they too were prone to believe his stories. The papal connection ... was a particular favourite and as much as Sorabji detested being spotlighted in a large group, he was perfectly content in more intimate situations bringing direct attention to his ring or his thorny attitude regarding the ban on his music. Sexuality In 1919, Sorabji experienced a "sexual awakening", which led him to join the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology and the English branch of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft. In the early 1920s, at a time of considerable emotional distress, he consulted Havelock Ellis, a writer on sexual psychology, on the matter of his orientation. Ellis held progressive views on the subject and Sorabji inscribed a dedication "To Dr. Havelock Ellis.—in respectful admiration, homage and gratitude" in his Piano Concerto No. 7 (1924). He went on to reference Ellis in many of his articles, often building on the concept of sexual inversion. Although Sorabji's homosexual tendencies were first exhibited in his letters to Warlock in 1914, they manifested most strongly in his correspondence with Chisholm. Sorabji sent him a number of exceptionally long letters that captured a desire for intimacy and to be with him alone, and have been interpreted as expressing Sorabji's love for him. Chisholm got married in 1932 and apparently rebuffed him around this time, after which Sorabji's letters to him became less sentimental and more infrequent. Sorabji spent approximately the last 35 years of his life with Reginald Norman Best (1909–1988), the son of his mother's friend. Best spent his life savings to help Sorabji buy The Eye and shared the costs of living with him. He was homosexual, and although Sorabji often described him as his godson, many suspected there was more to their relationship and those close to them believed they were partners. Sorabji once called him "one of the two people on earth most precious to me". In March 1987, they moved into Marley House Nursing Home, where Sorabji called him "darling" and complimented him on his looks before Best's death on 29 February 1988, an event described as a blow to the composer. Sorabji suffered a mild stroke in June and died later that year; their ashes are buried beside each other. Sorabji's writings include Gianandrea and Stephen, a short homoerotic story set in the Italian city of Palermo. Though the text purports to be biographical, Roberge considers