September 9th

09-09-1898 — 12-12-1982 Judy Matlack – Place of birth unknown. She was a college professor at Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts. In 1945 while in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she met and fell in love with the American poet, May Sarton. The couple lived together for thirteen years. They separated in 1956 when Sarton’s father died and Sarton moved to New Hampshire. Sarton’s Honey in the Hive (1988) is about their relationship. In the journal, At Seventy, Sarton wrote, “Judy was the precious only love with whom I lived for years, the only one. There have been other great loves in my life, but only Judy gave me a home and made me know what home can be.” It was for Judy and their life together that Sarton wrote the poem “A Light Left On,” which appeared in the volume Land of Silence (1953).

09-09-1949 – 04-15-1994   John Curry – Born in Birmingham, England. He was a British figure skater and was the 1976 Olympic and World Champion. Before the 1976 World Championships Curry was outed as gay by a German tabloid newspaper. It caused a brief scandal in Europe at the time, but his sexual orientation was generally ignored by the press and public. In 1987 Curry was diagnosed with HIV, and in 1991 with AIDS. Before his death, he spoke to the press about his disease and his sexual orientation. Donald Spoto’s authorized biography of actor Alan Bates states that Curry and Bates had a two-year affair and that Curry died in Bates’s arms.

09-09-1898 – 09-15-1983 Beverley Nichols – Born in Bower Ashton, United Kingdom. He was an author, playwright, journalist, composer, and public speaker. Nichols wrote more than 60 books and plays. He is best remembered for his gardening books. Down the Garden Path, first published in 1932, became a best seller. The book has had 32 editions and has always been in print. Nichols was openly gay.

09-09-1962   Michael Rowe – Born in Ottawa, Canada. He is an award-winning Canadian writer, journalist, and novelist. Other Men’s Sons, a collection of his work from 2000 to 2005, won the 2008 Randy Shilts Award for Nonfiction. Rowe married his partner, Dr. Brian McDermid, at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto in 1985. Rowe’s essay, Some Thoughts On My 30th Wedding Anniversary in the Summer of Equal Marriage, won the Love Wins essay prize from New Millennium Writings in 2015. He and his husband now live in Toronto.

09-09-1968 Nathan Lee Graham – Born in St. Louis, Missouri. He is an American actor best known for his roles in Hitch (2005), Zoolander (2001), and Sweet Home Alabama (2002). In 2013 he was in the play Hit the Wall, about the 1969 Stonewall riots that played at the Barrow Street Theater in New York. He was on Out’s 3rd Annual 100 Most Eligible Bachelors (2013).

09-09-1977 Mark Steven Ferrandino – Born in Nyack, New York. He is a former member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 2nd district. He is the first openly gay male legislation in Colorado history. In 2007 Ferrandino was named Colorado Young Democrat of the Year. He is also a former co-chairman of the Colorado Stonewall Democrats and served on the board of directors for the National Stonewall Democrats. He did not seek re-election in 2014 and is currently the chief financial officer of Denver Public Schools.