World AIDS Day – Remembrance

My best friend died of AIDS October 15, 1987. David A. DeLong was 36. He was a noted member of the San Jose theatrical community and a prominent activist in local gay causes. I worked with him for almost five years at San Jose Repertory Company where we both held a number of administrative positions.
David grew up in Columbus, Ohio and moved to California in the early 80s. In San Jose he was involved in many gay community issues, helped start a gay newspaper, “Our Paper” and directed a critically acclaimed production of “Streamers”, a play about a gay soldier being harassed in an Army barracks during the Vietnam War.
I miss our lunches where we would drive around town in his Triumph TR8 convertible to distribute marketing materials about the theatre to all the gay owned business. I miss the double dates he and his partner and my then wife and I would go on. Together we would attend theatre, go out to dinner, and dance in gay clubs. We even went on a camping trip together. I miss our long talks about theatre, politics and our significant others.
David, or “D.A.D.”, loved his initial acronym. It fit him well. He was a kind, compassionate, loving man.

I also remember today, David Lemos, another wonderful and talented man I worked with at the theatre company. He was the co-founder and was the first artistic director of San Jose Repertory Company. He went on to write and direct “Remember My Name”, a theatre piece about the AIDS quilt for the NAMES Project. He died in 1995 at 38.