Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic
Page 34
weeks of lecturing than in a year on a reporter’s salary at the Chroni-
cle. 50 Such earnings allowed him to purchase a house in the Sonoma Val-
ley region outside San Francisco in early 1988. Shilts’s interviews with
the press indicate that fame and fortune brought more challenges than
he had anticipated. During nine months of interviews, from the fall of
1987 to the spring of 1988, the author would display a surprising lack
of awareness— considering that he was a journalist— in his conversations
45. “Schedule [for UK book tour],” February 28– March 13, 1988, folder 13, box 1,
Shilts Papers; Crimp, Melancholia and Moralism, 120– 22.
46. Diane Eicher, “New AIDS Book Chronicles the Epidemic,” Denver Post, Novem-
ber 13, 1987, 4E.
47. Liz Smith, “Movie Deal for Shilts’ ‘Mayor of Castro Street,’” San Francisco Chron-
icle, October 13, 1987, E1. Although the story had been made into a documentary fi lm—
the Oscar- winning The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)— the feature fi lm project would lan-
guish in development for two decades before being produced and released in 2008 as Milk,
garnering Academy Awards for Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay and Sean Penn’s leading
actor performance as Harvey Milk, among other awards and honors.
48. Herb Caen, “Use ’Em or Lose ’Em,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 1987,
B1. The rights eventually passed to Home Box Offi ce, which released the television mini-
series in September 1993.
49. Streitfeld, “Book Report,” sec. Book World, 15.
50. Randi Henderson, “Speaking out on AIDS,” Baltimore Sun, March 29, 1988, 3C.
204
chapter 4
with other reporters. He would talk about his earnings and large pur-
chases, seemingly without concern about how others might perceive his
comments. He would occasionally feel the need to justify his fi nancial
success by emphasizing how far he had had to go into debt to complete
a book that had initially seemed an unlikely prospect for a best seller.51
In particular, Shilts was vocal in condemning the amount of attention
that the “Patient Zero” story had received. In one interview, for exam-
ple, he turned to his publicist and groaned her name when a reporter in-
quired about Dugas, suggesting that he associated her publicity efforts
with this line of inquiry.52 True to Denneny’s recollection, in interviews
Shilts would attempt to steer conversation from the fl ight attendant to
what he believed were his book’s more substantive elements of report-
ing. In an interview with the Washington Post, he lamented the “great
irony” of the reaction to his book. “Here I’ve done 630 pages of serious
AIDS policy reporting with the premise that this disaster was allowed to
happen because the media only focus on the glitzy and sensational as-
pects of the epidemic. My book breaks, not because of the serious public
policy stories, but because of the rather minor story of Patient Zero.”53
In Contagious, Priscilla Wald suggests with regard to this quote that “it
is hard to imagine that Shilts really did not recognize the importance of
his character.” 54 Clearly, Shilts was bitterly aware of how important Du-
gas was to his success. Given that his book was gaining attention before
Denneny activated the Post’s infl ammatory coverage, the journalist may
have harbored hopes of his book’s potential to rise to national prom-
inence on its own merits, without such promotional tactics. Constant
questions about the fl ight attendant would certainly have been irritating
51. “Heart of an Epidemic,” 14.
52. Frank Spencer, “AIDS: A Failure to Respond,” Hartford Courant, October 30,
1987, C1.
53. Engel, “AIDS and Prejudice,” 10. Denneny noted in his 2008 interview that his doc-
toral supervisor had encountered a similar situation where the media obscured the im-
portance of the author’s whole work by focusing on a single part: “With Hannah Arendt’s
Eichmann in Jerusalem, that book was published in [19]63. In it she has two paragraphs, in
a 320- page book, about the Judenräte, the Jewish councils in Eastern Europe and their co-
operation with the Final Solution. And the Anti- Defamation League plus some establish-
ment people in Israel launched a campaign against that book that was so effective that al-
most to this day people can’t read the book straight.”
54. Wald, Contagious, 231.
Giving a Face to the Epidemic 205
to Shilts, given his high career aspirations, his sense of his book’s wider
accomplishments, and the possibility that he felt somewhat guilty for
agreeing to an act of “yellow journalism” to get his book on the agenda.
A Montreal TV station conducted an interview with Shilts in early
October, within a couple of days of the story dominating the Quebecois
airwaves. When asked whether the “Patient Zero” was simply a “cheap
publicity stunt,” Shilts immediately ended the interview and left the stu-
dio. That Shilts related this incident to another journalist suggests the
seriousness with which he viewed his own reporting efforts and journal-
istic integrity. It may have given him cause for refl ection, though, since
he offered, via the reporter, an indirect apology to the Dugas family, say-
ing that he was sorry if he brought them any pain.55 Although he would
continue to stand behind the technical truth of the statement that he
had never unequivocally stated that Dugas had brought AIDS to North
America, Shilts would nonetheless continue to offer a mixed view of the
fl ight attendant’s importance. In his interviews and public appearances,
from Oregon to Vermont, from Colorado to Florida, Shilts would speak
of Dugas as indicative of the “human factor” of why the epidemic had
been able to take hold, though he took pains to point out that Dugas was
not the norm. “I don’t see him as any more typical of a gay man than Jack
the Ripper was of the heterosexual,” he told a British reporter, before
adding, in defense of his view of the truth, “but it did happen.”56 Still, in
Shilts’s view, when unhindered by troubling questions about the Dugas
family’s reactions to his writing, the fl ight attendant was a psychopath.
While relieved at this dramatic change in his fi nancial situation, Shilts
would remain ruefully aware of the role played by the stories of the dead
fl ight attendant and of other controversial historical players in his suc-
cess. In 1991, he sent invitations for his fortieth birthday— Shiltsmas, as
he would jokingly refer to these annual birthday parties— to be held at
his new residence in Sonoma Valley. Tiny print on the back side of the
invitation noted— perhaps as gallows humor, perhaps in a bid to address
and defl ect criticism of his relatively newfound wealth: “This invitation
produced with resources provided by the Randy Shilts International Fan
Club, Dr. Robert Gallo, Chairman. Further assistance was provided by
55. Craig Wilson, “The Chronicler of AIDS: Randy Shilts, Tracking the Epidemic,”
USA Today, October 12, 1987, sec. Life, 2D.
56. Young, “Patient Zero,” 6.
chapter 4
the Northern California Bathhouse Owners Association, the Gay Cau-
cus of the French- Canadian Airline Flight Attendants Association and
the Investment Council of the American Bloodbankers Association.”57
In summary, the sustained publicity efforts of St. Martin’s Press to
bring Shilts’s book to the national attention were remarkably success-
ful and provided an effi cient means for the “Patient Zero” story to be
mass- produced and to hold the popular imagination in North America
in late 1987. Shilts was billed as “the nation’s premier AIDS reporter,” a
role he eagerly adopted, though he would struggle somewhat more with
the rapid change in his personal fortune that came with the success of
his book.58 Within a relatively short space of time, the idea of “Patient
Zero”— one which combined the suggestion of origins and gay promis-
cuity with the added deliberation of a serial- killing disease carrier— was
able to take hold over a geographically vast area.
Silences
In addition to locating and presenting sources that “speak,” historians
are well advised to also seek out and pay attention to those that remain
silent.59 Often it can be diffi cult to infer the existence of absences of
speech in the archive or in the media coverage of a story and to estimate
their contours amid the noise of the more straightforwardly expressive
sources. Beyond the material survival of records— a fact that crucially
shapes which stories may more readily be told— there are also distinct
types of silences in terms of the production of stories. For example, the
tactical decision to withhold comment is quite different from being pre-
vented to speak. Some historians have characterized silences as vital and
manifold rhetorical “strategies” that run through discourses.60 Others
57. “What becomes a legend most?” folder: Shiltsmas + Xmas Cards/Mem, Alband
Collection.
58. “Hear randy shilts, the Nation’s Premier AIDS Reporter,” fl yer promoting
Shilts’s talk at California State University, Northridge, April 11, 1988, folder 16: Apr. 1988,
box 1, Shilts Papers.
59. Historians seem to be paying more explicit attention to silence; see, for example,
Jay Winter, “Thinking about Silence,” in Shadows of War: A Social History of Silence
in the Twentieth Century, ed. Efrat Ben- Ze’ev, Ruth Ginio, and Jay Winter (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2010), 3– 31.
60. Foucault, Will to Knowledge, 27; see also Howard, Men Like That, 27– 33.
Giving a Face to the Epidemic 207
have used silences to demonstrate how various social agents hold differ-
ing levels of power to produce history.61 Indeed, some researchers have
commented on the tendency of AIDS narratives to silence the voices of
people living with HIV, a question that will be taken up in greater detail
in chapter 6.62 This section explores specifi c examples wherein the “Pa-
tient Zero” story was met with silence, to foster a more fi ne- grained un-
derstanding of these instances of exclusion and strategies of resistance.
In practice, it can be diffi cult to establish that historical actors were
aware of an issue and then chose not to act or speak on it. Ironically, as
the following example shows, it often requires that they later speak or
write about these omissions to provide fi rm evidence of their existence.
In the week following the “Patient Zero” story’s rapid ascendance, Can-
ada’s national English- language broadcaster, CBC, aired the fi rst epi-
sode of a radio documentary on its “Ideas” series, which explored the sci-
ence and politics of AIDS.63 An extended interview with Randy Shilts,
taped at the Washington march in early October 1987, opened the docu-
mentary. The journalist spoke at great length about his new book, which
detailed the failures of the Reagan administration, the news media, and
the research establishment. There was a notable absence of a mention
of the “Patient Zero” story. On the one hand, Shilts was probably happy
not to focus on it; on the other, it would seem strange for the producers
of the documentary to have been unaware of the story. In fact, they did
know of the emerging narrative and practiced a strategic silence about it.
Max Allen, the Ideas series producer, was based in New York that
September and became aware of the rumors about the fl ight attendant
which were circulating in the wake of the fi rst prepublication book re-
views. Allen decided not only to omit any reference to the “Patient
Zero” story in his documentary but also to alert a colleague of his, Ed
Jackson, of the story’s existence and of the “possible fall- out.” Jackson,
61. Michel- Rolph Trouillot, “Silencing the Past: Layers of Meaning in the Haitian Rev-
olution,” in Between History and Histories: The Making of Silences and Commemorations,
ed. Gerald M. Sider and Gavin A. Smith (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), 38.
62. See, for example, Patton, Inventing AIDS, 3; Brian Heaphy, “Silence and Strategy:
Researching AIDS/HIV Narratives in the Flow of Power,” in Meddling with Mythology:
AIDS and the Social Construction of Knowledge, ed. Rosaline S. Barbour and Guro Huby
(London: Routledge, 1998), 21– 36; Emke, “Speaking of AIDS in Canada.”
63. “Ideas,” part 1 of eight- part radio documentary, hosted by Lister Sinclair, produced
by Max Allen (CBC Radio, 1987), audiocassette recording of the original October 13,
1987, broadcast consulted in ACT Library, Toronto.
208
chapter 4
a former member of the Body Politic Collective, was now involved with
the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). On September 28, Jackson
wrote a memo to the ACT media relations offi cer, Phil Shaw, and the or-
ganization’s phone counselors:
It may be of particular interest to Toronto journalists and gay men because
it talks a lot about Patient Zero, the gay man who is identifi ed by the CDC
as the fi rst AIDS patient in North America. He was the sexual link among
the original Los Angeles group and was a Canadian airline attendant called
Gaetan Dugas. He lived in Toronto and in Vancouver and slept with a lot
of men after he had KS. This was before HIV was identifi ed as the puta-
tive agent for AIDS and he used to say to people after he had had sex with
them in the baths: see these spots, this is gay cancer. It’s not clear whether he
thought he was infectious.
Max Allen thinks there is a sensational story angle here which could cause
a real ripple to fl ow through the community if the media pick it up. Gaetan
was well- known, I believe. I, for example, met him once ten years ago. So,
Phil may get follow- up calls from the media and the phone lines could get
calls from panicky people. Classic media stereotype: irresponsible gay man
runs around infecting everyone. Is he not typical? (Or something to that
effect).
So, take note, for what it’s worth. Whatever the fallout, Shilts is a very
good writer. It should be a good read.64
In this case, a radio producer chose not to reproduce a story— for fear of
its sensational consequences— but also alerted AIDS activists to prepare
themselves for its eventual transmission.
In passing on his warning, Allen would not have known— nor, nec-
essarily, would later readers of the memo— that Jackson had himself
shared a sexual encounter with Dugas, when they “met” ten years pre-
viously, around the time of summer 1977. Jackson would later recall that
the two cruised each other in the menswear department of the Bay de-
partment store before he returned to Dugas’s hotel room to spend an
64. Ed Jackson, “To Phil Shaw and AIDSupport Phone Counsellors,” memo, Septem-
ber 28, 1987, folder: Media Relations Offi cer: Memos In— 1987, box 91– 143/19, Records of
the AIDS Committee of Toronto, Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, Toronto (hereaf-
ter cited as ACT Records); attendant spelled as “attendent,” Dugas as “duGas,” and follow- up as “followup” in original.
Giving a Face to the Epidemic 209
enjoyable night with a man he described as “sweet” and “an incredibly
generous lover.”65 Jackson also recalled that Dugas subsequently pro-
vided moral support by attending court one day during the Body Politic
trial. This court case, wherein the gay newspaper was charged with us-
ing the mail to distribute obscene material and in which Jackson was one
of three defendants, was widely reported in Toronto and across Canada
in January 1979.66 These brief personal experiences he shared with the
fl ight attendant impressed on Jackson the notion that Dugas had some
sense of political awareness and solidarity with the gay movement, which
in turn raised questions in Jackson’s mind about Shilts’s portrayal of the
man he had met.
As it would turn out, while the “Patient Zero” story did make head-
lines as Allen and Jackson had feared, it did not translate into a barrage
of panicked phone calls for ACT. The organization’s media contact re-
cords for the month of October indicate that the story generated two spe-
cifi c inquiries out of at least ninety- nine media contacts.67 Thus it formed
only part of the landscape of questions reaching the organization, com-
peting for attention alongside a dentistry conference dealing with AIDS
as well as the case of the HIV- positive Nova Scotian teacher, Eric Smith,