The Other Pandemic
An AIDS Memoir
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
A searing photo-illustrated historical memoir from the LGBTQIA+ frontlines of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s.
Before COVID-19 made "pandemic" a household word in 2020, there was the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and 1990s. Author Lynn Curlee explores the parallels and the difference as he recounts living in New York and Los Angeles when the disease silently took hold of the gay community. As the disease became a full-blown public health crisis, Curlee watched in horror at the devastating progression of HIV/AIDS, the staggering losses endured, and divisive politics and discrimination that cost many people their lives.
With honesty and heart, Curlee tells the stories of the many friends and loved ones that he lost to the disease, including his own life partner. LGBTQ+ rights and access to health care continues to be threatened today. The Other Pandemic is a stark and strong reminder of how history speaks to the present, and this window to the past is a valuable tool for understanding our current cultural landscape.
“HEARTBREAKING! This memoir of the AIDS plague is a powerful reminder to those of us who miraculously lived through it — and a valuable eye-opener for younger generations who can never allow this to happen again. With the COVID pandemic on everyone’s radar, there couldn’t be a more teachable moment. Author Lynn Curlee grabs this pulpit by the throat and fearlessly makes the case that we must never forget.”
— Sam Irvin, filmmaker and author
"Reading The Other Pandemic was a very personal journey for me. I lost my stepfather to AIDS in 1993 when he was just 44 years old. The way Lynn shares his own life experiences a gay man living during this historic time of loss and perseverance is so insightful, and incredibly important to share with those who were not there firsthand to experience it."
— Carol Bennett, daughter of Tim Bennett, a major character in THE OTHER PANDEMIC
"Reading The Other Pandemic: An AIDS Memoir is akin to settling in with a dear, dear friend for a long-overdue catchup. Lynn Curlee’s effortless and evocative prose is much more than a poignant account of a not-distant-past epidemic that galvanized the LGBTQ+ community. It is a deeply personal and brave story of chosen families, political deafness, and hard-fought resolve. Curlee both broke my heart and mended it."
—Jeffrey Dale Lofton, author of Red Clay Suzie
"The Other Pandemic is a poignant and raw examination of the AIDS crisis that highlights how much the past shapes our present. Lynn Curlee has accomplished something beautiful here—I could not put it down. I am grateful he chose to share his loved ones with the world."
— Leo Rocha, Journalist and GLAAD "20 under 20" honoree
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This heartbreaking memoir by Curlee (The Great Nijinsky) chronicles "how it was to grow up and live as a gay man in the United States" before and during the HIV/AIDS crisis. Taking an elegiac tone, Curlee describes his childhood in 1960s North Carolina. Quick-moving subsequent chapters recall Curlee's experiences participating in the disco scene on Fire Island, his impulsive move to California in 1979, and his return to N.Y.C. in the early 1980s, where he and his friends struggled to understand why so many gay men were "dying horrible, gruesome deaths." While perceived comparisons to Covid-19, as outlined in an introduction, are minimally explored, Curlee briefly covers their medical and social differences and similarities, as well as the pervasive impact they each had on society. Sidebars about HIV/AIDS succinctly detail the facts, and Curlee's straightforward prose capably conveys the era's worsening bias and fear. Most powerful of all, however, is the novel's focus on Curlee's inner circle and the people he lost to the crisis, including his partner, making for a thought-provoking history about what it was like to live during that time, and a good start for further exploration. Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 12–up.
