Howard Sturges (December 23, 1884 - October 7, 1955)
Cole Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Porter maintained a luxury apartment in Paris, where he entertained lavishly. His parties were extravagant and scandalous, with "much gay and bisexual activity, Italian nobility, cross-dressing, international musicians, and a large surplus of recreational drugs". In 1918, he met Linda Lee Thomas, a rich, Louisville, Kentucky-born divorcée eight years his senior. The couple married the following year. She was in no doubt about Porter's homosexuality, but it was mutually advantageous for them to marry. Soon after their marriage in 1920, Linda bought a much larger Parisian residence at 13, rue Monsieur. The house was so large that they rented a suite of rooms to Howard Sturges (December 23, 1884 - October 7, 1955), a close friend of Linda’s who became Cole’s dearest life-long friend. Sturges lent Linda a beautiful painting by Christian Bérard, which hung for years in their Parisian drawing room. Sturges, a witty, old-money Boston socialite, was a trained violinist who kept a pet bear and walked a pig on a leash through the streets of Paris. He was an executive of the American Red Cross in France in WWI and was engaged in relief work for French children in WWII. Sturges often traveled with Cole and Linda, wherever their journeys took them, and the two men entered into an affair.
Timeline & Places:
• December 23, 1884: born at 177 Hope St, Providence, RI 02906, Stati Uniti
• 1908: attended Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, Stati Uniti
• October 7, 1955: died. Buried at Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd, Providence, RI 02906, Stati Uniti
Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time 