A prologue describing a tragic loss for a contemporary teen during the early days of COVID offers an arresting entry into a memoir that pulls AIDS out of history and into the present. Lynn Curlee begins by briefly recounting his childhood and young adulthood. After college, in the early 1970s, he moved to New York City. It was a thrilling time to be a young gay man there and embarking on a career as an artist. He made friends, found community, fell in love, and saw professional success. He goes on to document the growing alarm within the gay community around the mysterious disease that we now know as HIV/AIDS, followed by loss after loss of people he knew and those in his wider community: friends, friends of friends, former lovers, and others. Through Curlee’s eyes the sense of unease, fear, and grief comes through vividly, as does the anger within the larger gay and LGBTQ community at public attitudes and ignorance, and government inaction. His account provides a compelling personal look at the impact of AIDS at a time when AIDS may feel like ancient history for many contemporary teens. (Age 14 and older)

A searing photo-illustrated historical memoir from the LGBTQIA+ frontlines of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s.

Before COVID-19 made "pandemic" a household word in 2020, there was the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and 1990s. Author Lynn Curlee explores the parallels and the difference as he recounts living in New York and Los Angeles when the disease silently took hold of the gay community. As the disease became a full-blown public health crisis, Curlee watched in horror at the devastating progression of HIV/AIDS, the staggering losses endured, and divisive politics and discrimination that cost many people their lives.

With honesty and heart, Curlee tells the stories of the many friends and loved ones that he lost to the disease, including his own life partner. LGBTQ+ rights and access to health care continues to be threatened today. The Other Pandemic is a stark and strong reminder of how history speaks to the present, and this window to the past is a valuable tool for understanding our current cultural landscape.

“HEARTBREAKING! This memoir of the AIDS plague is a powerful reminder to those of us who miraculously lived through it — and a valuable eye-opener for younger generations who can never allow this to happen again. With the COVID pandemic on everyone’s radar, there couldn’t be a more teachable moment. Author Lynn Curlee grabs this pulpit by the throat and fearlessly makes the case that we must never forget.”
— Sam Irvin, filmmaker and author

"Reading The Other Pandemic was a very personal journey for me. I lost my stepfather to AIDS in 1993 when he was just 44 years old. The way Lynn shares his own life experiences a gay man living during this historic time of loss and perseverance is so insightful, and incredibly important to share with those who were not there firsthand to experience it."
— Carol Bennett, daughter of Tim Bennett, a major character in THE OTHER PANDEMIC

"Reading The Other Pandemic: An AIDS Memoir is akin to settling in with a dear, dear friend for a long-overdue catchup. Lynn Curlee’s effortless and evocative prose is much more than a poignant account of a not-distant-past epidemic that galvanized the LGBTQ+ community. It is a deeply personal and brave story of chosen families, political deafness, and hard-fought resolve. Curlee both broke my heart and mended it."
—Jeffrey Dale Lofton, author of Red Clay Suzie

"The Other Pandemic is a poignant and raw examination of the AIDS crisis that highlights how much the past shapes our present. Lynn Curlee has accomplished something beautiful here—I could not put it down. I am grateful he chose to share his loved ones with the world."

— Leo Rocha, Journalist and GLAAD "20 under 20" honoree