Life
Walter Murray Rinder was born in Chicago, Illinois before relocating to California at an early age. His father was Jewish; his mother an English-Dutch Protestant. He attended Alhambra High School and Mt. San Antonio Junior College in Pomona. From 1955 to 1957, he was in the U.S. Army. In 1959, he began working his way across the U.S., living out of a suitcase, working at jobs which included a bellhop, soap salesman, theatre set builder, ranch hand, and landscape artist's aide. "I want more out of life than most people", he wrote. In 1965 he first exhibited his photography in San Francisco, and in 1968 opened a photographic gallery. In 1969, he published his first book of photographic postcards and left San Francisco to live in the small town of Laytonville, California, where he opened a small gallery located in his home. In 1970 relocated to Portland, Oregon, and published a book of poems ''Love is an Attitude''. The same year he opened a gallery, ''This Speck of Earth'' in the city. In 1971 he published ''This Time Called Life'': in 1973 it became a record album. Other books of poetry followed, including ''Spectrum of Love'', ''The Humanness of You'', ''Follow Your Heart'', ''Only One Today'', ''My Dearest Friend'', ''Love Is My Reason''. ''Will You Share With Me?'' and ''Where Will I Be Tomorrow?''. Rinder's photographs appeared in the 1974 publication by James Vaughan titled ''Please Trust Me''. In the late 1980s, Rinder returned to California to care for his aging mother, and eventually returned to Portland. In 1990 a selection of this works was published as ''The World I Used to Know''. In 2001 ''Spectrum of Love Revisited'' was published. As his books were his source of income, the decline in interest in Rinder's poetry resulted in financial woes, and the turning to selling collectibles for income. In a post on his Facebook page he wrote: "I have dug into dumpsters, trash cans, river boat ramps, rest stops… challenged by all weather….one nickel at a time." Rinder now cares for a handicapped friend and states that his dream is to purchase a mobile home for them both. In September 2013 wrote: "It is he and I against the world….As of today, we are still searching for bottles and cans. Trust in your feelings as they are the voices of your soul." In 2020, Rinder was interviewed by an Australian podcaster, and spoke at length about his life as a poet. He confirmed that he had previously been working on books titled ''Thief of Hearts'', ''The Hate Healer'' and ''Fishing for Stars'', however these remain unpublished.Bibliography
*''Love is an Attitude'', 1970 * Quoted in Morrison, Eleanor S. ''Human Sexuality: Contemporary Perspectives''. Palo Alto, Cal: Mayfield, 1977. p427, as "a sensitive description of conscious love" * ''This Time Called Life'', 1971, 1984 * ''Spectrum of Love'', 1973 ** Reissued as ''Spectrum of love revisited'' 2001 ** Set to music by Paul Wesley Hofreiter as ''Spectrum of love : for narrator & orchestra, op. 72'' * ''Follow Your Heart'', 1973 * ''Only One Today'' 1974 * ''The Humanness of You'', Vols 1&2, 1973–4 * ''My Dearest Friend'' 1974 * ''Love is my Reason'', 1975 * ''Will You Share With Me'', 1975 * ''Where Will I Be Tomorrow'' 1976 ** Review in Library Journal, 101: 1326 (1976)"Embracing all aspects of loving, Rinder presents a powerful appeal for social freedom in his newest prose / poem. …" * ''Aura of Love'' 1978 * ''Friends and Lovers'' 1978 * ''A Promise of Change'' 1979 * ''Forever Us'' 1981 * ''The World I Used to Know'' 1990 ** Excerpted in Selwood, Mary-Jane. ''On the Edge of Silence: A Mountain Anthology.'' Helensburgh: Springbank, 1993.External links
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rinder, Walter 1934 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century American poets 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American philosophers 21st-century American poets American gay writers American male non-fiction writers American male poets Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American poets Jewish philosophers