Randy Shilts
1951 — 1994
Aurora, Illinois
Award-winning journalist and author.
Author and journalist Randy Shilts was widely regarded as the
nation's leading reporter on the AIDS epidemic, as well as on lesbian
and gay political issues. With the publication of "Conduct
Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the U.S. Military" (St. Martin's
Press, April, 1993), his spectacularly-reviewed and timely account of
prejudice within the American armed forces, Shilts once again
challenged our thinking as he examined the dramatic conflict between
military traditions and our changing society over the past
quarter-century.
Shilts, 42, was a native of Aurora, Ill. and a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism. He began his reporting career as staff writer for "The Advocate," a national gay newsmagazine. In 1977 he became a television correspondent for San Francisco public television station KQED's award-winning "Newsroom" program. Shilts also was a San Francisco City Hall correspondent for KTVU-TV's award-winning "Ten O'Clock News" program.
Shilts drew on his experience covering the burgeoning gay community and the turbulent San Francisco City Hall politics of the 1970s for his first book, "The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life & Times of Harvey Milk" (St. Martin's, 1982).
Shilts began work as a reporter for the "San Francisco Chronicle" in 1981 just as cases of a rare pneumonia and skin cancer were detected in a handful of gay men in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The next year, he began covering what has since become known as the AIDS epidemic.
Assigned to cover AIDS full-time for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1983, Shilts wrote more about the political and social impact of the epidemic than any other reporter in the United States. He followed this story across 30 nations and four continents, including equatorial Africa.
Shilts's years of covering AIDS culminated with the 1987 publication of his highly acclaimed best-seller, "And The Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic" (St. Martin's Press, 1987). This book has won numerous awards, earning Shilts the designation Author of the Year in 1988 from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. "Band" has been translated into seven languages and released in 16 nations. A television movie based on "And the Band Played On" starring Richard Gere, Lily Tomlin, Alan Alda, Sir Ian McKellen, Matthew Modine, B.D. Wong, Steve Martin, and Angelica Houston was produced by HBO. It premiered Sept. 11, 1993.
"Conduct Unbecoming" grew out of Shilts's desire to make it possible for heterosexuals to understand what it is like to be gay in America. He chose the military as his window because it reflects American societal prejudice to an exaggerated degree. Five years in the making, based on historical documents and more than 1,100 interviews, this epic-length book traces the history of homosexuals in the military from the 1950s through U.S. involvement in Vietnam up to Desert Storm. HBO plans to produce a move based on this book with Oliver Stone co-producing.
Shilts's writing has appeared in "Esquire," "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," "Saturday Evening Post," the "Chicago Tribune," "Columbia Journalism Review," "Sports Illustrated," "Los Angeles Times," "Gentleman's Quarterly," "The Nation," "Newsweek," and the "San Francisco Examiner," among other publications. He was the national correspondent for the "San Francisco Chronicle." Shilts was a frequent and popular lecturer at universities, professional association gatherings, and national health organization conferences. In 1989 Shilts was selected to deliver the closing address at the Vth International Conference on AIDS in Montreal.
Shilts divided his time between his homes in San Francisco and Guerneville, Calif.
Bio by Business Wire: http://home.businesswire.com/