You are an incredibly powerful speaker and your strength and courage inspire me.

Kaitlin Tyrol

Student, University of Connecticut;

Host, “What’s Happening,”

radio show focusing on campus and community events

The students had great things to say about your presentation. For example, one comment noted ‘his encyclopedic demonstration of the disease’s devastating effects on the global community’; another added that ‘incorporating the statistics made it easier to understand.’ Several comments mentioned your ease with the political aspects of the disease and discussion of its origins. One of my male students mentioned in class that your willingness to tell your personal story was the most important part of the day for him. I could go on; your ‘reviews’ were glowing. Thanks again for your excellent discussion of the epidemic. Also thanks for bringing the handouts; my students grabbed the remainders in the next class.

Rebecca Reviere

Department of Anthropology & Sociology

Howard University

Washington, D.C.

From The Quad, West Chester University’s student newspaper:

To the Editor:

While standing in line at the computer lab in Anderson, I witnessed something that truly upset and disappointed me.

A student in a wheelchair was struggling to remove a CD from his computer, and he asked for someone to help him do so.

One girl turned around and looked upon hearing his voice, but she merely rolled her eyes, turned back away, and refused to help.

There were at least five people in line ahead of me, one of whom was standing right behind the student, but everyone simply ignored him as if he wasn’t there, so I stepped out of line to assist the student. It took me all of 30 seconds to remove the CD and place it in its case.

I am appalled at the behavior of my fellow students. This young man obviously needed help, and asked for it politely several times, but was blatantly ignored.

When John-Manuel Andriote spoke on campus a few weeks ago regarding the AIDS epidemic, the central tenet of his message was that we all have the capacity to be heroes, because all a hero really is, is someone who steps up and does something simply because it needs to be done.

All the people in the computer room that day saw a very simple task that needed to be accomplished, yet none of them could be bothered to do it.

How do we ever hope to get anywhere as a society to solve any of our numerous social problems, when people are so apathetic or lazy or unkind that they cannot even take 30 seconds out of their day to help when help is needed?

Melissa Lake

WCU Student

Thank you so much for speaking to our Creative Writing students today. Wilhelmina has such a wonderful story with so many layers of meaning; it’s funny how a runaway cow befriending some deer can say so much about the universal experiences of finding out who we are and looking beyond our differences. Thank you for sharing your work with our students.

Sarah Briggs

Library/Media Specialist

Google Educator

Jonathan Law High School

Milford, Connecticut

Thank you for being such a great conduit to a very fun event. I certainly appreciated your willingness to help us out with Hot Stuff by attending and signing all those books. I was very pleased with the turnout, and they obviously had a great time. We were able to raise over $1,000 that night.

Gregg A. Kelly

Director of Special Events

Whitman-Walker Health

Washington, D.C.

John-Manuel is a passionate speaker and writer who combines personal memories with historical facts for a compelling and compassionate look at how the gay community once rallied for its members in the face of stigma and procrastination. And he now provocatively challenges that same community today to wake up and do the same for its younger up-and-coming members that it did for itself in the early days of the epidemic.

John Merz 

Executive Director

AIDS Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Thank you so much for visiting us on World AIDS Day and sharing your story and knowledge with our constituents.  Your presentation was not only heartfelt and meaningful, but gave us all a renewed sense of inspiration.  Your vast knowledge of the HIV epidemic and its many heroes made for a truly compelling and unforgettable evening. Everyone in attendance was genuinely moved by your frank, informative and uplifting talk. Thank you again for coming to Maine and shedding new light on our history.

Patti Capouch

Executive Director

Frannie Peabody Center

Portland, Maine