Not Ready To Die Of AIDS

In the late summer of 1985, Paul Cronan, a young gay worker for the New England Telephone Co. was diagnosed as having AIDS. This is his story of how he dealt with the disease in the light of family, friends, and his job. After bringing a 1.1 million dollar lawsuit against the telephone company, Paul's case reached national attention. Prior to his diagnosis, Paul was ridden with drug and alcohol problems, the inability to form goals or make emotional commitments, and a general sense of indirection in his life. As he says: "In some ways, being diagnosed with AIDS is the best thing that ever happened to me." And, therein lies the problem with this documentary. On the one hand, we feel sympathy for Paul, as one human being to another. On the other, we cannot help but recognize that he has become part and parcel of a media circus; a farce, which reaches its highest expression when Paul is invited to speak to a political group at Harvard University. Still, this is an emotional film which is likely to generate divided opinions: some will appreciate Paul's sharing his way of facing death; others will feel that death is a private, personal experience for family and friends, not a nation of gawkers. Appropriate for high school and larger public libraries. (See CHERNOBYL for availability).