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By Trevor |
Chris Bartlett just called to chat briefly today, this second anniversary of Eric Rofes' death. Just two years have passed! It seems like much longer since I last saw him. I still regret not making it to the last Gay Men's Health Leadership Academy he presented, which he encouraged me to attend. If you haven't looked at his final, uncompleted manuscrupt ("THRIVING: Gay Men's Health in the 21st Century") which several friends took time to edit and publish online, definitely check it out.
Here's a letter to the Bay Area Reporter editor that I wrote the day he passed away. My feelings haven't changed:
With the untimely and unexpected death of longtime gay activist Eric Rofes, San Francisco has lost a truly wonderful activist, organizer, researcher, and a dear friend ["Author, activist Eric Rofes dies," June 29].
In my own life, Eric was a mentor and role model. He was, without a doubt, one of the most influential thinkers in my life. Eric was one of the few gay male voices in America speaking progressive values to action. He was an unabashed feminist. His book, Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures, changed the way I thought about HIV/AIDS and gay men. He never settled for simple answers. He always demanded complexity. He always challenged me to think more deeply in my own work and research on HIV/AIDS and gay men. For all that he did for me, for all that he did for gay men, and for all he did for HIV-positive people, we will all be forever indebted to him. His death leaves a great void in our community.
I will miss him dearly.
And I do miss him. Dearly.
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