Richard Amory (October 18, 1927 – August 1, 1981), born Richard Wallace Love, was an American writer from

Halfway, Oregon Halfway is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The city took its name from the location of its post office, on the Alexander Stalker ranch, halfway between Pine and Jim Town. The population was 351 at the 2020 census. During the ...

. He obtained a bachelor's degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, a M.A. in Spanish from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

, and began an uncompleted Ph.D. in Spanish at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. A high school teacher by profession, he achieved success as a novelist in the late 1960s while still a graduate student and before

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

. Amory is best known for his 1966 novel ''Song of the Loon: A Gay Pastoral in Five Books and an Interlude'' and its sequels, including ''Song of Aaron'' and ''Listen, the Loon Sings''. Variously described as "a gay American version of famous sixteenth-century Spanish

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

novels" and "a gay version of ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is an 1826 historical romance novel by James Fenimore Cooper. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder'', ...

''," ''Song of the Loon'' has been called "one of the most important gay books of the 20th century." In 1994 one bibliographer estimated that one third of American gay men had read the novel. ''Song of the Loon'' was adapted as an erotic film in 1970 without Amory's involvement and much to his disgust. It also inspired a spoof, ''Fruit of the Loon'' by "Richard Armory" (in reality veteran porn writer George Davies who wrote under pen names including Clay Caldwell or Lance Lester). Amory briefly partnered with fellow authors Dirk Vanden,

Phil Andros Samuel Morris Steward (July 23, 1909 – December 31, 1993), also known as Phil Andros, Phil Sparrow, was an American tattoo artist and pornographer. Throughout his life, he kept extensive secret diaries, journals, and statistics of his ...

, Peter Tuesday Hughes,

Larry Townsend Larry Townsend (27 October 1930 – 29 July 2008) was the American author of dozens of books including ''Run, Little Leather Boy'' (1970) and ''The Leatherman's Handbook'' (1972), published by pioneer erotic presses such as Greenleaf Classics a ...

, and Douglas Dean in an attempt to found the first all-gay publishing company, which was to be called The Renaissance Group. The group was unable to secure funding for the attempt and several of its members ceased publishing shortly thereafter. He died in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

Bibliography

*''Song of the Loon'' (1966) *''Song of Aaron'' (1967) *''Listen, the Loon Sings'' (1968) *''A Handsome Young Man with Class'' (1969) *''Longhorn Drive'' (1969) *''Naked on Main Street'' (1969) *''Frost'' (1972) *''Willow Song'' (1974)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amory, Richard 1927 births 1981 deaths People from Baker County, Oregon 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers American male novelists American LGBTQ writers LGBTQ people from Oregon Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni San Francisco State University alumni 20th-century American LGBTQ people

Bibliography

See also

References