Wastongton D.October 8 & 9, 1988

A picture is wo thousand words

Personal view

by Linus Herrell and Steve Schochet

A Personal Visit

Linus:

This was my last viewing of the Names Project.

I have a hard time with commercialism of posters, note cards, T-shirts, etc. But that cannot diminish the emotional impact of seeing the names of my friends and loved ones.

The candlelight march was perhaps the most moving event. As Steven and I were turning to enter the Lincoln Memorial, we could look over at the Ellipse and see the candles of fellow marchers still waiting to march. The first woman to speak talked about the many times she said goodbye to her son. The first day of school, when he went to work for Vista, a trip to Europe and then that final farewell.

The second woman told of her 11year-old son, a hemophiliac, and his courage to the end.

The Hispanic mother held her daughter in her arms and talked about the school system in Florida that wants to put her in a glass cage if she is to attend the fourth grade.

The representative of the Red Cross from Uganda painted an even greater picture of desolation than that which we have here. Uganda is 10% urban, 90% agricultural, with 22 languages. Their programs are promoted in song and dance because the people cannot read. Here in American the slow response to the AIDS crisis has to do with ignorance, too. But only one in four people couldn't read this.

Cleve Jones, the only gay male to speak that night, called for more drugs, more money and a more

responsible response from our government. Cleve was interrupted twice by the mindless bleating of the always rude and disruptive ACT UP

There are no official numbers for the candlelight march, but the candles covered the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and lined the entire reflecting pool. it was beautiful, and a wonderful expression of love, compassion and determination.

Steve:

I agree with Linus about this

being my last viewing of the quilt.miolo aan Having seen it now three times, it has begun to lose some of its impact on me. I will be pleased to see the NAMES Project follow in the footsteps of the San Francisco Stop AIDS Project. Stop AIDS had a goal, achieved it and creased to exist.

There were a number of lighter moments in Washington, too,

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The NAMect Quilt, Washington, D.C.

Showing gof display from 1987 to 1988.

□□□

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1987: 1,920 p

67

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2

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38

1988: 8,288 panels

et Love"

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and these deserve mention. As representative of the Cleveland Gay People's Chronicle, Linus and I ascended the heavens via a cherrypicker contraption to view the quilt from way up there. It was OK if you didn't look down. Linus kissed the ground when we were back on it.

Letter to Quilt

Panel Maker: Ruth Chevion, N.H.

In memory of Nancy Love

Nancy died of AIDS on September 11, 1987, at 9:37 a.m.

She was a beautiful young lesbian woman, a black sister, a dear friend, a loyal, dear woman. Her nickname was "Autumn."

I met her in the summer of 1980. We were both coming out. She spent that summer here in New Hampshire where I live. She quickly became integral to the lesbian community here. She made no issue of race. She built bridges between black and white sisters.

She had a strong black consciousness you could see it in her dashikis, in her love of black women writers, and in her knowledge and pride in black history and issues.

Every 4th of July, after 1980, she came back visit, bringing along one or two friends. Once she had her hair all done in dreadlocks with red beads and she looked so pretty.

My favorite day with Nancy was the time we went to Ogunquit in summer of '80. We laid a mattress in the back of my truck and made a canopy with a white French curtain and parked our home in the bank parking lot!

We took a walk on the beach and held hands where there were few people some kids taunted us.

Afterwards we were so hungry. We went to "The Club" and they had Italian pasta. She loved that hearty meal and we always remembered it years later.

Good-bye sweet Nancy.

From Ruth

2/5/88