John Andrew Frey & Peter Louis Morris

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Peter Louis Morris of Capitol Hill died peacefully on Sunday, August 29, 2010. Born December 29, 1929, in Peekskill, NY, he was beloved partner of Jack Frey (Aug. 29, 1929 - Aug. 22, 1997), with whom he is buried under a common burial resembling a bench in the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, District of Columbia.

Together 43 years, they met while Catholic University students at DC’s then most popular gay male establishment, the piano bar/restaurant the Chicken Hut on H Street near Lafayette Park where biweekly, Sunday afternoon gay dances were later sponsored by the Mattachine Society of Washington in 1961 and 1962. Frey was a Fulbright Scholar, professor of Romance Languages at George Washington University, and author of books on Victor Hugo and Emile Zola. Morris was an expert French cook, and on the Board of Directors of the gay Catholic organization Dignity for whom he coauthored a community cookbook.

In the absence of any other information, MICHAEL WILLIAM HILDEBRAND is presumed to be gay because of the proximity of his grave to that of John Frey and Peter Morris suggesting they might have been friends, and because of the shape and color of his unique gravestone reminiscent of the Pink Triangle, the symbol gay men were forced to wear in Nazi concentration camps.

All over Frey and Morris's bench, Inscription read:
Us While wandering down the back roads Of my mind I came upon a memory of us Faces garden-fresh blooming and Full of promise.
My inner-eye welled up Furrows have etched their way Into our fields of being. What had youth's straightness Now bends and curves into Accommodation.
We have become ourselves Not alone, but with each other's Help.
On the face of it, youth's bloom Has gone Replaced by hardier stuff Whose roots are deep and all Encompassing.
How fortunate we were to Have loved each other then And even more so, to still Love each other Now.
Forty-three years together Is not enough But we will be together again.
John Andrew Frey August 29, 1929 August 22, 1997
Peter Louis Morris December 29, 1929 August 29, 2010
In Memory of our Parents George Henry Frey Marie Berter Frey
Louis Morris Sr. Dorothea Chaplin Morris
And our pets, Bucky, Pudgy, Major, Jelp I II, Rosh I II III, Franah I II, Mime I II, Madame


Together 43 years, John Andrew Frey & Peter Louis Morris met while Catholic University students at DC’s then most popular gay male establishment, the piano bar/restaurant the Chicken Hut on H Street near Lafayette Park where biweekly. Frey was a Fulbright Scholar, professor of Romance Languages at George Washington University, and author of books on Victor Hugo and Emile Zola. Morris was an expert French cook, and on the Board of Directors of the gay Catholic organization Dignity for whom he coauthored a community cookbook.

Source: www.leonardmatlovich.com/images/HCC_Gay_Graves_Map_DRAFT-B.pdf

Further Readings:

A Victor Hugo Encyclopedia by John Andrew Fey
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Greenwood (October 30, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0313298963
ISBN-13: 978-0313298967
Amazon: A Victor Hugo Encyclopedia
Amazon Kindle: A Victor Hugo Encyclopedia

John Andrew Frey (emeritus, George Washington Univ.) compiled this broad-based guide to one of France's most important and political literary figures expressly for English-speakers; he does not intend for it to compete with but rather to "complement" its well-established French antecedents. A fairly comprehensive view of Hugo's time and work, the encyclopedia is well organized and broad ranging. Entries, organized alphabetically, include analyses of most of Hugo's poems, novels, and plays. (The titles of individual works and pieces have been translated into English.) Entries are not limited to works and characters but include personalities and places that influenced the poet (e.g., Napoleon, John Brown, Latin America). A successful, comprehensive depiction of the life, work, and influences of the man who wrote the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Mis?rables, this is a useful encyclopedia for reference and a meaningful addition to literary collections. -Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.