Ned Miller Rorem was born in Richmond, Indiana, US on October 23, 1923. Born to parents of Norwegian descent, he was their second child after his sister Rosemary. His father Clarence Rufus Rorem was a medical economist at Earlham College whose work later inspired the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, while his mother Gladys Miller Rorem was active in antiwar movements and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Ned described his background as "upper middle-class, semi-bohemian but with a strong Quaker emphasis". He later explained that his family was more culturally but not religiously Quaker;: "We were Quakers of the intellectual rather than the puritanical variety" he described himself as a "Quaker atheist" throughout his life. The family moved to Chicago a few months after Rorem's birth, where he attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Though not musicians themselves, his parents were enthusiastic about the arts, and brought their children to numerous concerts by the famous pianists and dancers.
