Gay Rebel of the Harlem RenaissanceRichard Bruce Nugent (19061987) was a writer, painter, illustrator, and popular bohemian personality who lived at the center of the Harlem Renaissance. Protg of Alain Locke, roommate of Wallace Thurman, and friend of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, the precocious Nugent stood for many years as the only African American writer willing to clearly pronounce his homosexuality in print. His contribution to the landmark publication FIRE!!, Smoke,