Editing Lou Harrison (section)

===Childhood===
[[File:Lou and Bill Harrison, early 1920s.jpg|thumb|Lou ''(left)'' and Bill Harrison ''(right)'', {{circa|early 1920s}}]]Harrison was born on May 14, 1917, in [[Portland, Oregon]], to parents Clarence "Pop" Harrison and former [[Alaska]] resident Calline Lillian "Cal" Harrison (née Silver).{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|pp=9–10}}<ref name=tom>Huizenga, Tom (2017). [https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/05/13/525919082/lou-harrison-the-maverick-composer-with-asia-in-his-ears "Lou Harrison, The 'Maverick' Composer With Asia In His Ears"]. ''[[NPR]]''. Retrieved June 29, 2022.</ref> The family was initially well-off financially from past inheritances, but fell on hard times leading up to the [[Great Depression]]. Harrison lived in the Portland area for only nine years before moving with his parents and younger brother, Bill, to a number of locations in [[Northern California]], including [[Sacramento]], [[Stockton, California|Stockton]], and finally, [[San Francisco]].{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|p=9}} With the city having a large population of [[Asian Americans]] at the time, Harrison was often surrounded by the influence of [[East Asia|the East]]. His mother decorated their home with [[Traditional lighting equipment of Japan#Bonbori|Japanese lanterns]], ornate [[Oriental rug|Persian rugs]], and replicas of [[History of China#Ancient China|ancient Chinese]] artifacts.<ref name=tom/><ref>[[Anthony Tommasini|Tommasini, Anthony]] (2017). [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/arts/music/lou-harrison-centennial.html "America's Quintessential Maverick Composer, at 100"] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved June 24, 2022.</ref> The diverse array of music he was exposed to there, including [[Cantonese opera]], [[Steel guitar|Hawai'ian kīkākila]], [[jazz]], [[norteño (music)|norteño]] and [[classical music]], deeply fascinated and interested him.{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|p=11}}<ref>[[John Rockwell|Rockwell, John]] (2003). [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/arts/music-a-life-tuned-to-the-sound-of-california.html "A Life Tuned to the Sound of California"] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved June 29, 2022.</ref> He would later say he had heard far more traditional Chinese music than European music by the time he was an adult.{{sfnp|Kostelanetz|1992|p=406}}

Harrison's early interest in music was supported by his parents, with Cal paying for occasional [[piano]] lessons and Pop driving the young Harrison to study traditional [[Gregorian chant]] at the [[Mission San Francisco de Asís]] for a short period.{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|p=11}} The family's frequent moves in search of work, however, provided the [[adolescence|adolescent]] Harrison little opportunity to develop any long-term friendships. Often feeling like an outsider, he relied on his own judgment to guide his aesthetic decisions and decidedly drifted further and further away from the artistic style of [[Western world|the West]]. He instead retreated into furthering his own [[autodidact|personal education]], often spending time at the local [[library]] to read books on everything ranging from [[zoology]] to [[Confucianism]]. He recalled being able to read two books a day, and the extremely wide diaspora of interests prompted him to connect disparate influences throughout his life, including in his future compositions.{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|p=12}} It's believed the loneliness of his youth contributed to his strong dislike of [[urban area|urban metropolises]] and so-called "city life".{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|p=12}}

Harrison discovered he was [[gay]] while attending [[Burlingame High School (California)|Burlingame High School]] and realizing his attraction toward a male classmate. By the time he graduated in December 1934 at the age of 17, he had [[coming out|come out]] to his family, and decided thereafter to make no attempt at hiding his sexual preference and personality – nearly unheard of for [[gay men]] of the time.<ref name=tom/>{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|pp=96–97}}<ref name=ross>[[Alex Ross (music critic)|Ross, Alex]] (2017). [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/24/new-york-celebrates-a-composer-who-left-town "New York Celebrates a Composer Who Left Town"]. ''[[The New Yorker]]''. Retrieved June 27, 2022.</ref>