LeRoy Whitfield, a pioneering young AIDS journalist who lived with the virus for 15 years, died from AIDS-related illnesses on Sunday, Oct. 9. He was 36 years old.

Whitfield had for years been among the most recognized journalistic faces of the epidemic. He wrote for publications ranging from Vibe magazine to the Institute's suite of publications about the epidemic as it impacts African Americans. He had been a columnist and senior editor at POZ magazine, and at the time of his death wrote a monthly column, called "Native Tongue," about living with the virus for HIV Plus magazine.

The Associated Press, in its obituary for Whitfield, described his writing as having "linked AIDS among blacks with public housing, poverty and violence, which he said contributed to the rise of HIV in the black community." His Native Tongues column was among HIV Plus magazine's most popular features, editor Michael Edwards said in the New York Times' obituary for Whitfield.

Whitfield's final column -- commenting further on his fateful decision not to take antiretroviral medicines -- appeared in HIV Plus just days after his death.

Until 2003, Whitfield had been among those commonly called "long-term non-progressors," or someone who has been positive for many years without the virus advancing in his body. During that time, he wrote and spoke regularly about the oft-overlooked nuances of AIDS treatment. He was among a minority of voices who questioned whether doctors and AIDS service providers pushed people to start taking the demanding meds too quickly, disregarding their legitmate concerns about the difficulties of side effects and the emotional weight of the decision.

When Whitfield developed an AIDS diagnosis, he faced those choices himself. By his own reckoning, he never found a compelling answer. With his t-cells spent and his viral load climbing, he succumbed to a series of opportunistic infections before he resolved the matter.

At the time of his death, Whitfield was a finalist for a National Association of Black Journalists' magazine writing award, for a February 2004 article on the challenges that people living longer with HIV present for the AIDS care safety net, which he co-authored with BlackAIDS.org editor Kai Wright.

His family held memorial services in his hometown of Chicago, Ill. on Saturday, Oct. 15. A memorial in New York City, where Whitfield lived and worked, is planned for this Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. The service will be held in Harlem, at a venue that will be announced later this week.

Memorial statements from Institute director Phill Wilson and author/activist Keith Boykin are on the following page.