E.M. FORSTER, English author, died on this date (b. 1879); An English novelist, short story writer, and essayist, Forster is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th century British society. Forster’s humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the famous epigraph to his 1910 novel Howard’s End: “Only connect”.

Forster was homosexual, but this fact was not widely made public during his lifetime. His posthumously-published novel Maurice tells of the coming of age of an explicitly Gay male character. The film is ravishing.