05.21.2016 - By In Deep Radio Productions
Show Summary: Angie sits down with Samuel Freedman and Kerry Donahue whose incredible audio documentary and accompanying book Dying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeff Schmalz tells Schmalz's story on how he reported about AIDS while dying of the disease, and his impact and legacy on journalism. Jeff Schmalz was a journalistic prodigy. He was hired by The New York Times while still a college student, and he was essentially running its metropolitan coverage by his mid-20s. From his crisply pressed trousers and shirts to his unerring sense of how to structure a feature story, he was a consummate Timesman. People in the newsroom speculated that someday he could be “on the masthead” – the list of the top editors on the world’s most important newspaper. All the while, though, Jeff was struggling with his identity as a gay man.