08/03/2024
IN MEMORY❤️
FYN would like to honor the life of Morley Schloss — for his activism, passion for family-friendly naturism and clothes-free rights and his vital role in fostering the creation of The Florida Young Naturists (FYN)
I first met Morley in 2008. My partner and I were on a golf cart tour of Sunsport Gardens and the woman showing us around stopped at the tennis courts to introduce us to Morley. He was thrilled to hear that we had been using MacArthur Beach State Park n**e and we chatted about the n**e history of that beach.
The following February, on Valentine’s Day 2009, FYN was formed and Morley funded the first year of the FYN website with a handwritten personal check. He also offered a free camping weekend for young adults and so we scheduled for the second weekend of April.
I stopped promoting bars and nightclubs and started promoting Friday drum circles and midnight skinny dipping instead and went to college campuses passing out flyers for our first naked bash. I had made good money promoting nightlife as a side gig for several years, but I never felt good about what I was promoting. I felt much better promoting naturism with no pay. Social nudity helped me shed body shame and social anxiety and I wanted others my age to experience the freedom that changed my life.
The first Naked Spring Bash was held in April 2009. Then came the first Naked Summer Bash in August. With over 100 signed up, there was concern from management and residents that there was not nearly enough room for 150+ noisy young folx. Morley pushed forward with our plans and allowed us the creative freedom to bring in live music, an inflatable waterslide, workshop leaders and dozens of tents. The rest is history.
Eventually FYN did outgrow Sunsport, but the space Morley offered to us those first few years got us off to a great start and I am forever thankful for that support. Over the years, we didn’t always see eye to eye and we certainly butted heads at times, as imperfect humans do. Regardless, I will always be impressed by his accomplishments and passion for the things that mattered to him.
The way that Morley lived his life reminded me that we are all really just big kids at heart. He could lick a bowl of ice cream clean, was always the first to participate in a friendly food fight (AKA pudding toss) and would dance the night away with the best of us. Some of my favorite memories are when he would get up on the microphone at the usual cutoff time for music (midnight) and announce that The Funky Nuggets could play longer, sometimes 'til 1 or 2. He loved group photos and was like the n**e version of Waldo. We couldn’t take a group photo at Sunsport or our downtown West Palm Beach naked kava parties and sushi party adventures that he'd show up to without wondering “Where’s Morley?”
Among his many accomplishments was the creation of Rochester’s Topfree Seven, a group of topfree female-bodied activists who paved the way for topfree rights in the State of New York. Morley, the hippie that went to Woodstock in his 20’s, also went to Harvard and knew a thing or two about law. He took the cause of topfreedom in NY all the way to the supreme court, and won. To this day, women can be topless anywhere in the state of NY where men can be topless (public beaches, public pools, public parks etc)
Morley worked closely with The Naturist Society to help protect naturist rights and also had ties to the American Association for N**e Recreation. FYN recommends membership to both of these organizations.
To Morley’s children and grandchildren, loved ones and his partner Theresa, our community is sorry for your loss and may you cherish his memory.
Robbe Malcolm
Founder, FYN - Florida Young Naturists
