Robert Nichols Montague Hunt (May 19, 1906 – January 18, 1964) was an American poet and long-time partner of

Witter Bynner Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures the ...

Early life

Myron Hunt house, 200 North Grand Avenue, Pasadena, California

He was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, on May 19, 1906, the son of successful architect

Myron Hunt Myron Hubbard Hunt (February 27, 1868 – May 26, 1952) was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Archi ...

and his wife Harriette Boardman. The senior Hunt designed and built a mansion as their family residence. As a young adult, Robert worked briefly for his father, demonstrating that he was a talented designer.

Career

Hunt is the author of a collection of 18 poems, ''The Early World and other poems'', dedicated to his lover, poet

. Hunt edited Bynner's ''Selected Poems''.

Personal life

I Witter Bynner House, Santa Fe, NM, USA

Hunt and Bynner first met in 1924 through being introduced by historian

Paul Horgan Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American writer of historical fiction and non-fiction who mainly wrote about the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for Histor ...

. They met again in Santa Fe in 1926 and in Los Angeles in 1928. In 1930 Hunt arrived in Santa Fe again, originally for a visit while recuperating from a stress-related illness. He stayed on as Bynner's lifelong companion.James Kraft, ''Who is Witter Bynner?,'' 1995, Univ. New Mexico press The relationship lasted until Hunt's sudden death by heart attack in 1964. When living with Bynner, Hunt designed an addition of a wing to Bynner's home. He also designed alterations to their Chapala, Mexico home, which they purchased from Mexican architect Luis Barragán). Hunt also redesigned the living room of Peter Hurd's ranch in San Patricio, New Mexico. During WWII Hunt could not serve in the military because of health issues. He served on the local draft board for a year. In early 1943 he left Bynner at their second home in Chapala, and returned to the United States to assist the war effort. He went to work on the docks in San Francisco, where the city was deeply engaged in the defense industry and supplying the Pacific. In 1950, Bynner and Hunt toured Europe. They visited, among others, American writers

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

and

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

in Paris, and philosopher

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

and

Sybille Bedford Sybille Bedford, OBE (16 March 1911 – 17 February 2006) was a German-born English writer of non-fiction and semi-autobiographical fiction books. She was a recipient of the Golden PEN Award. Early life She was born as Sybille Aleid Elsa von ...

in Rome. Bynner and Hunt's ashes are buried near the house where they lived on Atalaya Hill in Santa Fe. The site is marked by a carved stone figure of a weeping dog.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Robert 1906 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American poets American gay writers American LGBT poets Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico American male poets LGBT people from New Mexico Writers from Pasadena, California 20th-century American male writers Poets from California Poets from New Mexico 20th-century LGBT people