American Poet Robert Duncan was born in 1919
Robert Duncan was born on this day back in 1919 in Oakland, California.
He was born Edward Howard Duncan. His mother died in childbirth and in 1920 when his father was unable to take care of him he was adopted by Edwin and Minnehaha Symmes.
His adoptive parent renamed him Robert Edward Symmes, it was only after he was discharged from the army for being a homosexual that he decided to take on the name Robert Edward Duncan, a combination of his birth and adoptive names.
Duncan developed an interest in writing poetry and lived Bohemian communities. After a spell in Philadelphia, he moved to a commune in Woodstock, New York.
In 1944 Duncan had a notable affair with the painter Robert De Niro Sr, the father of actor Robert De Niro.
The same year Duncan wrote the landmark essay The Homosexual in Society. The essay, in which Duncan compared the plight of homosexuals with that of African Americans and Jews is credited as being a major influence on the growth of gay rights.
His essay made him one of the first Americans with a public profile to reveal that they were homosexual. In 1951 he met the visual artist Jess Collins, who would go on to be known under the mononym Jess. They remained a couple until Duncan’s death in 1988.
Duncan became an acclaimed poet publishing many different works. One of his best-known poems Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow was published in his book The Opening of the Field in 1960.
Puppeteer Richard Hunt died on this day in 1992
As a member of the Jim Henson Company puppeteer Richard Hunt was the behind some very memorable characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock.
He performed the characters of Scooter, Statler, Janice, Beaker and Sweetums on The Muppet Show, while on Sesame Street he performed Forgetful Jones, Gladys the Cow, Sully and the right head of the two-headed monster.
He got his job with legendary puppeteer Jim Henson after he cold called him from a pay phone and pleaded for a role with the Muppets.
Hunt died in 1992 at the age of 40 due to complications related to AIDS. His partner, the painter Kenneth Nelson Bird, had also died of AIDS in 1985 at the age of 31. In 2024 a biography detailing Hunt’s life was written by author Jessica Max Stein, it’s titled Funny Boy.
This post was first published on 7 January 2020. The section on Richard Hunt was added in 2025.
