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Encyclopedia > And The Band Played On
And The Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic

First edition cover
Author Randy Shilts
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Nonfiction
Publisher St. Martin's Press
Publication date 1987
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages 630 pp
ISBN ISBN 0312009941

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic is a work of nonfiction written by San Francisco Chronicle journalist Randy Shilts (original copyright 1987) chronicling the discovery and spread of HIV and AIDS, with a special emphasis on government indifference and political infighting to what was initially perceived as a "gay disease." The title of the book appears to be a reference to the oft-repeated story about the dance band in the first-class lounge of the Titanic, which kept playing as the ship was sinking. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (500x750, 52 KB) http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (500x750, 52 KB) http://www. ... Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951 – February 17, 1994) was a gay American journalist and author. ... In political geography and international politics, a country is a political division of a geographical entity, a sovereign territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation and government. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... Headquartered in the legendary Flatiron Building in New York City, St. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... ISBN-13 represented as EAN-13 bar code (in this case ISBN 978-3-16-148410-0) The International Standard Book Number, ISBN, is a unique[1] commercial book identifier barcode. ... Todays San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. ... Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951 – February 17, 1994) was a gay American journalist and author. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... RMS Titanic was a British Olympic class passenger liner that became famous for her collision with an iceberg on 14 April 1912 and dramatic sinking on 15 April 1912. ...


The book is an extensive work of investigative journalism, written in the form of an extended time line, the events that shaped the epidemic presented as sequential matter-of-fact summaries. Shilts describes the impact and the politics involved in battling the disease on particular individuals in the gay, medical, and political communities. It begins in the late 1970s in Africa, with the then first confirmed case of AIDS, that of Grethe Rask, a Danish doctor, and it ends with the announcement by Rock Hudson in 1985 that he was dying of AIDS, when international attention on AIDS exploded. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Dr. Margrethe (Grethe) P. Rask ( 1930 – 1977), a Danish physician and surgeon, was the first non-African known to have died from AIDS. Born in 1930 in Danish city of Thisted, Dr. Rask practiced medicine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as Zaire) from 1972 to... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ...

Contents

Subject

Shilts focused on several organizations and communities that were either hit hardest by AIDS, were given the Sisyphean task of finding the cause of the disease, or begging the government for money to fund research and provide social services to people who were dying: Sisyphus by Titian, 1549 In Greek mythology, Sisyphus (Σίσυφος) (IPA: ) was a king punished in the underworld by being set to roll a huge boulder up a hill throughout eternity. ...


The gay community

AIDS in the US first struck in New York City's IV drug-user community and San Francisco's gay male community. Shilts' sources tried to remember that last time everyone they knew was healthy, which was the Bicentennial celebration in 1976 when sailors came from all over the world to New York. Some of them carried sexually transmitted diseases and rare tropical fevers. There was a marked difference both in New York and San Francisco between Before in 1980, and After around 1981, for the gay community, when Before marked the period before gay men knew someone, then most or all of their friends who were dying - looked back upon with a sense of care-free innocence. And After became the time when people within the community knew about AIDS. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The United States Bicentennial was celebrated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A sexually transmitted disease (STD) is an illness caused by an infectious pathogen that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of sexual contact, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, cyber sex, and anal sex. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...


In New York City, men like Larry Kramer and Paul Popham who had no desire for public acclaim, were forced by bureaucratic apathy into forming the Gay Men's Health Crisis to raise money for medical research and to provide social services for scores of gay men who began getting sick with opportunistic infections. Shilts described the desperate actions of the group to get recognized by Mayor Ed Koch, assistance from the Public Health Department to provide social services and preventive education about AIDS and unsafe sex. Larry Kramer (born June 25, 1935), American dramatist, author and gay rights activist, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and was educated at Yale University (class of 1957). ... The Gay Mens Health Crisis (GMHC) is a non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization that has lead the United States in the fight against AIDS. It was founded by seven gay men - Arthur Bell, Nathan Fain, Larry Kramer, Larry Mass, Paul Popham, Paul Rapaport and... Opportunistic infections are infections in immunodeficient patients caused by pathogens which are incapable of causing infection in immunocompetent individuals. ... Edward Irving Koch (born December 12, 1924; pronounced to rhyme with Scotch) was a United States Congressman from 1969 to 1977 and the Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. ... Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. ... Sex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of human sexual behavior. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...


In San Francisco, particularly in the Castro District, gay community politicians like Bill Kraus and Cleve Jones found a new direction in gay rights when so many men came down with strange illnesses in 1980. The San Francisco Public Health Department began tracing the communicable disease and linked it to certain sexual practices, made recommendations to gay men on how to avoid getting sick—stop having sex—a directive that went completely against what the Castro District had fought for for years. Kraus and Jones often found themselves fighting a two-fronted battle: against city politicians who would rather not deal with a disease that affected such an undesirable population as gay men, and the gay men themselves, who refused to listen to doomsday projections and continued their unsafe behavior. Stores on Castro Street near the intersection with 18th. ... Cleve Jones (born 1954 in West Lafayette, Indiana) is best known as the person who conceived of the AIDS quilt. ...


In both cities, and Los Angeles' sizable gay community, however, the gay communities in many instances were responsible for raising the most money for research, providing the money for and the actual social services for the dying, and for educating themselves and other high-risk groups up to and beyond 1985. Larry Kramer went on to form ACT-UP as a political activist organization forcing government and media to pay attention to AIDS. Cleve Jones went on to form the NAMES Project. Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... ACT-UP, or the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power, is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals . ... The AIDS Quilt The AIDS Memorial Quilt is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people who have died of AIDS. The Quilt is maintained and displayed by the NAMES Project Foundation and was started in 1987 in San Francisco by Cleve Jones...


The medical community

Doctors, of course, were the first to deal with the toll that AIDS would take in the United States. Some would realize their life's course in dealing with patient after patient who showed up in their offices with baffling illnesses, most notably lymphadenopathy, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, Kaposi Sarcoma, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, cryptosporidia, and other opportunistic infections that caused death to be a grisly combination of ailments overtaxing a nonexistent immune system. With no information on how the disease was spread, hospital staff were often reluctant to handle AIDS patients, and Shilts reported that several hospitals refused to treat them at all. Lymphadenopathy is a term meaning disease of the lymph nodes. ... Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is a form of pneumonia which is caused by a microorganism called Pneumocystis carinii (It has been proposed that the organism be renamed Pneumocystis jiroveci). ... species see text Cytomegalovirus (CMV), is a genus of Herpes viruses; in humans the species is known as Human herpesvirus 5 (HHV-5). ... Species Cryptosporidium bailey Cryptosporidium hominis Cryptosporidium meleagridis Cryptosporidium muris Cryptosporidium parvum Cryptosporidium serpentis Cryptosporidium is a protozoan pathogen of the Phylum Apicomplexa and causes a diarrheal illness called cryptosporidiosis. ... A scanning electron microscope image of a single neutrophil (yellow), engulfing anthrax bacteria (orange). ...


Shilts reported how the Public Health Department of San Francisco handled this new communicable disease by tracking down people who were sick, and linking them to other people who had symptoms, some of them living in different parts of the country, and he noted how the New York City Public Health Department did very little, when Public Health Director David Sencer refused to call it an emergency and stated that the Public Health Department need not do anything at all since the gay community was handling it sufficiently.


Around the same time gay men were getting sick in the United States, doctors in Paris, France were receiving patients who were African or who had lived in Africa with the same symptoms as American gay men. Parisian doctors Francoise Barre, Luc Montagnier, and Willy Rozenbaum began taking biopsies of HIV-affected lymph nodes and discovered a new retrovirus. As a scientific necessity to compare it to the American version of HIV, the French doctors who represented the Pasteur Institute sent a French colleague to the National Cancer Institute where Robert Gallo was also working on the virus. The colleague performed a switch on the samples, Shilts reported, because of a grudge he had against the Pasteur Institute. Instead of Gallo comparing his samples with the French samples, he found the very same retrovirus as the French sample, putting back any new results in AIDS research for at least a year. The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Luc Montagnier (born 1932 in Chabris, France) is a French virologist. ... Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ... Lymph nodes are components of the lymphatic system. ... Genera Alpharetrovirus Betaretrovirus Gammaretrovirus Deltaretrovirus Epsilonretrovirus Lentivirus Spumavirus A retrovirus is any virus belonging to the viral family Retroviridae. ... The Pasteur Institute (French: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, microorganisms, diseases and vaccines. ... The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is part of the United States Federal governments National Institutes of Health. ... Dr. Robert C. Gallo Robert Charles Gallo (born March 23, 1937) is a U.S. biomedical researcher. ...


Departmental ego and pride, Shilts reported, also confounded research as the Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institutes battled over funding and who might get credit for medical discoveries that were to come from the isolation of the HIV virus, blood tests to find HIV, or any possible vaccine. Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ... A vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to establish immunity to a disease. ...


Once AIDS became known as a "gay disease" there was particular difficulty for many doctors in different specialties to get other doctors to acknowledge that AIDS could be transmitted to people who were not gay, such as infants born from drug-using mothers, children and adults who had hemophilia (and later, their wives), and people who had received blood transfusions. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Haemophilia or hemophilia is the name of any of several hereditary genetic illnesses that impair the bodys ability to control bleeding. ... Blood transfusion is the taking of blood or blood-based products from one individual and inserting them into the circulatory system of another. ...


The discovery of AIDS in the nation's blood supply and subsequent non-reaction by the blood banking leadership was illustrated most depressingly. As early as 1982 doctors were able to find evidence of AIDS transmitted through blood transfusions, yet it took until 1985 before blood bank industry leaders would recognize that AIDS was in fact transmitted through blood transfusions. Plus, industry leaders said - according to Shilts - screening donors might offend them, and the cost of screening all the blood donations provided across the country every year was too high to be feasible. Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...


The political and governmental agencies

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), responsible for tracking down and reporting all communicable disease in the US, faced governmental apathy in the face of mounting crisis. Shilts reported how CDC epidemiologists forged ahead blindly after being denied funding for researching the disease repeatedly. Particularly frustrating were instances of the CDC fighting with itself over how much time and attention was being paid to AIDS issues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta is recognized as the lead United States agency for protecting the public health and safety of people by providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. ...


Although Reagan Administration agents like Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler and Assistant Secretary Edward Brandt spoke publicly about the epidemic, calling it in 1983 its "Number One Health Priority" no extra funding was given to the Centers for Disease Control or the National Institutes of Health for research. What the United States Congress pushed through was highly politicized and embattled, and a fraction of what was spent on similar public health problems. Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the fortieth President of the United States (1981 – 1989) and the thirty-third Governor of California (1967 – 1975). ... The United States Department of Health and Human Services, often abbreviated HHS, is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. ... Margaret Mary Heckler (born June 21, 1931) is a Republican politician from Massachusetts who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 until 1983 and was later the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Ambassador to Ireland under President Ronald Reagan. ... Edward Brandt, Jr. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political groups (as of November 7, 2006 elections) Democratic Party Republican...


Shilts made appropriate comparisons to the government's disparate reaction to AIDS versus the Tylenol Crisis of 1982, and the recent emergence of Legionnaire's Disease in 1977. The Tylenol crisis occurred in the autumn of 1982, when seven people in the Chicago area in the United States died after ingesting Extra Strength Tylenol medicine capsules which had been laced with cyanide poison. ... Legionellosis is an infection caused by species of the bacterium Legionella, most notably . ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ...


Shilts is often quoted as claiming that Ronald Reagan neglected to mention AIDS publicly until 1987, even after calling friend Rock Hudson to tell him to get well. After Hudson's death and in the face of increasing public anxiety, Reagan directed Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to provide a report on the epidemic. A conservative, Koop's report was surprisingly clear about what causes AIDS and what people and the US government should do to stop it, including sex and AIDS education provided for all people. Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... US Public Health Service US Public Health Service Collar Device US Public Health Service Cap Device The Surgeon General of the United States is the head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and, ex officio, is the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the government... C. Everett Koop Charles Everett Koop, M.D. (born October 14, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American physician. ...


On a civic level, the closure of gay bathhouses in San Francisco became a bitter political fight in the gay community putting the San Francisco Public Health director on the spot to educate people on how AIDS is transmitted, and to close the bathhouses as a matter of public health. Gay bathhouses, also known as (gay) saunas or steam baths (and sometimes called, in gay slang in some regions, the baths or the tubs), are places where men can go to have sex with other men. ...


The news media

Shilts was himself a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reporter assigned to AIDS full time in 1982. It was from this unique vantage point that he repeatedly blasted the US news media for ignoring the medical crisis because it didn't affect people who mattered, only gays and drug addicts. Shilts noted most newspapers would print stories about AIDS only when it affected heterosexuals, sometimes taking particular interest in stories about AIDS in prostitutes. Many stories called AIDS a "gay plague" or "homosexual disease" in articles that pointed to it showing up in new populations, like hemophiliacs or people who had received blood transfusions. In fact, Shilts recounts more than once the crushing irony of a reporter commenting on how much is not reported about the disease, then linking it once more to rarer instances of transmission to non-drug-using heterosexuals. Todays San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. ... News media satellite up-link trucks and photojournalists gathered outside the Prudential Financial headquarters in Newark, New Jersey in August, 2004 following the announcement of evidence of a terrorist threat to it and to buildings in New York City. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... Haemophilia or hemophilia is the name of any of several hereditary genetic illnesses that impair the bodys ability to control bleeding. ...


On the other end of the extreme, a general phobia of AIDS was assisted by news media who erroneously reported that AIDS could be contracted by household contact, without checking any facts in their stories, which prompted mass hysteria across the nation. A phobia (from the Greek φόβος fear), is an irrational, persistent fear of certain situations, objects, activities, or persons. ... Hysteria is a diagnostic label applied to a state of mind, one of unmanageable fear or emotional excesses. ...


Critical response

The book includes extensive discussion of Gaetan Dugas (who died in 1984 [1]), who was labelled the "Patient Zero" of AIDS (a claim which was challenged in later years). In general, the term Patient Zero refers to the central or initial patient in the population sample of an epidemiological investigation. ... Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ... In general, the term Patient Zero refers to the central or initial patient in the population sample of an epidemiological investigation. ...


The original 1987 St Martin's Press hardback edition was followed by a 1988 Penguin paperback, which had an addendum covering more recent events. It doesn't re-examine the Dugas story, which was questioned by many, including Dr Paul Darrow, who had done the original cluster study that gave Dugas the codename "Patient O" ("Oh," for Out-of-Town), not "Patient Zero," which has a specific meaning in epidemiology. By definition, Patient Zero, or the Index Case, is the first case in an outbreak. Shilts assumed that Dugas was the original source of the infection among gay men in North America. Darrow had not reached this conclusion at the time he had published his first report on the cluster of puzzling infections. He later concluded that the study had been flawed. Unfortunately, Dugas died in 1984, before he could confirm or deny Shilts' characterization of him. By that time, Shilts had constructed a number of scenes with Dugas, ascribing thoughts or dialogue that could not be confirmed. If Dugas had lived longer, perhaps his version might have been aired, and perhaps in court. St. ... Penguin Group is the second largest trade book publisher in the world. ...


Shilts is often quoted as claiming that Ronald Reagan neglected to mention AIDS publicly until 1987. However, the following questions and answers included in this link The President's News Conference on September 17, 1985 show that this claim about former President Reagan is false. Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ...


Film

And the Band Played On was used as the basis for a 1993 HBO Emmy winning movie of the same name, produced by Aaron Spelling, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, and starring Matthew Modine as Don Francis and Richard Masur as Dr. William Darrow, doctors at the Centers for Disease Control, and Alan Alda as real-life controversial viral researcher Robert Gallo. The movie also starred B.D. Wong, Glenne Headly, Swoosie Kurtz, and Ian McKellen as Bill Kraus. The movie featured a plethora of other big stars in supporting and cameo roles, who agreed to appear in the film for union-scale pay, such as Richard Gere, Phil Collins, Tchéky Karyo, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, and Anjelica Huston. Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable television network. ... An Emmy Award. ... Aaron F. Spelling (April 22, 1923 – June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer. ... Roger Spottiswoode (born January 6, 1945) is a Canadian film director and writer, most notable for directing the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies starring Pierce Brosnan. ... Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959 in Loma Linda, California is an American actor. ... Don Francis is an American epidemiologist who worked on the Ebola outbreak in Africa in the late 1970s, and helped discover HIV and AIDS. He retired from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1992, after 21 years of service. ... Richard Masur (born 20 November 1948, New York, New York) is an actor who has starred in over 80 movies during his career. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta is recognized as the lead United States agency for protecting the public health and safety of people by providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. ... Alan Alda (b. ... Dr. Robert C. Gallo Robert Charles Gallo (born March 23, 1937) is a U.S. biomedical researcher. ... B.D. Wong in L&O:SVU B.D. Wong (Chinese: 黃榮亮; Hanyu Pinyin: ; born October 24, 1962) is an openly gay American actor who has had roles in All American Girl, Oz, Jurassic Park and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. ... Glenne Headly (born on 13 March 1955 in New London, Connecticut, USA) is an American actress. ... Swoosie Kurtz (born September 6, 1944) is an American actress. ... Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CBE (born May 25, 1939) is a veteran English stage and screen actor, the recipient of a Tony Award and two Oscar nominations. ... The Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) is the labor union representing over 120,000 film actors in the United States. ... Richard Tiffany Gere[1] (born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. ... Philip David Charles Collins (born January 30, 1951 in Chiswick, London) is an English singer, songwriter, drummer and actor. ... Tchéky Karyo as Dmitri Mishkin in the James Bond film Goldeneye. ... Lily Tomlin (born Mary Jean Tomlin on September 1, 1939), is an Academy Award-nominated American actress and comedian. ... For the football player of the same name see Steve Martin (football player). ... Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress and former fashion model. ...


Elton John performs The Last Song at the end of the film, appearing during a closing montage featuring many celebrities who died of AIDS-related causes, such as musician Freddie Mercury, who also had a song (Play The Game) featured in the film; actors Rock Hudson, Anthony Perkins, Brad Davis and Robert Reed; tennis player Arthur Ashe, writer Michel Foucault, nurse and "KS poster boy" Bobbi Campbell; and fashion designer Willi Smith. [2] Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE [2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a multiple Grammy and Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... The One is an album by Elton John released in 1992, with music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. ... Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British musician and songwriter, best known as the frontman and pianist of the rock band Queen. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932–September 12, 1992) was an American actor best known for his role as the serial killer Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho. ... Robert Reed (October 19, 1932 – May 12, 1992) was an American stage and television actor. ... Arthur Ashe (1943-1993) Country: United States Height: 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) Weight: 73 kg (160 lb) Plays: Right Turned pro: 1966 Retired: 1980 Highest singles ranking: 1 (1968 and 1975) Singles titles: 34 Career prize money: $2,584,909 Grand Slam Record Titles: 3 Australian Open W... Michel Foucault (IPA pronunciation: ) (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher and historian. ... Kaposis sarcoma (KS) is a tumor caused by Kaposis sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also known as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8). ... Bobbi Campbell (January 28, 1952 – August 15, 1984) was an early United States AIDS activist. ... Willi Donnell Smith (February 29, 1948-April 17, 1987) was one of the most successful African-American fashion designers in history. ...


Trivia

  • The title is a direct reference to the sinking of RMS Titanic, in which the dance band in the ship's first-class lounge continued to play—some say Nearer My God to Thee or Autumn as the last number—as the ship sank. It's also a reference to the early 20th-century song "The Band Played On" by John Palmer and Charles Ward, with the lyric "Casey would waltz with a Strawberry Blonde/And the band played on." The title may also be alluding to the Mart Crowley play The Boys in the Band (1968).
  • While Shilts was writing the book, he was tested for the HIV virus, but told his doctor not to tell him if he had it until the book was finished, so it wouldn't affect his objectivity. He had observed that everyone he knew who got a positive test became an activist: he wanted to remain a journalist. On the day he sent the final manuscript to the publisher, he got an HIV-positive diagnosis.
  • Randy Shilts died of AIDS in 1994.

RMS Titanic was a British Olympic class passenger liner that became famous for her collision with an iceberg on 14 April 1912 and dramatic sinking on 15 April 1912. ... MartCrowley Mart Crowley (born on August 21, 1945 in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is an American playwright. ... Leonard Frey as Harold The Boys in the Band is a 1970 film directed by William Friedkin. ... HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a retrovirus that infects cells of the human immune system. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ...

See also

This article is a timeline of early AIDS cases in the United States . ... In general, the term Patient Zero refers to the central or initial patient in the population sample of an epidemiological investigation. ... Zero Patience is a Canadian film directed by John Greyson and released in 1993. ...

External links

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