Horatio Colony

Horatio Colony II (1900-1977) was an American poet, playwright and businessman.[1] He wrote a novel, Free Forester, as well as eleven books of poetry and two plays. His poetic works include Bacchus and Krishna, The Flying Ones, Young Malatesta, Antique Thorn: The Faun's Girl, Early Land: Two Narrative Poems, Some Phoenix Blood, Magic Child, and Flower Myth. He wrote the plays The Emperor and the Bee Boy and The Amazon's Hero.[2][3]

Colony was born in 1900 in Keene, New Hampshire, and was the grandson of the city's first mayor.[1] His family were successful mill owners, a vocation which he inherited but had little passion for. He began writing at an early age and continued to do so until his death.[4]

Spending much of his life as a bachelor, Colony traveled the world and collected fine items which reflect a variety of cultures.[5] He also kept a diary for much of his life which is now housed at the University of Syracuse.[6]

Free Forester (1935) was the most successful of his works, receiving a positive review from The New York Times, which called him "a new name in literary circles" and the novel "sensitively and intelligently made and felt".[7]

Colony corresponded with the well known poet Witter Bynner.[8] The two shared a professional relationship, and were both known for their homoerotic writings. Robert Frost once openly criticized Colony for the "thinly veiled celebrations of homosexuality" present in his work.[9]

Later in life, Colony married Mary Curtis of Concord Massachusetts. The couple had no children.[10]

At his death in 1977, Colony's house was transformed into the Horatio Colony House Museum at his bequest.Today the museum houses his vast collections and hosts a variety of public programs. A separate plot of land owned by his family was turned into the Horatio Colony Nature Preserve at this time as well. The Preserve is open year round for individual hiking. [1]