in France, but success eluded him. He left France to avoid the unrest which accompanied the Algerian War of Independence
. Merrick moved to Greece
and took up residence on the island of Hydra
.
During his Greek tenure, Merrick's best-known book, The Lord Won't Mind, became his second major American success. Charlie Mills and Peter Martin are both young, handsome and well-endowed. They meet and fall madly in love. The book has been criticized for its insistence on beauty in the gay male world. Although the novel and Merrick are often criticized for an insistent emphasis on handsome virile men, some critics defend Merrick:
The book follows Charlie's path from a closeted gay man to a person who accepts himself. Charlie is terrified of rejection, especially that of his rigid, moralistic grandmother whom he loves but who expects him to marry and have children. Charlie at first attempts to live a double-life, expressing his homosexuality through acting and painting. But his life is incomplete without Peter.
Charlie's wife later suspects his homosexuality, and perpetrates an horrific act of violence on her husband. As Charlie works through the aftermath of the attack, he slowly comes to realize that honesty and self-acceptance are the only way out. Merrick presents this self-isolation as a necessary first step on the road to self-realization.' At book's end, Charlie finally confesses his love for Peter, and they move in together.
The book appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list
for sixteen weeks in 1970. The first in a trilogy, Merrick followed it up with One for the Gods in 1971 and Forth into Light in 1974. In 2004, German screenwriter Renatus Töpke wrote several drafts of a screenplay. Currently, Munich
production company and Paradigma Entertainment is attempting to raise money to finance a motion picture based on the books.http://www.paradigma-entertainment.com/development_english.htm
Merrick left Greece in 1980, when the local tourism industry made Hydra too crowded for his taste. In that year he moved to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), having bought property there in 1974. But he returned to France occasionally, eventually purchasing a home in Tricqueville. For the rest of his life, he divided his time between the two countries.
Gordon Merrick died in Colombo
, Sri Lanka, of lung cancer on March 27, 1988. He was survived by his companion, Charles Gerald Hulse (born 1929), a dancer turned actor turned novelist (In Tall Cotton, 1987).
, Ikonos and other periodicals, but only his later works were successful. Merrick's works are rarely included in anthologies, and few discussions of American gay authors mention him. Some dismiss Merrick because of his obvious romanticism; others do so because he sprinkles explicit scenes of gay sexual intercourse throughout each novel.
But underneath the handsome blonde studs with too much wealth falling in love on the Côte d'Azur, are fairly progressive and even radical conceptualizations of what it means to be gay, the likelihood of self-actualization, identity politics and the role that power plays in relationships. In his later works, Merrick rejected socially-imposed roles and labels, insisting that each gay person question the assumptions underlying his life. Gordon Merrick broke new ground that has only recently become fertile. Deeper probing into Merrick's works will undoubtedly yield richer understandings of the complex social dynamics that construct networks of control over human sexuality.'
Early life
During most of Merrick's life, homosexuality was still viewed in the American culture as a moral outrage. Editors and film censors demanded that gay men be depicted objectionably, and that gay relationships end tragically in literature and on film. Merrick, however, wrote stories which depicted well-adjusted gay men engaged in romantic relationships. And each of his books had a happy ending.William Gordon Merrick was born in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
Bala Cynwyd is a community in Lower Merion Township which is located on the Main Line in southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at US Route 1 . It was originally two separate towns, Bala and Cynwyd, but is commonly treated as a single community...
, a suburb of Philadelphia. His father, Rodney King Merrick, was a manager of a truck company who eventually became a bank manager. His mother was the former Mary Cartwright Gordon (born Natchez, Mississippi, 26 July 1893). He had one sibling, Samuel Vaughan Merrick 3rd (1914-2000; married 1947, Eleanor Perry; three children, John Rodney, Melvin Gregory, and Thaddeus Merrick). Merrick was a great-grandson of Philadelphia philanthropist Samuel Vaughn Merrick
Samuel Vaughn Merrick
Samuel Vaughan Merrick was a 19th-century American manufacturer.Born in Hallowell, Maine, Merrick left school 1816 and moved to Philadelphia...
(1801-1870).
He enrolled at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1939, studied French literature and was active in campus theater. He quit in the middle of his junior year and moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he became an actor. He landed a role in George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
and Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
's The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
. Although he became Hart's lover for a time, Merrick tired of the theater, with its endless nights playing the same role.
In 1941, Merrick quit Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
to become a reporter. Exempt from the draft because of problems with his hearing, Merrick moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
where he got a job with the Washington Star
Washington Star
The Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time, it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and...
. He later worked for the Baltimore Sun, then returned to New York to write for the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. His years as a reporter helped him develop a love of writing as well as a writing style.
Still eager to participate in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Merrick sought and won a job with the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(O.S.S., the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
). He was sent to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
as a counter-espionage
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
officer, rising to the civilian rank of captain. He was diverted to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and took up residence in Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
. Because he spoke excellent French, the O.S.S. gave him papers listing him as a French citizen. He was case officer for the double agent codenamed "Forest".
In August 1945, Merrick returned to the United States. He again tried to find work as a reporter, but failed. So he went to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and began writing.
Literary success
Merrick's first novel, The Strumpet Wind (1947), was a huge success in the United States for a gay novel. The somewhat autobiographical novel is about a gay American spy in France during World War II. Homosexual themes are minimized in the novel, which explores concepts of individual liberty and freedom. The spy's director is a dazzlingly handsome but sadistic bisexual. It would be easy to dismiss the novel as homophobic, but Merrick does not let the reader off so easily. Nearly every character in the novel has major character faults, including the protagonist. Merrick neatly turns the "evil homosexual" character on his head by presenting every human being as flawed. The pressures of war only exacerbate these problems, bringing out each person's inability to handle his own problems.With the money he earned, Merrick returned to France. Merrick continued to write in France, but success eluded him. He left France to avoid the unrest which accompanied the Algerian War of Independence
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
. Merrick moved to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and took up residence on the island of Hydra
Hydra, Saronic Islands
Hydra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf and the Argolic Gulf. It is separated from the Peloponnese by narrow strip of water...
.
During his Greek tenure, Merrick's best-known book, The Lord Won't Mind, became his second major American success. Charlie Mills and Peter Martin are both young, handsome and well-endowed. They meet and fall madly in love. The book has been criticized for its insistence on beauty in the gay male world. Although the novel and Merrick are often criticized for an insistent emphasis on handsome virile men, some critics defend Merrick:
- Beauty is a part of gay life, an important part—those men aren't spending all those hours at the gym just for the cardiovascular benefits. This "obsession" has its roots in our core definition; we are gay because we find men beautiful. Beauty has its dangers, of course. That's part of our complex response to it, and it is in fact this complexity that makes beauty a valid and vital subject for our literature.
The book follows Charlie's path from a closeted gay man to a person who accepts himself. Charlie is terrified of rejection, especially that of his rigid, moralistic grandmother whom he loves but who expects him to marry and have children. Charlie at first attempts to live a double-life, expressing his homosexuality through acting and painting. But his life is incomplete without Peter.
- It is through Charlie's anguish that the reader catches a glimpse of Merrick's interest in the problems the gay male experiences establishing an identity. Charlie's socially-imposed resistance is in contrast to Peter's childlike innocence. When Charlie eventually throws Peter out and marries a woman to protect his reputation, every reader, straight or gay, can detest his duplicity and weakness, but must also empathize with the situation that Charlie has had forced upon him by an intolerant society.
Charlie's wife later suspects his homosexuality, and perpetrates an horrific act of violence on her husband. As Charlie works through the aftermath of the attack, he slowly comes to realize that honesty and self-acceptance are the only way out. Merrick presents this self-isolation as a necessary first step on the road to self-realization.' At book's end, Charlie finally confesses his love for Peter, and they move in together.
The book appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
for sixteen weeks in 1970. The first in a trilogy, Merrick followed it up with One for the Gods in 1971 and Forth into Light in 1974. In 2004, German screenwriter Renatus Töpke wrote several drafts of a screenplay. Currently, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
production company and Paradigma Entertainment is attempting to raise money to finance a motion picture based on the books.http://www.paradigma-entertainment.com/development_english.htm
Merrick left Greece in 1980, when the local tourism industry made Hydra too crowded for his taste. In that year he moved to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), having bought property there in 1974. But he returned to France occasionally, eventually purchasing a home in Tricqueville. For the rest of his life, he divided his time between the two countries.
Gordon Merrick died in Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sri Lanka, of lung cancer on March 27, 1988. He was survived by his companion, Charles Gerald Hulse (born 1929), a dancer turned actor turned novelist (In Tall Cotton, 1987).
Critical assessment
In all, Merrick wrote thirteen books. He contributed book reviews and articles to The New RepublicThe New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, Ikonos and other periodicals, but only his later works were successful. Merrick's works are rarely included in anthologies, and few discussions of American gay authors mention him. Some dismiss Merrick because of his obvious romanticism; others do so because he sprinkles explicit scenes of gay sexual intercourse throughout each novel.
But underneath the handsome blonde studs with too much wealth falling in love on the Côte d'Azur, are fairly progressive and even radical conceptualizations of what it means to be gay, the likelihood of self-actualization, identity politics and the role that power plays in relationships. In his later works, Merrick rejected socially-imposed roles and labels, insisting that each gay person question the assumptions underlying his life. Gordon Merrick broke new ground that has only recently become fertile. Deeper probing into Merrick's works will undoubtedly yield richer understandings of the complex social dynamics that construct networks of control over human sexuality.'
Gordon Merrick bibliography
- The Strumpet Wind. New York: W. Morrow, New York, 1947.
- The Demon at Noon. New York: Meissner, 1954.
- The Vallency Tradition. New York: Meissner, 1955. Reprinted as Between Darkness and Day. London: R. Hale, 1957.
- The Hot Season. New York: W. Morrow, 1958. Reprinted as The Eye of One. London: R. Hale, 1959.
- The Lord Won't Mind. New York: Bernard Geis Associates, 1970. ISBN 1-55583-290-3
- One for the Gods. New York: Bernard Geis Associates, 1971. ISBN 0-380-00133-0
- Forth Into Light. New York: Avon Books, 1974. ISBN 0-380-01195-6
- An Idol for Others. New York: Avon Books, 1977. ISBN 0-380-00971-4
- The Quirk. New York: Avon Books, 1978. ISBN 0-380-38992-4
- Now Let's Talk About Music. New York: Avon Books, 1981. ISBN 0-380-77867-X
- Perfect Freedom. New York: Avon Books, 1982. ISBN 0-380-80127-2
- The Great Urge Downward. New York: Avon Books, 1984. ISBN 1555832962
- A Measure of Madness. New York: Warner Books, 1986. ISBN 0-446-30240-6
- The Good Life. Alyson Publications, 1997. ISBN 1-55583-298-9 (Published posthumously, this manuscript was discovered in the papers of Charles G. Hulse who co-authored the final work.)