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a s i c s c i e n t i f i cr e s e a r c h ,a n d t h e
g a t h e r i n go f k n o w l e d g ea b o u t a
disease,are the essentialingredie n t so f s u c c e s si n c o m b a t t i n go u r
p l a g u e s .U s i n gt h a t i n f o r m a t i o nt o i m p l e m e n t p u b l i c h e a l t h p o l i c i e sc a n l e a d t o
c o n t r o lo f t h e d i s e a s ep, o t e n t i a l l yi t se l i m i nation.
P u b l i c h e a l t h p r o f e s s i o n a lcsa n g u i d e
these efforts, but unless the people accept them, attempts at such control are
u n s u c c e s s f u l .O n e p o p u l a r w a y t o g e t
public acceptanceof an all-important
health messageis through a celebrity.
I n o u r d a Vo n e o f t h e m o s ts u c c e s s f u l o f
these was Arthur Ashe, f r.
Most of us rememberthat poster of
l i t t l em o r e t h a na d e c a d ea g o . N e x t t o M r .
A s h e ' sp i c t u r ew e r e t h e w o r d s :" A M i l l i o n
AmericansHave HeartAttacksEveryYear.
lWas One."
I t w a s M r . A s h e ' sc o n c e r n f o r p u b l i c
e d u c a t i o na b o u t h e a r t d i s e a s e a
, fterhis
own heart attack in July 1979, that
prompted him to pose not only for that
poster but also to spend time making
r a d i o a n n o u n c e m e n t sa n d f i l m i n g t e l e v i sion spots. He also served on the Advis o r y C o u n c i lo f t h e N a t i o n a lH e a r t ,L u n g ,
a n d B l o o d l n s t i t u t ea t t h e N a t i o n a lI n s t i t u t e so f H e a l t h ,a n d a s n a t i o n a lc a m p a i g n
c h a i r m a no f t h e A m e r i c a nH e a r tA s s o c i a tion.
T h e n , l a s tA p r i l , M r . A s h e m a d e w h a t
w a s f o r h i m a p a i n f u lp u b l i c a n n o u n c e ment. Knowing that press reports were
a b o u t t o a p p e a rh e d e c i d e dt o g o p u b l i c
a n d a n n o u n c et h a t h e h a d c o n t r a c t e dt h e
d r e a d e dp l a g u eo f o u r t i m e - A l D S .
Following his heart attack he had undergonetwo coronarybypassoperations,
.1983.
o n e i n 1 9 7 9 a n dt h e o t h e r i n
Duri n g t h e s e c o n do p e r a t i o nh e r e c e i v e dt w o
u n i t so f b l o o d . A t t h a t t i m e t h e r ew a s n o
t e s ta v a i l a b l ef o r d e t e c t i n gt h e A I D S v i r u s
a n t i b o d ya n d t h e b l o o d t h a t h e r e c e i v e d
w a s c o n t a m i n a t e d .H e w a s d i a g n o s e da s
h a v i n gA I D S i n 1 9 8 8 .
"l was not prepared to become a fam o u s A I D S p a t i e n t , "h e s a i d . S o , e x c e p t
f o r h i s i m m e d i a t ef a m i l y a n d a f e w c l o s e
f r i e n d sh
, e d e c i d e dn o t t o d i s c l o s et h a t h e
h a d t h e d i s e a s e .H e w a s w o r r i e d a b o u t
the effect the news might have on the
c a r e e ro f h i s w i f e , J e a n n eM o u t o u s s a m y A s h e , a p r o f e s s i o n apl h o t o g r a p h e r ,a n d
on his then two-year-olddaughter Camera.
"Mr. Ashechallenged the
busrnessco;mmunityto take
bolder sfepsin working to
shapepublic opinion about
fhe diseaseIAIDS] and to
deal with solutions to the
pandemic.'l
His concernwas not without foundation. Victimsof AIDS have lost friends,
j o b s , h o u s i n g ,a n d i n s u r a n c es i m p l y b e c a u s et h e y h a d t h e d i s e a s e .
T h i sd i d n ' t h a p p e nt o M r . A s h e ,h o w e v e r , p a r t l y b e c a u s eo f t h e h i g h r e g a r d
b o t h t h e w o r l d o f s p o r t sa n d t h e b u s i n e s s
community have for him. But the main
r e a s o ni s t h a t ,a s h e h a d d o n e r e p e a t e d l y
throughouthiscareer,Mr. Ashehad turned
a n e g a t i v es i t u a t i o ni n t o a n a d v a n t a g e .
W i t h i n a f e w m o n t h so f h i s a n n o u n c e m e n t h e f o r m e d a f o u n d a t i o nT
, heArthur
A s h e F o u n d a t i o nf o r t h e D e f e a to f A I D S ,
a n d o r g a n i z e da n e x h i b i t i o nt e n n i st o u r n a m e n ti n N e w Y o r k w i t h t o p t e n n i ss t a r s
t o b e n e f i t i t . H e r a i s e d9 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 . T h e
g o a l i s t o r a i s e$ 5 m i l l i o n b y t h e e n d o f
1993. He receivedbacking from indiv i d u a lp l a y e r s t, h e U S T e n n i sA s s o c i a t i o n
a n d t h e I n t e r n a t i o n aTl e n n i sF e d e r a t i o n .
M r . A s h e a l s oc h a l l e n g e dt h e b u s i n e s s
c o m m u n i t yt o t a k e b o l d e r s t e p si n w o r k ing to shape public opinion about the
ginia, who offered to take him on for a
couple of weeks in the summers and
e x p o s e dh i m t o e x p e r i e n c e dp l a y e r s .
D r . J o h n s o n ,a g r a d u a t eo f M e h a r r Y
, ad taken
M e d i c a l C o l l e g ei n N a s h v i l l e h
u p t e n n i st o s t a y i n s h a p e a n d h a d b e come a major figure in the American
T e n n i sA s s o c i a t i o nt,h e b l a c k e q u i v a l e n t
o f t h e U S L a w n T e n n i sA s s o c i a t i o n . H e
w i t h d e v e l o p i n gg o o d b l a c k
w a so b s e s s e d
j u n i o r t e n n i s p l a y e r s ,s a y s A s h e i n h i s
autobiographyOff the Court.
M r . A s h e s p e n t h i s s e n i o rh i g h s c h o o l
y e a r i n S t . L o u i sw h e r e h e s t a y e dw i t h a
g o o d f r i e n do f D r . J o h n s o n ' sM
, r. Richard
H u d l i n ,a t e n n i sb u f fw h o h a d a c o u r t i n h i s
b a c k y a r d . B y t h i st i m e y o u n g A s h e h a d
w o n a n u m b e ro f i m p o r t a n tr e g i o n a tl i t l e s ,
a m o n g t h e m t h e 1 9 5 9 M a r y l a n dJ u n i o r s
"That Mr. Ashemoved as
t i t l e .H e w a sa m e m b e r o ft h eJ u n i o rD a v i s
forth rightly i n pressing
C u p t e a m a n d w a s r a n k e da m o n g t h e t o p
j
u n i o r p l a y e r si n t h e c o u n t r y . T h e n i n
enlightened public
N o v e m b e r1 9 6 0 h e w o n h i sf i r s tn a t i o n a l
s ational
education about AIDS as he
t i t l e ,t h e U ST e n n i sA s s o c i a t i o n 'N
Indoors.
J
u
n
i
o
r
had done earlierabout
ThatChristmas,Mr. Ashewas offered a
t
e
n
n i s s c h o l a r s h i pa t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f
heart diseasecame as no
C a l i f o r n i ai n L o s A n g e l e s . H e a c c e p t e d
surpriseto those who knew
immediatelyH
. e s t u d i e db u s i n e s sa d m i n a n d g r a d u a t e di n 1 9 6 6 . A n d h e
i
s
t
r
a
t
i
o
n
him and remembered his
w e n t o n t o i n t e r n a t i o n af la m e a s a t e n n i s
p l a y e r ,w i n n i n gt h e D a v i sC u p i n 1 9 6 8 ,
road to fame."
1969 and 1970, not to mention the
W i m b l e d o nC h a m p i o n s h i iPn 1 9 7 5 .
" T e n n i s , "s a i dM r A s h e ," i s a m e t a p h o r
w e c o m e u p w i t h , s o m e b o d Y ' sn o t g o i n g
t o l i k ei t . A n d I t h i n kw e s h o u l dj u s ta c c e p t f o r l i f e . T h e r ea r e u p s a n d d o w n s ,l i k e t h e
that and move forward."
e b b a n d f l o w o f s e t si n a t e n n i s m a t c h .
T h a t M r . A s h e m o v e d a s f o r t h r i g h t l yi n Y o u l e a r nt o f o l l o w t h r o u g h t, o f i n i s hw h a t
p r e s s i n g e n l i g h t e n e d p u b l i c e d u c a t i o n y o u s t a r t . " T h e u l t i m a t ec o n n e c t i o n b e a b o u t A I D S a s h e h a d d o n e e a r l i e ra b o u t t w e e n t e n n i sa n d l i f e ,h e c o n t i n u e d ,i s i n
h e a r td i s e a s ec a m ea sn o s u r p r i s el o t h o s e t h ed o i n g ,n o t t h ew i n n i n g ." W i n n i n gi s n ' t
w h o k n e w h i m a n d r e m e m b e r e dh i s r o a d e v e r y t h i n g , "h e s a i d ." S u c c e s si s a j o u r . o t e v e r y o n ec a n
to fame.
n e y ,n o t a d e s t i n a t i o n N
Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond, b e N o . 1 . "
, hich
W h e n h e t a l k e dt o y o u n g s t e r sw
V i r g i n i a ,i n 1 9 4 3 . A s h o r t d i s t a n c ef r o m
h i sf a m i l y ' sh o u s ew a s R i c h m o n d ' sb l a c k s - h e d i d f r e q u e n t l yh, e t o l d t h e m t o s p e n d
o n l y p l a y g r o u n dw i t h f o u r t e n n i sc o u r t s . m o r e t i m e i n t h e l i b r a r ya n d l e s st i m e o n
O n t h o s ec o u r t sh e l e a r n e dt o p l a y . O n e t h e p l a y i n g f i e l d s . B e c a u s ef o r e v e r y
d a y h e w a s s p o t t e db y D r . R .W ' J o h n s o n , c h a m p i o na t h l e t et h e r ea r e9 9 9 w h o d o n ' t
, i r ' m a k ei t . " M a k e s u r ey o u d o n ' t w i n d u p o n
a g e n e r a lp r a c t i t i o n e ri n L y n c h b u r g V
d i s e a s ea n d t o d e a l w i t h s o l u t i o n st o t h e
pandemic. He was not afraid to tackle
thosewho took issueover such mattersas
d i s p e n s i n gc o n d o m so r c l e a n n e e d l e st o
drug abusers.
" O u r J u d e o - C h r i s t i am
n o r a l i t yt e l l s u s
t h a tt h e r ei s s o m e t h i n gw r o n g a b o u tt h i s , "
h e s a i d ." B u t i n t h e c o n t e x to f A I D S ,i s i t
r e a l l y ?W e m u s t t a k e s t e p st o p r e v e n ta s
m a n y f u t u r e i n f e c t i o n sa s p o s s i b l e .N e c t a r t so f A m e r i c ah o l d
e s s a r i l ya, s d i f f e r e n p
d i f f e r e n to p i n i o n s a b o u t t h e m o r a l i t yo f
t h e s e d e c i s i o n s ,w e s h o u l d n o t e x p e c t
s o m e u n i f o r m , m u l t i f a c e t e dm o r a l e d i c t
to cover every situation,or be acceptable
t o e v e r y o n e . N o m a t t e rw h a t s o l u t i o n s
s t r e e t c o r n e r s o r i n t h e u n e m p l o y m e n t t i o n e v e n m o r e k n o w l e d g e a b l ea n d s e n s i l i n e s , "h e w a r n e d .
tive about health care, HIV infections,
M r . A s h e r e t i r e df r o m c o m o e t i t i v et e n - m i n o r i t vc o n c e r n s .a n d t h e s t a t u so f o u r
'l
n i s i n 9 8 0 a f t e rh i s f i r s th e a r ta t t a c k . B u t b l o o d s u p p l y . "
he went on to make majorcontributions
t o t h e g a m ea n d ,b e c a u s eo f h i si n t e r e s itn
"As he had done repeatedly
r a c i a l r e l a t i o n s ,s i g n i f i c a n ct o n t r i b u t i o n s
to society as well.
throughout his career,Mr.
H e h e l p e d f o u n d t h e A s s o c i a t i o no f
Ashe turned a negative
T e n n i sP r o f e s s i o n a lasn, d h a ss e r v e da s i t s
P r e s i d e na
t nd on its Boardof Directors.
situation into an
H e p l a y e d a s i m i l a rr o l e i n f o r m i n g t h e
N a t i o n a Jl u n i o r T e n n i L
advantage,/'
s e a g u ea, p r o g r a m
d e s i g n e dt o i n v o l v e i n n e r c i t y y o u t h s i n
t e n n i s . H e w a s C h a i r m a no f t h e B l a c k
M r . A s h e a d m i t t e dt h a t h e h a d m a j o r
T e n n i sa n d S p o r t sF o u n d a t i o nT. h e m a g a , u t h e s a i d ," l l i v ew i t h i t .
h e a l t hp r o b l e m s b
zine Sportslllustratedhonored Mr. Ashe
'l
L i k e r a c i s m i n R i c h m o n d ,l i k e h e a r t a t a s i t s 9 9 2 S p o r t s m a no f t h e Y e a r .
t a c k s ,l i k e t h e w i n d a n d s u n , a s b e s t y o u
He alsomade his mark as a businesscan you try to make the most of these
m a n . H e w a s C h a i r m a no f t h e T e n n i s
o b s t a c l e sT. h e y ' r eh u r d l e sb, u t e a c hh u r d l e
Advisory Staff of Head Sports USA, a
y o u g e t o v e r m a k e sy o u s t r o n g e r .I f i r m l y
c o n s u l t a n tf o r t h e s p o r t sc l o t h i n gf i r m o f
b e l i e v et h a t ' s w h y I h a v e o v e r c o m e m y
L e C o q S p o r t i fa n d a b o a r d m e m b e r o f
m e d i c a l p r o b l e m s . B e c a u s ei n a v e r y
A e t n a L i f ea n d C a s u a l t yC o m p a n y .
p u b l i cw a y I h a d t o d e a l w i t h s o m a n y
B e s i d e s h i s a u t o b i o g r a p h y ,O f f t h e
others."
Court, and a tennis diary, Portraitin Mot i o n ,p e r h a p st h ew r i t i n gp r o j e c tc l o s e s t o
h i s h e a r tw a s t h e t h r e e - v o l u m eh i s t o r yo f Arthur Ashe, the 1993 Maxwell Finland
b l a c k a t h l e t e si n A m e r i c a c a l l e dA H a r d Award recipienl died on February 6,
.1988.
Road to Clory, publishedin
Partly 1993. He was 49 yearsold, After a couranarrativeand partly an exhaustiverefer- geous struggle, Iike l72,OOOAmericans
e n c e , i t h a s b e e n h a i l e da s t h e d e f i n i t i v e before him, he succumbed to AIDS, that
w o r k o n t h e s u b j e c t . T h e w o r k w a s terrible scourge that today plagues all
a d a p t e df o r t e l e v i s i o an n de a r n e da n E m m y mankind.
Mr. Ashe was a trustee of the National
Award.
l n a n n o u n c i n gM r . A s h e ' ss e l e c t i o nf o r Foundation for Infectious Diseases
t h e 1 9 9 3 M a x w e l l F i n l a n dA w a r d . t h e (NFID) for almost 10 years,and he supN a t i o n a l F o u n d a t i o nf o r I n f e c t i o u sD i s - ported what NFID was doing and stood
e a s e ss a i d t h a t t h e c h o i c e w a s b a s e do n for. In honor of his devotion to justice,
M r . A s h e ' s" d e e p c o n c e r nf o r t h e h u m a n i - healthcare and mankind and to his unt a r i a nt r e a t m e n to f a l l p e o p l e s ,e s p e c i a l l y selfish contributions in helping to edum i n o r i t i e sa, n d h i s l e a d e r s h i pp, u b l i c v i s - cateall Americans about AI DS,the Founi b i l i t ya n d s u p p o r to f o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g dation is establishing the "Arthur Ashe
o f A I D S a n d H I V i n f e c t i o n s .H i s t h o u g h t Postdoctoral Mi nority Traini ng Fellowf u l n e s s c, a r i n gq u a l i t i e sa n d c o m p a s s i o n ship in Retroviruses(AIDS) and Bloodc o n c e r n i n gt h e s e a n d o t h e r h e a l t h a n d Borne Diseasesr"tobe presentedto promw e l f a r e i s s u e s h a v e b e e n i n s o i r a t i o n a l ising young minority researchersin the
a n d h a v e h a d a p r o f o u n d i m p a c t o n t h e field of AIDS and retrovirus research.ln
d a i l y l i v e so f a l l A m e r i c a n s . W e b e l i e v e this way we carry on his work and celh i s o u t s o o k e ne f f o r t sh a v e m a d e t h e n a - ebrate the many gifts he Ieft us. f.j