Saturday, March 7, 2009

Very interesting dinner at Café Milano thrown by Catherine and Wayne Reynolds for about 10 – 12 couples in the private room. Unseasonably warm (70 F) and clear (stars and moon) night. Guests include Gen. George and Sheila Casey (Army Chief-of-Staff). I sat between him and Marlene Malek (who was there with husband Fred). Also in attendance: Don Graham and Dana Priest (Washington Post); Beth and Ron Dozoretz; Francis Collins; Rick Atkinson (War Historian and best-selling author); died in Jan., 2009 of hep. B/Cirrhosis-related hepatoma. I was very involved with Brenda in his terminal care and attempts to get him a liver transplant – it was too late for the latter. It was an cloudy, cool and damp day in SF. The ceremony was held in the Eureka Community Center at 100 Collingwood, around the corner from the hub of the Castro District – 18th Street and Castro. Big time déjà vu as I walked the streets of the Castro since I got there a bit early (ceremony at 4:30 PM). I had flown in from DC in the AM and took the red-eye back to DC that night. The streets of the Castro were crowded with people bustling around. The usual crowd plus the fact that it was St. Patrick’s Day and the parade had just ended. I recall back in the mid-80s when I visited the Castro several times. It looked like the “walking dead” were in the street. So many cachectic people. Today, everyone looks healthy, but the typical protease inhibitor and other drug “facies” were evident with lose of facial fat pads.. You could tell that such a substantial proportion of the people were infected, but now, in contrast to the 80s, they were doing very well on drugs. Gave me a bittersweet feeling of how much we had accomplished over these 27.5 years. The ceremony went well – packed with people from the Castro who were so happy that I was there. I was the only government or health official there – a shame since he was such a great man and contributed so much. Fauci Eulogy for Martin Delaney Eulogy for Martin Delaney by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. Director National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health