“How very American, he thought, to look at a disease as homosexual or heterosexual, as if viruses had the intelligence to choose between different inclinations of human behavior.”
- Name: Randy Shilts
- Born: August 8, 1951
- Died: February 17, 1994 (Age:42)
- From: Davenport, Iowa
- Pronouns: He/him
- Contribution/Impact:
- Occupation: American journalist and author.
- Known For: And the Band Played On (1987), The Mayor of Castro Street (1982), Conduct Unbecoming (1993)
- Awards: Shilts won the Stonewall Gay and Lesbian Book Award in 1988, the GLAAD Media Visibility Award in 1991 and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men’s Studies in 1993.
- Interesting Facts: He dictated the last chapter of his final book from his hospital bed right before he passed.
Randy Shilts was a journalist and author. He was best known for his books on AIDS and gay issues. According the to the New York Times, Shilts was one of the first journalist to recognize AIDS as an important national issue. This resulted in a book he wrote, And the Band Played on: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic in 1987.
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