A friend and collaborator took this picture as I got
into character to rehearse a theatrical piece.
My friend snapped this shot as I danced and spoke
my lines.
In fact, I was switching into character, though no one
in my circle of friends knew what that was.
It was a dark time in America, but one goes on with life.
This is a journal entry from the day of that shot:
July 16, 1987
It is July and I am still alive.
The AIDS epidemic is in its sixth year and those six years have passed slowly and cruelly. I had hoped that AIDS would fade like a fad, but it is still around and killing, and the fact that a reactionary movement has gained momentum by openly discussing it as a form of divine retribution sickens me to my core.
Thank God for Joni Mitchell.
I’ve lived so long without a future that the thought of having one terrifies me.
Yet, I am still alive.
And I intend to stay alive.
(c) Rob Goldstein 1987-2017
