100 Heroes: Robert Duncan
The gay man who became one of America's leading poets.
Robert Duncan was an American poet.
He spent most of his career in San Francisco.
Early life
Born in California in 1919, Duncan was adopted soon after birth and raised by his adoptive parents.
Duncan studied at the University of California where he began writing poems inspired by his left-wing politics and bohemian lifestyle.
Sexuality
In 1938, Duncan met Ned Fahs - Duncan's first recorded sexual encounter. When Fahs graduated from college, Duncan followed him to Philadelphia. The couple lived together in Philadelphia and then subsequently in New York City. Their relationship ended in 1940. Duncan continued to write poetry about Fahs for another twenty years.
In 1941 Duncan was drafted and declared his homosexuality to get discharged. In 1943, he had his first heterosexual relationship, which ended following a brief marriage. In 1944 Duncan had a relationship with the abstract expressionist painter Robert De Niro Sr. Subsquent relationships included Gerald M. Ackerman, and Jess Collins.
In 1944, Duncan effectively "came out" personally and professionally with the publication of his article, The Homosexual in Society - in which, Duncan compared the plight of homosexuals with that of African Americans and Jews. Duncan's essay is considered a pioneering treatise on the experience of homosexuals in American society given its appearance a full decade before any organised gay rights movement.
Career
During the 1960s, Duncan achieved considerable artistic and critical success with three books; The Opening of the Field (1960), Roots and Branches (1969), and Bending the Bow (1968). These are generally considered to be his most significant works.
Personal life
Duncan died in 1988.
