Ken Ramsauer (December 26, 1954 – May 24, 1983) was an American businessperson. He was a hardware store manager and freelance lighting designer who became the first person with AIDS to be the subject of a national network television news special when he was interviewed by Geraldo Rivera on the 20/20 television program broadcast four days before his death in 1983.[1][2] At the time little was known of AIDS, including its causation. A candlelight vigil was held in Central Park commemorating his life and death, opened by New York Mayor Ed Koch and attracting c. 1,500 people.[3] The vigil was later covered in the book version of How to Survive a Plague.[4] Around 600 individuals were known to have died from AIDS at the time of Ramsauer's death, and their names were read aloud at the vigil.[5] The vigil was called "the first large gathering acknowledging the existence of the epidemic".[6]

At the time of his death, the public was advised by authorities to avoid contact with individuals infected with HIV.[2] Ramsauer recalled in the 20/20 interview how he was treated by hospital staff, whom he overheard asking "I wonder how long the faggot in 208 is going to last."[4] Some sources have stated that Ramsauer was sought out by 20/20 producers for the shocking appearance of a man near death, seeking "the most debilitated people with AIDS they could find".[7] Ramsauer's treatment by the press was "decisively deconstructed"[8] in Bright Eyes, a documentary by writer and filmmaker Stuart Marshall describing "the pathology of fear and manipulation surrounding the AIDS crisis".[9]

References

  1. ↑ Altman, Dennis (1986), AIDS and the New Puritanism, Pluto Press, p. 18, ISBN 9780745300122
  2. 1 2 Gruson, Lindsey (1983-06-14). "1,500 ATTEND CENTRAL PARK MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR AIDS VICTIM". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
  3. ↑ Julis Genachowski (22 June 1983), "1500 mourn deaths of those with AIDS", Columbia Spectator
  4. 1 2 David France (November 16, 2016), "Life in the Plague Years", New York
  5. ↑ Keith Duggan (June 26, 2013), "Death, fear and misinformation on Aids cut to the core of 1980s Big Apple: An exhibitionabout the early years of the Aids crisis reflects a period of despair", The Irish Times
  6. ↑ Steve Silberman (December 7, 2016), "The unlikely coalition that put the brakes on Aids", Financial Times (book review of How to Survive a Plague)
  7. ↑ Miller, James L. (1992), Fluid exchanges: artists and critics in the AIDS crisis, University of Toronto Press, p. 32, ISBN 9780802058928
  8. ↑ Creekmur, C.K.; Doty, A. (1995). Out in Culture: Gay, Lesbian, and Queer Essays on Popular Culture. Duke University Press. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-8223-1541-4.
  9. ↑ Stuart Marshall, Video Data Bank School of the Art Institute of Chicago, retrieved 2017-06-09
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