Horatio Colony

Horatio Colony II (1900-1977) was an American poet, playwright and businessman. 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.

Colony was born in 1900 in Keene, New Hampshire, and was the grandson of the city's first mayor. 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.

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

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".

Colony corresponded with the well known poet Witter Bynner. 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.

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

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.