In the prologue, titled “The Memorial Service,” France introduces Spencer Cox, one of the foremost AIDS activists of his generation and a star of this book. “Few people personified the epidemic’s long history in America more than Cox,” France writes. Reagan, France says, is the coldhearted president who might have “contained” the epidemic. “Many — maybe most — of those deaths were preventable,” France told me. As these activists taught us, when playing the long game, empathy and kindness will triumph over pomp and circumstance every time.

Source: Washington Post December 05, 2016 16:28 UTC