elisa_rolle (elisa_rolle) wrote,
elisa_rolle
elisa_rolle

Charles Hulse (born March 26, 1929)

Lived: Ikonomou, Idra 180 40, Greece (37.32878, 23.47165)
25 Rampart St, Galle 80000, Sri Lanka (6.02583, 80.21563)

Gordon Merrick was a Broadway actor, a best-selling author of gay-themed novels, and one of the first authors to write about homosexual themes for a mass audience. Merrick wrote stories, which depicted well-adjusted gay men engaged in romantic relationships. Each of his books had a happy ending. Merrick's best-known book is The Lord Won't Mind. The first in a trilogy, Merrick followed it up with One for the Gods in 1971 and Forth into Light in 1974. Merrick enrolled at Princeton University in 1936. He quit in the middle of his junior year and moved to New York City, where he became an actor. He landed the role of Richard Stanley in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's The Man Who Came to Dinner and became Hart's lover for a time. In 1980 he moved to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), having bought property there in 1974. 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. Charles Gerald Hulse, a dancer turned actor turned novelist (In Tall Cotton, 1987), was his partner
of 32 years, until Merrick's death in 1988, in Sri Lanka where they moved together.

Together from 1956 to 1988: 32 years.
Charles Gerald Hulse (born March 26, 1929)
Gordon Merrick (August 3, 1916 – March 27, 1988)

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325 (CreateSpace-Assigned)
ISBN-10: 1500563323
CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon print: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Historic District: Gordon Merrick left France to avoid the unrest which accompanied the Algerian War of Independence. Merrick and his partner Charles Hulse moved to Greece and took up residence on the island of Hydra.

Address: Ikonomou, Idra 180 40, Greece (37.32878, 23.47165)

Place
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 a narrow strip of water. In ancient times, the island was known as Hydrea (Υδρέα, derived from the Greek word for "water"), a reference to the springs on the island. The municipality of Hydra consists of the islands Hydra (area 52 km2 (20.1 sq mi)), Dokos (pop. 18, area 13.5 km2 (5.2 sq mi)), and a few uninhabited islets. The province of Hydra was one of the provinces of the Piraeus Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality. It was abolished in 2006. There is one main town, known simply as "Hydra port" (pop. 1,900 in 2011.) It consists of a crescent-shaped harbor, around which is centered a strand of restaurants, shops, markets, and galleries that cater to tourists and locals (Hydriots.) Steep stone streets lead up and outward from the harbor area. Most of the local residences, as well as the hostelries on the island, are located on these streets. Other small villages or hamlets on the island include Mandraki (pop. 11), Kamini, Vlychos (19), Palamidas, Episkopi, and Molos. Since 1960, the Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has owned a house on the island.
Life
Who: Gordon Merrick (August 3, 1916 – March 27, 1988) and Charles Gerald Hulse (born March 26, 1929)
In the 1950s Hydra became home to Charles Hulse and Gordon Merrick. Merrick was an American author who wrote more than a dozen novels, which were known for their gay themes. His most successful, “The Lord Won’t Mind,” was written on Hydra. While on vacation visiting the Greek island of Hydra in 1956, Merrick and Hulse bought a house on the island which was to become their home for the next twenty years. At the time, Merrick was working on his fifth novel, and Hulse and Merrick spent the years between 1960 and 1980 travelling mainly between Paris, Hydra and Galle in Sri Lanka. While on Hydra, Hulse and Merrick were hosts to socialites, intellectuals and artists from all over the world. During their theatre career, and here, Hulse and Merrick came to know people, such as Charles Laughton, Jules Dassin, Melina Mercouri, Jacqueline Onassis, Leonard Cohen and others. Hulse restored and furnished the house on Hydra, which was admired by and photographed extensively for various international magazines. In 1974 the couple bought land in Sri Lanka. Six years later they quit Greece permanently and moved to Galle, a town in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, as the local tourism industry on Hydra had made the island too crowded for their tastes. Merrick and Hulse also returned to France occasionally, eventually purchasing a home in Tricqueville, Normandy. For the rest of their life, they divided their time between the two countries.

Queer Places, Vol. 3.1: Retracing the Steps of LGBTQ people around the World
ISBN-13: 978-1532906695 (CreateSpace-Assigned)
ISBN-10: 1532906692
CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/6228901
Amazon print: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1532906692/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IZXI10E/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

House: In 1974 Gordon Merrick and Charles Hulse bought land in Sri Lanka.

Address: 25 Rampart St, Galle 80000, Sri Lanka (6.02583, 80.21563)

Place
Galle is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the administrative capital of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the district capital of Galle District. Galle is the fifth largest city in Sri Lanka after the capital Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna and Negombo. According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was the ancient seaport of Tarshish, from which King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC and the root of the word itself is Hebrew, so Galle may have been a main entrepot for the spice. Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays, Indians, and Chinese were doing business through Galle port. In 1411, the Galle Trilingual Inscription, a stone tablet inscription in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and Persian, was erected in Galle to commemorate the second visit to Sri Lanka by the Chinese admiral Zheng He. The "modern" history of Galle starts in 1502, when a small fleet of Portuguese ships, under the command of Lourenço de Almeida, on their way to the Maldives, were blown off course by a storm. Realising that the king resided in Kotte close to Colombo, Lourenço proceeded there after a brief stop in Galle. In 1640, the Portuguese had to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present fort in the year 1663. They built a fortified wall, using solid granite, and built three bastions, known as "Sun,” "Moon" and "Star.” After the British took over the country from the Dutch in the year 1796, they preserved the Fort unchanged, and used it as the administrative centre of the district.

Life
Who: Gordon Merrick (August 3, 1916 – March 27, 1988) and Charles Gerald Hulse (born March 26, 1929)
In 1980 Gordon Merrick and Charles Hulse quit Greece permanently and moved to Galle, a town in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, as the local tourism industry on Hydra had made the island too crowded for their tastes. Hulse and Merrick bought a house at 25 Rampart Street within the precinct of Galle’s XVII century fortress. Here, Hulse worked on interior design, and began to write. By this time, Merrick had already published several books and was a celebrity. Hulse helped Merrick to prepare manuscripts for publication and the two travelled together frequently during this period. Gordon Merrick died in Colombo, Sri Lanka, of lung cancer on March 27, 1988. He was survived by his companion, Charles G. Hulse.

Queer Places, Vol. 3.2: Retracing the Steps of LGBTQ people around the World
ISBN-13: 978-1544068435 (CreateSpace-Assigned)
ISBN-10: 1544068433
CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/6980677
Amazon print: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1544068433/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IZXI10E/?tag=elimyrevandra-20



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Tags: days of love, queer places
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