Editing Edward Albee (section)

==Personal life and death==
Albee was gay and stated that he first knew he was gay at age twelve and a half.<ref>{{cite journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412220903/http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=6070 |url=http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=6070 |url-status=unfit |title=Who's Afraid of Edward Albee? |first=Randy |last=Shulman |journal=Metro Weekly |date=March 10, 2011 |archive-date=April 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 | last =Byrne
 | first =Chris
 | editor-last=Gerstner
 | editor-first=David A.
 | title =Edward Albee
 | encyclopedia = Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture
 | edition= 1
 | pages =35
 | publisher =[[Routledge]]
 | language =English
 | date =2006
 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XS_SnVPixE8C
 | isbn = 9780415306515
 | access-date = July 5, 2022}}</ref>

As a teen in Larchmont, Albee became a close friend of English-born Muir Weissinger Jr. and his family. Albee, along with others, referred to Florence, Muir's mother, as "Mummy". For her part, Albee's mother felt he spent too much time at the Weissinger household. Albee dated Muir's sister, Delphine, and escorted her to her coming-out party. Albee and Delphine had a "long and intense relationship" while it lasted; Albee has said they were "unofficially engaged". Albee kept in touch for a long time with Florence and Muir Weissinger.<ref>Gussow, Mel.  ''Edward Albee: A Singular Journey: A Biography''.  Simon & Schuster (August 18, 1999) {{ISBN|978-0684802787}} p.44</ref>

Albee insisted that he did not want to be known as a "gay writer", saying in his acceptance speech for the 2011 [[Lambda Literary Foundation]]'s Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement: "A writer who happens to be gay or lesbian must be able to transcend self. I am not a gay writer. I am a writer who happens to be gay."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/06/06/136923478/playwright-edward-albee-defends-remarks|title=Playwright Edward Albee defends 'gay writer' remarks|publisher=NPR|date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120023729/https://www.npr.org/2011/06/06/136923478/playwright-edward-albee-defends-remarks |archive-date= November 20, 2023 }}</ref> His longtime partner, Jonathan Richard Thomas, a sculptor, died on May 2, 2005, from bladder cancer. They had been partners from 1971 until Thomas's death. Albee also had a relationship of several years with playwright [[Terrence McNally]] during the 1950s.<ref name=WaPo>{{cite news|last=Pressley|first=Nelson|title=Edward Albee, Pulitzer-Winning Playwright of Modern Masterpieces, Dies at 88|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/edward-albee-pulitzer-winning-playwright-of-modern-masterpieces-dies-at-88/2016/09/16/2645feb0-7c6c-11e6-bd86-b7bbd53d2b5d_story.html |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 16, 2016|access-date=September 17, 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Edward Albee portrait by Neal Marshad.jpg|thumb|Edward Albee on July 10, 1999 at LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY - photograph by Neal Marshad]]
Albee died at his home in Montauk, New York on September 16, 2016, aged 88.<ref name=WaPo/><ref name="bncnewsobit">{{cite news|last1=Howard|first1=Adam|title=Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Edward Albee Dead at 88|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pulitzer-prize-winning-playwright-edward-albee-dead-88-n649766|access-date=September 17, 2016|publisher=NBC News|date=September 16, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-edward-albee-1928-2016-20160916-story.html |title=Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee dies at age 88 |first=Chris |last=Jones |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=September 16, 2016 |access-date=September 17, 2016}}</ref>

Albee lived in a 6,000-square-foot loft that was a former cheese warehouse in New York's Tribeca neighborhood. At the time of his death Albee held an expansive collection of fine art, utilitarian works and sculptures.  Albee was especially interested in artworks created by indigenous cultures in Africa and Oceania.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.artlyst.com/news/edward-albee-collection-unveiled-sothebys-ahead-september-auction/ | title=Edward Albee Collection Unveiled by Sotheby's Ahead of September Auction|website=Artlyst.com }}</ref>