LeRoy Whitfield, a Voice for AIDS Among American Blacks, Dies at 36

LeRoy Whitfield, a writer who spotlighted AIDS in black America, died Sunday in Manhattan of AIDS-related complications. He was 36 and had lived with HIV for 15 years. After a Harvard Medical School researcher studied him as a rare long-term survivor who would not take AIDS medications because of concerns about side effects, Whitfield dubbed himself "Marathon Man." In his native Chicago, Whitfield had worked as an associate editor of Positively Aware and as a community educator for Positive Voice. He moved to New York in 2000, contributed to Vibe magazine, and became a senior editor at POZ magazine. In an article in the August issue of HIV Plus magazine, Whitfield, whose health was deteriorating, expressed doubts about his decision to refuse AIDS drugs: "I've argued against taking meds for so many years that now, with my [T-cell and viral load] numbers stacked against me, I find it hard to stop." A family funeral service will take place Saturday in Chicago; a memorial service in New York is planned for Oct. 20.

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