New York Times Remembers Jeff Schmalz in 'Dying Words' Tribute

On Thursday, January 14 at the New York Times building in Times Square, columnist Samuel J. Freedman and Kerry Donahue, director of the radio program at Columbia Journalism School, hosted a multimedia presentation on "Dying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeff Schmalz and How It Transformed the New York Times."

Schmalz was a rising star at The New York Times, who had carefully kept his identity as a gay man hidden from his superiors to protect his career. But everything changed on December 21, 1990 when he collapsed in the newsroom and was then diagnosed with full-blown AIDS.

Courageously, Schmalz chose to report on the disease that was killing him and countless others. "Dying Words" is based on original interviews with Anna Quindlen, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. and Adam Moss, among other leading journalists, and it draws on Schmalz's own interviews with such figures as Bill Clinton, Magic Johnson, Mary Fisher, Larry Kramer and Randy Shilts.

"It was his mission to show that even a New York Times editor can get AIDS, that people with AIDS weren't the scum of the earth," said Freedman. "He saw the world through the prism of AIDS, and felt obligated to write about what no other news editor in the world could cover in quite the same way."

This book, and a companion radio documentary available through PRX, preserve Schmalz's legacy and confirm his profound effect on American journalism. Freedman said that Schmalz was "concerned that no one would ever know what he had done, and sent Kerry and I on a quest to show the world who he was."

Schmalz was an ambitious young Columbia student when he penned a bold letter to the New York Times, telling them they should hire him. Surprisingly, they did. Even more surprisingly, Schmalz dropped out of Columbia to begin working there. He moved his way up from copy boy to copy editor, and quickly vaulted over the usual stepping stones to work for the Metro Editor.

Back then, there were no listings at all in the Times Style Guide to refer to LGBTs, not even 'homosexuals.' As Freedman noted, "There was a palpable air of resistance or hostility toward the gay rights movement. New York Times employees couldn't come out, because they felt it would end their career. Even those suspected of being gay were demoted."

To wit, after Schmalz helped a co-worker with a story on the gay community, he was bumped to covering local news in the Connecticut office. Meanwhile, in New York City, the new activist group ACT Up was quite rightly reviling the New York Times for the thinness of their HIV coverage, as they buried any stories they did write about HIV deep inside the paper.

"Jeff eventually did get called back from exile and began writing about politics, feuding with Mario Cuomo, who would call him at 3 a.m. to complain about pieces," said Freedman. "He even threatened to out Jeff to the New York Times."

Before long, the management of the New York Times changed. Schmalz became Bureau Chief of the Miami office, but by Christmas 1990, his vision was going, and he collapsed with a Grand Mal seizure.

"It was no accident he got sick when he did," said Freedman. "A few months later, he had full-blown AIDS, with only two T-cells left. With only AZT available then, this diagnoses meant a quick death sentence."

Against all odds, he bounced back, and Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. who took over the paper embraced Schmalz, with whom he had worked on the Metro desk. Schmalz began writing about the '92 primaries, but then began to write more about the GLBT community.

"Jeff was surprised at how much positive feedback he got," remembered Freedman. "He then did the AIDS beat, which hadn't existed before. Jeff made it a human story, showed people that you can't ghettoize this disease, that it was not just God's wrath to deviants."

Schmalz only wrote about 35 stories before he died of AIDS. But the impact they had was felt internationally.

"Jeff's stature here was so huge, he was such a respected consummate Times man who wrote about the humanity of those with AIDS, that he forever changed the climate here," said Freedman.

By his death in 1993, Schmalz had been covering HIV for a year, and outlived all expectations. His final story, a New York Times Magazine cover, was titled, "What Ever Happened to AIDS?" Friends help a private memorial at a midtown restaurant, on what was supposed to be Schmalz's birthday. Outside, ACT Up protested, pouring blood on the restaurant windows.

Donahue said that Schmalz felt unfairly censored by ACT Up and Larry Kramer, and singled out as an Uncle Tom, although he understood their anger. Ironically, Kramer later said at Schmalz's memorial at Dalton, "You say you loved Jeffrey, but you let him die."

At the time, no mainstream publications were covering HIV much. As Donahue noted, there was an 'ick' factor to HIV, that it was something 'those people' got from 'sex on the piers, or whatever they do.' The Times was far from alone in being reluctant to put resources toward HIV and give it visibility in their publication.

Twenty-two years later, HIV is a manageable disease, same-sex marriage is legal, and much of the stigma around being LGBT is gone. And although Schmalz did not survive HIV, his indefatigable spirit and insistence on reporting the truth about HIV and the LGBT community forever changed the climate at the New York Times.