When it comes to the AIDS epidemic, many may think of names like Rock Hudson, whose death in 1985 of AIDS-related causes brought the epidemic home to mainstream America. Rock Hudson’s death did not mark the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. The silent death and suffering of many others, during the so-called "dark years" of the epidemic (1981-1985) did. It took an openly-gay journalist at San Francisco Chronicle to report on these years and give voice to those suffering in
