Conference back40::soapbox

 Haven't read it, have no intention of reading it.




 Jim

    Ditto.

    Its a bio.  It discusses his life as an Olympic competitor, who he is,
    how he got there.  Its getting a lot of press because he reveals that
    he has been HIV+ for over 6 years, and continued competing.  I haven't
    read it, but I've read reviews.
    
    DougO

    
    
    Is it a techno-thriller???
    
    If not, I probably won't read it...
    

    
    
    So did he reveal that he was HIV+ to sell his book?

    .5
    
    Good question Mike.  On the other hand, since many folks in the 
    US of A tend to be more than a tad homophobic, I have to wonder
    what sort of outcry there would have been surrounding an openly
    gay man (now HIV+) competing as a member of the U.S. Olympic team.
    Somehow, IMO the fact that he is one of the greatest divers in 
    the world would have gotten lost in the tempest.
    
    

    > So did he reveal that he was HIV+ to sell his book?
    
    Its a bio.  He's spent more than six years dealing with being HIV+.
    That sort of impact on a life, and how one deals with such things, are
    quite legitimate grounds for a bio.  He wrote it into the book, early
    readers asked him about it, he said, yes, its true, that's why I wrote
    it in there, that's what made the news.  What a crass question you ask.
    
    DougO

    
    
    So now it's crass.  I don't know, it seem legit to me.  No, it's not
    PC, but it's not crass either.
    
    
    Mike 

    Well, think about living with HIV for 6 years, then think about the
    purpose of a biography, and see if you can figure out why I think its
    a crass question.  Asking if he wrote about very personal details of
    his life, details that will probably kill him, "to help sell his book".
    
    Hey, if you don't see it, I'm not gonna pound it any harder.
    
    DougO

    
      Yep, crass it is.  Of course, pulp bio's constitute a crass
     business.  I never buy any autobiographies, nor any bio's of
     people who haven't died yet, for just this reason.  
    
      Face it, this ain't great literature.  Neither is it for anybody
     from Chuck Yeager to sports guys, actors/actresses, politicos, etc.
    
      This "form" barely existed at all thirty years ago.
    
      bb

| <<< Note 367.5 by GRANPA::MWANNEMACHER "NRA member in good standing" >>>

| So did he reveal that he was HIV+ to sell his book?

	Mike, it is a bio. It will have all aspects of his life in it. That is
one of many things he talks about in the book.


Glen

    
    
    Didn't the announcement come out right before the book came out?  It
    just seemed very coincidental to me.
    
    
    Mike

If it's in the book anyway, what difference does it make if he reveals it
just before the book comes out?

 re .13



 
It gave all the talk show hosts enough time to get him booked on their shows.





Jim

    
    So... how about another crass question...
    
    Did he pork anybody in the last 6 years and not tell them??
    

| <<< Note 367.15 by SOLVIT::KRAWIECKI >>>


| Did he pork anybody in the last 6 years and not tell them??

	No, he was too busy being in an abusive relationship.

 re .15



 Doesn't matter...He's a courageous hero now.





Jim

| <<< Note 367.17 by CSLALL::HENDERSON "Friend will you be ready?" >>>


| Doesn't matter...He's a courageous hero now.


	Gee Jim, that just irks you, doesn't it...

I agree with DECLNE::REESE. The doctor that treated him at the very least should
have been told of his condition before-hand.

Makes him no better than the tobacco companies.

Any doctor who doesn't assume that all his patients are HIV+ is a fool.

    I tend to agree with Jim, I don't believe a person who carelessly takes
    other peoples life in his own hands as a courageous hero. Mr. Louganis
    while making a dive smacks his head, bleeds all over the place, knowing
    full well he had aids and doesn't tell any of the other competitors or
    anyone who may have come in contact with his blood. That's not what i
    call a hero.

>| Doesn't matter...He's a courageous hero now.


>	Gee Jim, that just irks you, doesn't it...



> What irks me is the warped view of heroism we have today.




 Jim

    > Mr. Louganis while making a dive smacks his head, bleeds all over the
    > place, knowing full well he had aids and doesn't tell any of the other
    > competitors or anyone who may have come in contact with his blood. 
    
    A nit- he didn't have aids.  He's HIV+.
    
    There's a difference.
    
    DougO

    Louganis' coach knew he was HIV+, the doctor did not.  At lot of
    his peers suspected he was gay, no one knew for certain until last
    year when Louganis competed in competition dedicated to gays.  Greg
    said no one on the American team ever said anything to him about
    being gay, but he said it was quite noticeable when he always wound
    up with a single room instead of doubling as most members of the
    team are expected to do.
    
    Personally I wish Louganis had told his fellow teammates who par-
    ticipated that year; my guess is they would have supported him 
    because he was acknowledged as one of the world's best.  On the
    other hand, considering the outrage aimed at gays in the military,
    I'm sure someone would have mounted a campaign to prevent him from
    representing the US.
    
    Louganis is 1/2 Samoan and 1/2 Scandanavian; he was adopted by the
    Louganis family.  He is very close to his adoptive mother, but had
    a very strained relationship with his abusive, alcoholic father.
    He attempted suicide several times as a teenager; diving became his
    salvation.
    
    Louganis and his adoptive father reconciled before the father died.
    Greg took him into his home and nursed him through his final bout
    with cancer.
    
    Yes, I admire Louganis as a superior athlete who just happens to
    be gay.  Maybe someone will eventually match the records he's set,
    but I don't think that will happen for a long, long time.

       <<< Note 367.23 by SX4GTO::OLSON "Doug Olson, ISVETS Palo Alto" >>>

>    A nit- he didn't have aids.  He's HIV+.
>    
>    There's a difference.
    
    	Not to a person who risks exposure to his infection, it doesn't...

    	As for the risk to the other athletes at the olympics when he
    	hit his head, that risk was minimal if any.
    
    	He didn't bleed profusely right away.  Film clips of the incident
    	show no blood in the water.  (The relatively cool water constricted	
    	the blood vessels in the scalp, greatly reducing the blood flow.)
    	What little blood there was was greatly dissipated in the water, and 
    	that water was chlorinated.  Chlorine is a standard method for HIV 
    	sterilization.
    
    	The risk to the doctor was another matter.  It is surprising that
    	the doctor did not use common, standard HIV procedures (like
    	rubber gloves.)

    Greg Louganis found out he was HIV+ just days before he left for the
    Olympics.  He now, however, has been diagnosed with AIDS.  I welcome
    anyone that is _willing to be honest_ to write about their experience
    with AIDS if it will help educate those who still refuse to admit that
    they are at risk.
    
    This disease isn't going anywhere because many people continue to live
    their lives as if they are immortal.     

    So he has AIDS and is writing a bio. What makes this heroic? Tragic?
    Yes. Heroic? No. Wonder if those he might have infected consider him
    heroic. Similar to the Magic Johnson "heroics", one should pause and
    wonder what is heroic about possibly infecting others with a disease
    that will kill them. You want inspiration from someone who contracted
    AIDS check out Arthur Ashe's autobiography. Talk about tragic - a 
    contraction through tainted blood during an operation. Quite the 
    person. The chapter devoted to his daughter Camera is intensely
    emotional. 

    Where did anyone in this string say Louganis was a hero?  Whether
    we like it or not kids look up to these athletes.  If Magic Johnson
    or Louganis get through to even a few kids, then they have indeed
    done something commendable; COMMENDABLE, not heroic.
    
    They shouldn't be criticized for stepping forward.  I wonder how many
    of you would want to put your personal lives under the scrutiny these
    two men did?
    
    

>>    Where did anyone in this string say Louganis was a hero?

    it started with .17.

    
    

    He did it for the $$$ if you ask me. Nothing like going out living the
    high horse, eh?  I think it was real strange that his book came out the
    same week he was on VEERY talk show in the nation.

    >I think it was real strange that his book came out the
    >same week he was on VEERY talk show in the nation.
    
     Duh.

    I see.  So you find it really strange for authors to be out on the talk
    show circuit just as their books hit the stores.
    
    What, pray tell, would you consider normal?

	Chelsea, I think the only way some would ever justify it is if they
gave all the money from whatever book they wrote to some charity. While I do
believe that having the money roll in is good, and probably "A" factor in the
book being written, I don't think it was "THE" factor.


Glen

    Re: .34
    
    Excuse me?  What "it" supposedly needs justifying here?

	Chelsea, the "it" is referring to him writing the book for money. The
talk shows were planned around the release.


Glen

    Why does anyone have to justify writing a book for money?  (Okay, I
    could see Fergie would have had to justify writing a book for money
    while she was still a "royal" but that's hardly a common case.)

	Chelsea, he doesn't. Some will think that he wrote the book for money,
and that the talk shows were done just to promote the money aspect. And, like I
said, while the latter is part of it, getting his story told was important to
him. According to his own words, it's a form of therapy. 


Glen

    McNamara/Loughainis conspiracy?

    
     I understand Greg is the illegitimate son of McNamara and a North
    Vietnamese call girl...

    I'd buy Louganis' book before I'd buy McNamara's!
    

    
    Greg Louganis has taken up stage acting.  He is scheduled to 
    appear in a one-man, off-broadway play in the near future.
    

    
    
    That knock on his head went to his head....
    

	What is a sun devil?

    >> Greg Louganis has taken up stage acting.  He is scheduled to 
    >> appear in a one-man, off-broadway play in the near future.
    
    Off-Broadway, eh?  Well, I hope his play doesn't get booked
    into some dive.
    
    Chris

    Arizona State University Sun Devils

	Thanks fer the info Mike!

    What?!  You're supposed to say "Great Note, Mike!"

 Great note Mike...thanks for posting that!

    Jim, I appreciate the effort, but it just isn't the same from you.