Author Christopher Isherwood was born in 1904
Christopher Isherwood is known for penning the books The Berlin Stories, which was adapted into the musical Cabaret, and A Single Man, both which were made into successful films.
Isherwood came from an upper middle-class background and was born on his family’s estate near Manchester in the United Kingdom.
He studied at Cambridge but left without completing a degree. In his 20’s he became friends with the poet W.H Auden and the two were romantically involved.
Isherwood based The Berlin Stories on his own experiences of living in Germany’s Weimar Republic in the 1930s. Here he indulged his love for other young men and met a German named Heinz Neddermeyer, who became his first great love.
Isherwood’s time in Berlin was dramatised in the biopic Christopher and his Kind with Doctor Who actor Matt Smith portraying the writer.
Isherwood was close friends with the author E.M. Forster who served as it literary mentor.
The story of A Single Man was also largely autobiographical; Isherwood immigrated to the United States before the outbreak of World War Two from the United Kingdom and lectured at a Los Angeles university and he also had an affinity for younger men.
In the USA he became friends with the writer Aldous Huxley, Truman Capote was also a close friend who admired Isherwood’s work, many people note that Capote’s most famous character Holly Golightly from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ shares many attributed with Sally Bowles from ‘The Berlin Stories’.
Isherwood remained with his partner Don Bachardy, who was 30 years his junior, until he passed away in 1986. Isherwood was 81 when he died.
In 1985 Ryan White was forced to listen to his classes by telephone
In 1984 American teenager Ryan White was diagnosed as living with HIV. At a time when little was known about the virus, and discrimination was rife, the teenager from Indiana became one of the human faces of the AIDS pandemic.
White was a hemophiliac, and contracted HIV via blood transfusions. When first diagnosed he was given just six months to live. As the 1985 US school year commenced White’s health improved and he wanted to return to school.
Hundreds of parents and students signed a petition calling for the 13-year-old to be banned from the school because of his positive HIV status. The Superintendent of the School Board ruled that White could not attend school despite medical experts assuring the school board that he could not transmit his condition except via bodily fluids.
When the school term started on 26th August 1985 White was forced to listen to his classes via telephone. His family fought a long and protracted legal battle with the school that lasted nearly a year.
White is remembered as being one of the first prominent faces of the HIV/AIDS battle outside of the LGBTIQA+ communities.
He appeared with many celebrities including Elton John, Michael Jackson, John Cougar-Mellencamp and US President Ronald Regan.
He spoke on chat shows about discrimination and worked to break down stigma. Actor Alyssa Milano, who was starring on the sitcom Who’s The Boss was White’s teenage crush and she appeared with him and gave him a kiss – again helping to break down fear and prejudices.
At a time when there were no effective treatments for HIV White surprised his doctors and lived for several years, when they had first predicted he’d be dead within six months.
He passed away in 1990 aged 18, just one month shy of his high school graduation.
Following his death many charities were established, most notably the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars for research and support.
Shortly after his passing the Ryan White CARE Act was passed by the US government and signed into law by President George Bush. It’s the largest funding programing for supporting people living with HIV in the USA.
OIP Staff, this post was first published in 2021.
