In Memorium - 25 years of AIDS

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 9:46am

Today marks a somber anniversary. 25 years ago today, the first case of AIDS was reported. I would like to list a few of my friends who I have lost to this pandemic in honor of thier lost lives - and I invite others to do the same. I do not feel that it should be a sad or sorrowful thread - but a thread dedicated to the joy of having these people in our lives.

Robert Becker
Gary Delguidice
Summer Storm
Patty Mae
Tim Cicinato
Paul Martin
Randall White
Teri LoBiano

You are missed and forever loved.

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 09:46 AM

[Dancinqueen123]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 9:52am

I have never known anyone with the AIDS virus, but everyone with the disease and everyone who has died from the disease and their families are in my thoughts and prayers.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:01am

Too Many:

John
Rob
Glen
Michael
Dale

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:04am

One would be too many.

Thank you, Christopher, for giving me my first job in New York. You will always have a special place in my heart.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:20am

i moved to the city from the sticks of small town ohio way back when to take an internship with a theatre company that was quite well respected but has since disappeared. with a background in production they put me in as an assistant stage manager on a show that was already running. the psm was younger than me and had weeks earlier been in my role when the then-psm fell ill. they spoke about him in alternately jovial and hushed tones and never said the word aids as if that would somehow change anything. i'd heard of it, but that was about it.

when the next production came up i was slated to be this man's asm. they told me he was feeling better, but to make sure he didn't have to exert himself too much. he sure seemed to be, the crusty little bugger that he was. i found myself constantly wondering whether he was serious or not when he made proclamations that caused the director's jaw to drop. for some reason he took a shine to me and welcomed me into his world, regaling me with stories of the shows he'd worked on, the people he knew, passing on a lifetime of theatrical knowledge along with details like where to get the best cheesecake in the city (veniero's) over several months in the rehearsal room and then in the theatre.

then he was gone. one day he was next to me in the theatre and the next he was on an i.v. i used to go see him at lennox hill in the afternoons and he'd have me try the candy that he'd been brought and make me describe each one. then he'd always say, "oh good i hate those," as i ate it. this from a man who'd once opined at a production meeting that any problem we had with bugs in the theatre could be handled by interns because, "they're always hungry." he'd survived the holocaust, learned to play piano in the camps, and died looking like he'd never left there. but we told jokes at his memorial, jokes he'd taught us.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:29am

My best friend, Reed Jones, the spectacular Skimbleshanks in the original New York cast of Cats.



Listen to him on the OBCR! Also from that cast: the beautiful Timothy Scott, Rene Clemente and Steve Gelfer.

And from the cast of the 1980 West Side Story on which I met Reed: the breathtaking Mark Fotopoulos, who carried a sign at pride parades throughout the 1980s that said "Living With AIDS 1 Year [2 Years, 3 Years, etc.] No Thanks to You Mr Reagan, No Thanks to You Mr Bush."



And my other best friend, the unforgettable theater, opera and soap-opera director Peter Mark Schifter, director of Albert Innaurato's Broadway comedy Gemini ("I'm not hungry--I'll just pick!"

And a whole generation of others. What talent there was! What they would have created...

Updated On: 7/6/12 at 10:29 AM

[liotte]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:31am

Uncle Brian

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:36am

Papa, I'd just like to commend you on the beauty of your story telling. I remember you shared a version of that story with me in a PM years ago, and it was as moving then as it is now. I remember in the mid-'80s when we learned the importance of telling people's stories so they'd never be forgotten. And telling them again and again and again.

[blueroses]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:39am

Phil B.
Daniel K.
Jonathan B.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:41am

Keep them alive in your thoughts and memories.

I have none lost to name. I hope not to ever have to.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:44am

and in words, cookie. namo's right that it's important to tell the stories. share the memories with others.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 11:02am

Gary
Davyd Apple
Al
Ken P
Alan Lamprecht (God I miss you every day of my life)
Bob Johnson

and so many more

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 11:08am

papa - once again, I am speechless my friend. Thank you.

Miss Pat Montclaire - amazing SF Empress and entertainer.

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 11:08 AM

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 11:08am

Buzz Bizzell
Rick Atkins
Matieu V.
David A.
Dan W.
Steve T.
and my two angels guiding me through life:
David Barnes
Christopher Heider

[jimnysf]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 11:33am

PBS "Frontline" has been running a two part four hour special on AIDS. Watch it if you get the chance.

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:19pm

Miss Shelby

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 07:19 PM

[xM3L24x]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:24pm

I was watching it yesterday, jimnysf. There was a really interesting show on before they played Frontline about how people survived the plague many years ago from a gene mutation, and descendents (sp?) of those people can't get the HIV virus. I thought it was very interesting.

[RadneyKay]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:41pm

Just think, the cure is right in front of us: Monogomy/Abstinence

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:43pm

Yes that works - that also cures over breeding in an already too crowded world.

I am also confident that a real cure will be on the horizen way before a cure for ignorance in people's hearts.

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 07:43 PM

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:48pm

Or what will kill you eventually.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:50pm

Abstinence/monogamy is a prevention, not a cure, you button-pushing buffoon.

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:51pm

Calvin - not a buffoon - it's RodneyK. He won't be here long. We all remember this idiot.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:52pm

Ignore Rodney--he will be gone soon.

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:54pm

PJ - He must be desperate for attention - after all, he did not even try to hide his ID in his name this time.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:54pm

My dear friend Bryan, who died in 1991 at the age of 23. I miss him every day.

I was just watching Robert Altman's film version of THE CAINE MUTINY the other day and it was so sad to watch Brad Davis. Such a brilliant actor, taken so young from this awful disease. Thanks for starting this thread, cheeze.