Jeffrey Schmalz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 6, 1953 |
| Died | November 6, 1993 (aged 39) |
| Cause of death | AIDS |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | journalist |
| Years active | 1970s–1993 |
| Known for | Reporting on the AIDS crisis |
Jeffrey Schmalz (/ʃmɑːlts/; December 6, 1953 – November 6, 1993) was an American journalist who spent his entire career of more than 20 years with The New York Times. He is best known for his groundbreaking reporting on the emerging HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s and its impact on the LGBT community at that time.[1]
Schmalz himself was a gay man who paved the way for other gay reporters at the Times in an era when homosexuality was more heavily stigmatized in the newsroom[2] and the country as a whole. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1990 and died of AIDS-related complications on November 6, 1993, at the age of 39. He had booked a dinner at a restaurant in lower Manhattan for his 40th birthday party. Instead, the party became a memorial gathering held on December 6, 1993.
Schmalz's reporting on AIDS includes in-depth profiles of well-known people with HIV/AIDS like Mary Fisher,[3] Magic Johnson,[4] and Larry Kramer. His work is recounted in the December 2015 book and radio documentary "Dying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeff Schmalz and How It Transformed The New York Times", by Samuel G. Freedman.
- ^ Meislin, Richard (7 November 1993). "Jeffrey Schmalz, 39, Times Writer On Politics and Then AIDS, Dies". The New York Times.
- ^ Signorile, Michelangelo. "Out at The New York Times: Gays, Lesbians, AIDS and Homophobia Inside America's Paper of Record". Huffington Post.
- ^ Schmalz, Jeffrey (16 August 1992). "Republicans Face an AIDS Test". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ Schmalz, Jeffrey (19 November 1992). "On the Book-Signing Circuit with Magic Johnson; Call Him Earvin: 'I Can't Be Magic'". The New York Times.