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When Larry Kramer, AIDS Warrior, Took on Another Plague When Larry Kramer, AIDS Warrior, Took on Another Plague
(7 days later)
In one of the last interviews before his death, Larry Kramer, the AIDS activist who became that epidemic’s wrathful prophet, said he was writing a play for the age of Covid-19. It was, he said, a work he might not live to finish.In one of the last interviews before his death, Larry Kramer, the AIDS activist who became that epidemic’s wrathful prophet, said he was writing a play for the age of Covid-19. It was, he said, a work he might not live to finish.
“It’s about gay people having to live through three plagues,” he said from his apartment in Greenwich Village. It was March 24, two days into the governor’s order to stay in place. Already Mr. Kramer was becoming increasingly isolated.“It’s about gay people having to live through three plagues,” he said from his apartment in Greenwich Village. It was March 24, two days into the governor’s order to stay in place. Already Mr. Kramer was becoming increasingly isolated.
Two months later, Mr. Kramer, who had cheated death several times in the past, died on May 27. His play, like his legacy, remained a work in progress. The cause was pneumonia.Two months later, Mr. Kramer, who had cheated death several times in the past, died on May 27. His play, like his legacy, remained a work in progress. The cause was pneumonia.
The three plagues are H.I.V./AIDS, Covid-19 and the decline of the human body — specifically, a broken leg that Mr. Kramer, 84, suffered last April, when he fell in his apartment and lay on the floor until his home attendant arrived hours later.The three plagues are H.I.V./AIDS, Covid-19 and the decline of the human body — specifically, a broken leg that Mr. Kramer, 84, suffered last April, when he fell in his apartment and lay on the floor until his home attendant arrived hours later.
For Mr. Kramer, who had several brushes with death since receiving an H.I.V. diagnosis in 1988, the days had haunting echoes of the AIDS epidemic, which he felt never ended.For Mr. Kramer, who had several brushes with death since receiving an H.I.V. diagnosis in 1988, the days had haunting echoes of the AIDS epidemic, which he felt never ended.
“The government has been awful in both cases,” he said, his voice softer than the old days but his anger undiminished. “They were terrible with AIDS and they’re terrible with this thing. One wonders what will become of us.”“The government has been awful in both cases,” he said, his voice softer than the old days but his anger undiminished. “They were terrible with AIDS and they’re terrible with this thing. One wonders what will become of us.”
As in the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was a fixture on the nightly news. The two men had a complicated history. In the 1980s, Mr. Kramer blamed Dr. Fauci for the federal government’s slow response to AIDS, calling him a murderer and an “incompetent idiot.”As in the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was a fixture on the nightly news. The two men had a complicated history. In the 1980s, Mr. Kramer blamed Dr. Fauci for the federal government’s slow response to AIDS, calling him a murderer and an “incompetent idiot.”
But the adversaries developed a grudging friendship, and Dr. Fauci helped get Mr. Kramer into a lifesaving experimental drug trial after Mr. Kramer had a liver transplant.But the adversaries developed a grudging friendship, and Dr. Fauci helped get Mr. Kramer into a lifesaving experimental drug trial after Mr. Kramer had a liver transplant.
“We are friends again,” Mr. Kramer said in an email. “I’m feeling sorry for how he’s being treated. I emailed him this, but his one line answer was, ‘Hunker down.’”“We are friends again,” Mr. Kramer said in an email. “I’m feeling sorry for how he’s being treated. I emailed him this, but his one line answer was, ‘Hunker down.’”
Also as with AIDS, people’s casual encounters from the past have taken on potentially lethal significance, and the news brought a steady drip of death or diagnosis: the playwright Terrence McNally, whom Mr. Kramer called a close friend and neighbor, dead at 81; the AIDS researcher Dr. Michael Saag, diagnosed at 64 on his way home from organizing a medical conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections, ill but not critical.Also as with AIDS, people’s casual encounters from the past have taken on potentially lethal significance, and the news brought a steady drip of death or diagnosis: the playwright Terrence McNally, whom Mr. Kramer called a close friend and neighbor, dead at 81; the AIDS researcher Dr. Michael Saag, diagnosed at 64 on his way home from organizing a medical conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections, ill but not critical.
“It’s been so long that I have been losing friends that it becomes surreal,” Mr. Kramer said.“It’s been so long that I have been losing friends that it becomes surreal,” Mr. Kramer said.
He did not find that his experience during the AIDS crisis gave him perspective on the coronavirus pandemic, he said. Rather, the two eras merged into each other.He did not find that his experience during the AIDS crisis gave him perspective on the coronavirus pandemic, he said. Rather, the two eras merged into each other.
“We certainly had our experience,” he said of his generation of AIDS activists. “But I find it very hard to stay in touch with the outside world, because of the hardships we are all having to go through. You can read about everybody else’s experiences on Facebook, but it gets depressing after a while.”“We certainly had our experience,” he said of his generation of AIDS activists. “But I find it very hard to stay in touch with the outside world, because of the hardships we are all having to go through. You can read about everybody else’s experiences on Facebook, but it gets depressing after a while.”
He said he hoped the antiretroviral drugs that he and many friends were taking for H.I.V. would bolster their immune systems against the coronavirus. It was a slender hope.He said he hoped the antiretroviral drugs that he and many friends were taking for H.I.V. would bolster their immune systems against the coronavirus. It was a slender hope.
Updated July 16, 2020 Updated July 23, 2020
For Mr. Kramer, who was by then largely homebound, a challenge of the pandemic was isolation. His husband, David Webster, whom he married in 2013 in the intensive care unit of NYU Langone Medical Center, was away on a work project, wary of bringing potential exposure into the home. Some of Mr. Kramer’s home attendants, also, had to stop coming because of exposure to the disease.For Mr. Kramer, who was by then largely homebound, a challenge of the pandemic was isolation. His husband, David Webster, whom he married in 2013 in the intensive care unit of NYU Langone Medical Center, was away on a work project, wary of bringing potential exposure into the home. Some of Mr. Kramer’s home attendants, also, had to stop coming because of exposure to the disease.
So he tried to lose himself in the new play, “An Army of Lovers Must Not Die,” which he had to change almost daily as the news changed. “I wonder if it will ever be done now,” he said of the play.So he tried to lose himself in the new play, “An Army of Lovers Must Not Die,” which he had to change almost daily as the news changed. “I wonder if it will ever be done now,” he said of the play.
But Mr. Kramer, for all his doom-saying, repeatedly beat the odds, surviving to finish his two-part epic novel, “The American People,” the second volume of which, at 880 pages, landed earlier this year.But Mr. Kramer, for all his doom-saying, repeatedly beat the odds, surviving to finish his two-part epic novel, “The American People,” the second volume of which, at 880 pages, landed earlier this year.
“It’s a great book to read when you’re stuck for hours and hours,” he said.“It’s a great book to read when you’re stuck for hours and hours,” he said.
Mr. Kramer was a maddening, titanic figure during the AIDS crisis, and at moments seemed still to see himself in that thundering role.Mr. Kramer was a maddening, titanic figure during the AIDS crisis, and at moments seemed still to see himself in that thundering role.
“Show me a plague,” he wrote in volume one of his epic, “and I’ll show you the world!”“Show me a plague,” he wrote in volume one of his epic, “and I’ll show you the world!”
The current plague, he said, called for its own Larry Kramer to bring the rage — against disease, against governmental failure, against the unfairness of death. It just would not be him. “I wish I could be,” he said. “I don’t know how. I would like to have a big movement,” he added. “But I’m not quite sure how to do that.”The current plague, he said, called for its own Larry Kramer to bring the rage — against disease, against governmental failure, against the unfairness of death. It just would not be him. “I wish I could be,” he said. “I don’t know how. I would like to have a big movement,” he added. “But I’m not quite sure how to do that.”