jimc@ima.UUCP (07/24/85)
Last Saturday afternoon, 20 July 1985, acquired immune deficiency syndrome
took the life of my father's best friend, a man who, as I grew up,
became one of my best friends as well. I don't even know how to begin
to express the grief I feel, and I will not even try to do so here.
However, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that this
terrible disease must be stopped, at all costs, and as soon as possible,
before it takes any more lives before their time. My "uncle" (which is
what I called him) died at the age of 49, and by the time he did, he
had the body and appearance of a man of 80.
A friend of my uncle's, after the funeral, mentioned that Ronald Reagan
asserted to a reporter that he would not help to subsidize AIDS research
because in his words, that he could not condone a "degenerate lifestyle."
Can anyone out there tell me if this is true? If so, I want him to look
at my uncle's freshly dug grave, then look at me in my face and tell
me that he deserved death because he was gay!
If anyone reading this has also lost someone to this monstrous illness,
or if you or someone you know is suffering from it, you have my
deepest sympathies and condolences.
May God spare us from this needless suffering.
Jim Campbell
..!{ihnp4, allegra, harvard}!ima!haddock!jimc