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Fear Factors
I found Christopher Murray’s article “Mortal Combat” (October 2007), about the ongoing duty of managing the fear of illness and death, wonderful and courageous. I think it’s helpful that he voiced suppressed feelings when so many of the messages and images we get about surviving AIDS are relentlessly upbeat. He pointed out that we all miss out when we try to exclude the scary, mortal side of life. I thank Mr. Murray for writing it, and

I thank POZ for running it. When the full story gets told, we all benefit.

I just finished reading “Mortal Combat,” and I wanted you to know how impressed I am with this kind of thinking. As the virus becomes more and more manageable, it is important not only to celebrate how far we have come but to allow ourselves to face the continuing realities of our condition and the emotions that surround it. Murray’s calm, reasoned logic is refreshing and poignant.

Kudos to POZ and Christopher Murray for “Mortal Combat.” It shines a light on aspects of living with HIV that are too often kept in the shadows. I was pleased that Murray could so gracefully address in such a brief article complicated issues like fear of dying or becoming ill.

Dreamgirl
I just wanted to say that POZ is a great magazine! It is so informative and supportive. Many of the clients from Aspirations, my ASO in Baton Rouge, are excited to read each new issue. I was very impressed with Bob Ickes’s article “Call Me Miss Ralph” (October 2007), about African-American actress Sheryl Lee Ralph and her dedication to the plight of people with HIV/AIDS in our black communities.

It is uplifting to hear others address the issue—making it more public and erasing the fear and shame attached to the disease. I see how this type of work affects people firsthand. It is encouraging to hear people in weekly support groups decide to tell family members that they are living with HIV/AIDS.

POZ is a much-needed form of entertainment and information, and it’s a great source of conversation! I look forward to the next issue.

The AIDS World Loses a Friend
Bobby Rosenthal died peacefully in his sleep after a 20-year struggle with AIDS. Bobby worked for Mobilization Against AIDS in San Francisco in the ’90s and helped organize AIDS dance-a-thons. He and his mother, Suzanne, were a dynamic team at AIDSWatch and other AIDS lobbying events on Capitol Hill. His goal was to show lawmakers another face of AIDS. Bobby, who contracted HIV in 1987, had a wonderful sense of humor, a deep love of children and animals, and was a tireless soldier against AIDS. He is the beloved son of Suzanne Benzer and Roy Rosenthal, cherished stepson of Bernard Benzer and Jacki Beck Rosenthal. Brother of Jeffery Rosenthal, stepbrother of Eric Benzer, Sheryl, Paul and Gary Silverman.

Donations in his name may be made to: Love Heals, 2 Fifth Avenue, #2Q, NY, NY 10011 or Treatment Action Group, 611 Broadway, #308, NY, NY 10012. To read more from those who knew Bobby, or to post your own
remembrance, visit legacy.com.