Charles Aufderheide
Charles Aufderheide (March 9, 1918 – May 26, 1991)[1] was an American technician who, with Ruby Bell and the From twins, Isadore "Eddie" and Sam From, was at the center of the Benton Way Group.
Biography
[edit]Charles Edward Aufderheide was born on March 9, 1918, in Seymour, Indiana.
He attended Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in 1934 he represented the school in the league of nations competitive examination. He graduated in 1935,[2] then attended Butler University, and was named giftorian and poet for the annual class.[3]
Aufderheide was a graduate student in the English Department at the University of Chicago in 1938 and 1939.[4] He served in the United States Navy in World War II.[4] After the war he moved to Los Angeles with Ruby Bell and the From twins. Ruby Bell was a librarian; she inherited some money and encouraged a group of her friends, mostly homosexuals, to move with her to Los Angeles. They bought a house on Benton Way where they settled together. Aufderheide began working at Technicolor SA where he remained for thirty years.[5]
According to Alvin Novak, Aufderheide is largely responsible for the longterm harmony of the Benton Way Group, a haven for American intellectuals like the Froms, Paul Goodman, Evelyn Hooker, David Sachs, Fern Maher and Alvin Novak;[6] an exception to the mostly Americans group was Egyptian-born scholar Edouard Roditi.[7] Aufderheide was also friends with Christopher Isherwood[8][9] and Ned Rorem.[10]
Aufderheide was also a poet, and his friends collected some of his verses in a book that was published after his death, Garden of Games: The Collected Poems.[4]
He died on May 26, 1991.[4] He is buried in Riverview Cemetery, Seymour, Indiana.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Charles Aufderheide - U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI)". MyHeritage. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ "180 Graduates Select Butler - 01 Sep 1935, Sun • Page 61". The Indianapolis Star: 61. 1935. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ "Giftorian and Poet Chosen for Seniors' Class Day at Butler - 08 Jun 1939, Thu • Page 21". The Indianapolis News: 21. 1939. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d Aufderheide, Charles (1993). Garden of Games: The Collected Poems. Asylum Arts.
- ^ Isherwood, Christopher (2013). Lost Years. Random House. p. 24. ISBN 9781448162505. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ Isherwood, Christopher (2013). Lost Years. Random House. p. XIX. ISBN 9781448162505. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ Roditi, Edouard (1947). Oscar Wilde. New Directions Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 9780811209953. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ Mann, William J. (2001). Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969. Viking. p. 200. ISBN 9780670030170. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ Isherwood, Christopher (2012). The Sixties: Diaries Volume Two 1960-1969. Random House. p. 437. ISBN 9781446419304. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ Rorem, Ned (2013). The Later Diaries of Ned Rorem: 1961–1972. Open Road Media. p. 40. ISBN 978-1480427723. Retrieved 25 January 2018.