Robert Ferro was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novelist whose semi-autobiographical fiction explored the uneasy integration of homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

 and traditional American upper-middle-class values.

Biography

He was born in Cranford

Cranford

Cranford may refer to:*Cranford - a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell*Cranford - a BBC television adaptation of Cranford and other works by Elizabeth GaskellCranford may also refer to the following places:...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. He went to college at Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

 and received a Master's Degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 from the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

. In the fall of 1965 Ferro met Andrew Holleran

Andrew Holleran

Andrew Holleran is the pseudonym of Eric Garber , a novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is a prominent novelist of post-Stonewall gay literature. He was a member of The Violet Quill, a gay writer's group that met briefly from 1980-81. The Violet Quill included other prolific gay writers...

 at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. He later lectured at Adelphi University

Adelphi University

Adelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It is the oldest institution of higher education on Long Island. For the sixth year, Adelphi University has been named a “Best Buy” in higher education by the Fiske Guide to...

.
He was a member of The Violet Quill

The Violet Quill

The Violet Quill was a group of seven gay male writers that met in 1980 and 1981 in New York City to read from their writings to each other and to critique them...

.

He died of AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 a few months after his partner, Michael Grumley

Michael Grumley

-Biography:Grumley was born in Bettendorf, Iowa. He attended the University of Denver, the City College of New York and the Iowa Writers' Workshop Grumley received a B.S. Degree with a major in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on June 7, 1964....

, in 1988.