Coming of Age With Grit and Grace Special Presentation by Mark S. King

Senior Solutions and Bellows Falls Pride jointly sponsor a special presentation in celebration of Pride Month on at 7.30pm on June 20 at the Bellows Falls Opera House.

Mark S. King, an internationally acclaimed author of the book “My Fabulous Disease”, will speak about sexual politics, the twin epidemics of addiction and AIDS, and how he has navigated sex, love, and family as a gay man living with HIV for nearly forty years. Mark has been writing personal reflections on gay life, sex, addiction and his family since shortly after testing HIV positive in 1985, only weeks after the test became publicly available. “I wanted to put something down on paper while I could,” King explains, “something that said we were here, and this is how it felt. No one is more surprised than I am that I’m still writing it down.” The result has been nearly four decades of moving, sometimes hilarious accounts of what it was like for a young gay man to make it out of the 1980s alive – and what came next.

Those who were in their twenties in the 1980s when the AIDS crisis began are now in their 60s. 53% of Americans Living with HIV are now over 50. This presents a new demographic challenge for agencies serving seniors and for medical and health professionals.

We have little data or research on the interaction between HIV medicines and other medicines frequently used by seniors. In addition, seniors living with HIV are at serious risk of social isolation due to having lost friends to the disease, a personal reluctance to share their stories freely due to stigma, and the statistical likelihood of not having children or extended family care networks.

For further info and to reserve a seat, please contact:

Thom Simmons
Nutrition & Wellness Director
Phone: (802) 755 7295
tsimmons@seniorsolutionsvt.org

HelpLine (866) 673-8376 or (802) 885-2669