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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | AUGUST 2026 59 It might interest you to know that the Rainbow Group has 63 members. Also, starting next month, we will begin to highlight the lives of famous LGBT people of any nationality but continue to include Americans. This month our selection for the Famous LGBT Americans series is Christopher Isherwood, a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist who was born in England in 1904 but became a U.S. citizen in 1946. During his boyhood, Isherwood faced difficulties associated with English life of his times, such as attending boarding school and experiencing the death of his father in World War I. Isherwood attended the University of Cambridge, majoring in history, but was expelled for not taking his studies seriously enough (he wrote jokes on an important exam). Afterwards, he took part- time jobs, was a medical student for six months, and wrote his first novel, All the Conspirators (1928), about the struggles between parents and their children. In 1929, he moved to Berlin where he taught English and became more open about his homosexuality. Berlin at that time allowed sexual freedom that was not available in England. His life in Berlin provided the setting for Goodbye to Berlin (1939), the inspiration for the Broadway musical, Cabaret, in 1966. In 1938, Isherwood traveled across the United States. Inspired by the opportunities that the U.S. offered him, he relocated to Hollywood in 1939. There, he connected with Vedanta, the Hindu reform movement founded by Ramakrishna in the 19th century. During World War II, Isherwood worked for a year in Philadelphia with the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization, teaching English to German-speaking refugees. Returning to Los Angeles, he reconnected with Vedanta and remained a Hindu for the rest of his life. In 1953, Isherwood fell in love with Don Bachardy, who, at that time, was still a college student. They were partners until Isherwood's death in 1986 at the age of 81 in Santa Monica. During his life, Isherwood wrote many books, including 15 books of fiction, 13 biographies/autobiographies/diaries/letters, as well as many other manuscripts, articles and pamphlets, many of which focused on different aspects of Vedanta. For more information and for the sources for this article, please go to the Rainbow Group's Facebook page or request a copy via our email (rainbowgroup@myyahoo.com). The locations and times of Rainbow Group events are available via our Facebook page or email. ~ Dan Hazeltine and Frank Galvan Rainbow Group

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