==Early life==
Born to Frank and Esther Eugene Rose was born on August 13, 1934, in San Diego in 1934, California. His father was Frank Rose, a World War I veteran. Eugene 's mother Esther Rose being businesswoman was raised also a California artist who specialized in Californiaimpressionist renderings of Pacific coast scenes. Raised in San Diego, where he Eugene would remain a Californian for the rest of his entire life. He His older sister was baptized in the Methodist faith at fourteen years oldEileen Rose Busby, but later became an atheistauthor, MENSA member, and antiques expert; his older brother was Frank Rose, losing all belief in Goda local businessman. Rose was also an uncle of scientist and author J. Rated at genius level in high school in formal IQ testingMichael Scott, true crime author and journalist Cathy Scott, and Cordelia Mendoza, in San Francisco he entered a beatnik phase in his life antiques expert and practiced Buddhismauthor.
In Rose was baptized in the summer of 1955Methodist faith at fourteen years old, but later became an atheist, between his junior and senior years at collegelosing all belief in God. After graduating from San Diego High School, Eugene met Finnish-born Jon Gregersonattended Pomona College, through whom where he came into initial contact with the Orthodox faithstudied Chinese philosophy and graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1956. Eugene came out as [[homosexuality|homosexual]] While at Pomona, Rose was a reader for Ved Mehta, a blind student who would go on to become a close friend from college after his mother discovered letters penned between her son and Walter Pomeroywell known author. Mehta referred to Rose in two books, one of which was ''Stolen Light'', a friend from high school. Eugene later shed his identity book of memoirs: “I felt very lucky to have found Gene as a gay man as reader. ... He read with such clarity that I almost had the illusion that he slowly accepted Orthodoxywas explaining things.” Afterward, eventually ending his lengthy relationship Rose studied under Alan Watts at the American Academy of Asian Studies before entering the master's degree program in Oriental languages at the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated in 1961 with Gregersona thesis entitled '''Emptiness' and 'Fullness' in the Lao Tzu''.[http://www In addition to a remarkable gift for languages, Rose was also known for possessing an acute sense of humor and wit.pomona.edu/Magazine/PCMSP01/saintHe enjoyed opera, concerts, art, literature, and the other cultural opportunities richly available in San Francisco, where he settled after his graduation and explored Buddhism and other Asian philosophies.shtml]
==Orthodoxy==
*[http://www.deathtotheworld.com Death to the World - A Compendium of Fr. Seraphim Rose's writings on-line.]
*[http://www.desertwisdom.org/dttw Desertwisdom.org - On-line collection of writings by and inspired by Fr. Seraphim Rose.]
*[http://www.garyabersold.com/documents/Eugene_Rose_Thesis.pdf Eugene Rose Thesis]
[[Category:American Saints]]
