Randy Shilts, an American author who chronicled hate and homophobia throughout the 20th Century, died of complications due to AIDS in 1994 at age 43, when he was at the top of his game.
His books about San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk (Mayor of Castro Street), the early days of the AIDS crisis (And the Band Played On), and institutional hate and criminality of gays in the U.S. military (Conduct Unbecoming) told the world about LGBT people at a time when few would even recognize our existence.
Yet little is known about the man himself, who, while being a gifted researcher and writer, led a complicated and at times painful life as a known gay icon of the 1980s and 1990s.
A new book, When The Band Played On, by Professor Michael Lee of St. Mary’s University in Minneapolis (pictured here, wearing glasses) highlights the life and times of this great author, who, along with so many other prominent LGBTs in 20th Century, helped shape our way forward so that we, as LGBTQIA++ worldwide, can enjoy what we have now.
“[This book] tells the tale of a singularly gifted voice, a talented yet insecure young man whose coming of age became intricately linked to the historic peaks and devastating perils of modern gay liberation,” according to the Chicago Review Press.
“The biography is meticulously researched and well-sourced, containing dozens of interviews with Shilts’s family, friends, colleagues, ex-boyfriends, and flings,” according to Rodney Wilson of LGBTQ Nation.
I worked for Randy Shilts, and I can honestly tell you this book is not only detailed, it is also accurate. Shilts has been largely forgotten when it comes to LGBT history in the United States, so having this biography on bookshelves is important to keeping our history alive.
And it’s a damn good book too. Well-written, filled with important (and fun) facts and (perhaps most of all) easy-to-read while not being one-big downer.
Need a gift for the special person in your life? This book would make for something great under the tree.
Of course, you yourself are the perfect gift. Give your beloved something that can be read during the more casual moments.
When The Band Played On can be bought online from LGBT bookstores Under the Umbrella and A Room of One’s Own.
Photo credits to Dani Werner and William Cagle.