In total, more than twice as many skaters, coaches and judges passed away from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses than in the 1961 Sabena Crash that claimed the lives of the entire U.S. Figure Skating Team.
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During the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021, I spent several months interviewing the surviving loved ones of many of those in the skating community who we lost. This research became an important part of the book and I am forever thankful to those who contributed.
They Skated Away is a further collection of short biographies, memories and photos celebrating the lives of many of the talented men who we lost far too soon.
The men whose names appear on this list all lost their lives to a virus that many didn't understand. While many of these members of the skating community and their families were open about their diagnoses, others chose to keep them a secret due to the stigma and implications it would have had on their careers and personal lives.
There are over a dozen members of the skating community whose names and biographies were omitted because I could not find ample evidence to support their inclusion.
More than one skater known to be HIV-positive who committed suicide was not included. A very prominent Russian skater whose cause of death was attributed to AIDS in the German press but obscured by Soviet officials also won't be found on this list.
Conversations with family and friends of those who are no longer with us, investigative research, and careful deliberation went into deciding who to include and not include in this list. The decision to honour these men's legacies in the sport comes from a place of love.
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Until the late 1980s and early 1990s, most major daily newspapers refused to print obituaries that listed AIDS as a cause of death. Many doctors were reluctant to discuss details with the press. Even when obituary policies changed, many young men's deaths were attributed to "a long illness", cancer or pneumonia. In her "Dear Abby" column, Abigail Van Buren surmised, "If the family of the deceased chooses to omit (or disguise) the cause of death, the family will have the last word. Literally."
Phrases like "died at home," paired with a suggestion for a donation to a hospice, in a thirtysomething-year-old's obituary provided strong clues as to what they had gone through. "AIDS, although more widely discussed and recognized," noted journalist Leah Rosenzweig, "was still very much viewed as an implacable and stigmatizing death sentence, something to hide from one's mother, something to erase from one's legacy." Partners of those who died were often referred to as "good friends" or expunged from obituaries altogether.
Privacy concerns, religious beliefs, family estrangements, and fear of harassment by homophobes all played a role in the decisions of survivors as to whether or not to publicize HIV/AIDS as their loved one's cause of death. Even today, some individuals continue to make efforts to whitewash the diagnosis of one prominent skater included in this project, many years after his death. It's all extremely sad.
For this reason, the sources for this list are unconventional, and unconventional is okay when you're sharing the stories of people who couldn't share their own because it was a different time.
SOURCES:
"And The Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic", Randy Shilts, 1987
"Dear Abby", Abigail Van Buren, Deseret News, April 3, 1991
"Cause of Death: Uncovering the hidden history of AIDS on the New York Times obituary page", Leah Rosenzweig, Slate, November 30, 2018
1983 - Phil Romayne passes away.
1984 - Douglas Norwick passes away.
1985 - Alastair Munro passes away.
1986 - Guy Nick, Brian Grant and Tom Steinruck pass away.
1987 - Dennis Coi, Greg Welch and Ian Knight pass away.
1988 - Gene Gant and Larry Rost pass away.
1988 - Calgary sportswriter Christie Blatchford is the first mainstream reporter to write about AIDS in the figure skating world.
1989 - Ondrej Nepela, André Denis, Tim Brown, Bobby Black, Jim Hulick, Ron Alexander, René Vancampen, Donald Bonacci, Tom Easton and Tony Panko pass away.
1989 - Skating For Life, the first AIDS benefit ice show, is held in New York City. A who's who of the sport participate.
1990 - Paul McGrath, Peter Pender, Tommy Miller, Rick Scarry, John Maddison, Todd Kaufman, Dale Copenhaver, Michael Fiore and Yusuke Suga pass away.
1990 - The second AIDS benefit ice show, Blades Against AIDS, is held in New York City.
1991 - Rob McCall and David Fee pass away.
1991 - "American Skating World" claims, "The greatest threat to skating lies not in any market or organizational development, but in an insidious disease that is affecting all of society... Magic Johnson revealed his retirement from basketball due to the HIV virus [and] word was received of the death of Robert McCall from complications of AIDS. He joins two other acknowledged top skaters who have died as a result of the disease, Ondrej Nepela... and Dennis Coi... but there have been many others. Many more victims are expected."
1991 - Halifax journalist Shane Ross pens a candid article about Rob McCall's illness and death.
1991 - The Canadian Figure Skating Association begins educating skaters aout HIV/AIDS.
1991 - The United States Figure Skating Assocation's Sports Medicine Committee published an educational article on AIDS in "Skating" magazine at the request of parents of members of the U.S. World Team.
1992 - Brian Pockar, Shaun McGill, Paul Toomey, Chris Kales, Louis Falco, Rubin Huron, Frank Tyler, Glenn Laframboise and Tod Bartholomew pass away.
1992 - Skate The Dream: A Tribute to Rob McCall is held in Toronto, raising thousands for The Toronto Hospital Foundation.
1992 - John Curry announces that he is living with AIDS. His decision to go public was fueled by a desire for others to understand the importance of safe sex. He was initially reluctant to do so, because he was afraid "people would ostracize him saying, 'Keep away from me, you leper' and throw bricks through his window.
1992 - New York journalist Filip Bondy's bombshell article on the impact of HIV/AIDS in the figure skating world was picked up by The New York Times, The Globe And Mail, The Chronicle Herald, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun and The Montreal GazetteThe New York Times, The Globe And Mail, The Chronicle Herald, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun and The Montreal Gazette.
1992 - Calgary reporter Michael Clarkson interviews 125 skaters, coaches, judges, officials and friends of family members of those living with HIV/AIDS. Clarkson's article is also syndicated and widely-read. Clarkson referenced 40 cases of members of the skating community affected. An Olympic Gold Medallist responded, "It's a joke. I think the guy the made it up. This guy is bogus."
1993 - Frank Nowosad, Barry Hagan, Patrick Dean, John Taylor Cabler, Bob Lubotina, Dean Bates, Ruark Roswell Smith, Val Valentine, Anthony Sabatino, Robert Phillips Jr., Tom Martens and Jack MacDonald pass away.
1993 - The first European AIDS-benefit ice show is held in Birmingham, England. Organized by Robin Cousins, the show raised much-needed funds for CRUSAID, The Terrence Higgins Trust and British AIDS charities.
1993 - Susan Reed pens a highly-read article on the impact of HIV/AIDS in the figure skating world for "People" magazine.
1993 - The U.S. Figure Skating Association's Sports Medicine hosts an AIDS education seminar at the U.S. Champonships.
1994 - John Curry, Bob McAvoy, Larry Holmes, Tony Winik, Daniel Sexton, Richard Svenso, John Davis and Ron LeFevre pass away.
1994 - The second Skate The Dream show is held is held in Halifax, raising funds for Casey House and the Rob McCall Centre for HIV Research through the Victoria General Hospital Foundation.
1995 - Kevin Parker, Ricky Inglesi, Douglas Berndt, Billy Lawe, Troy Sharp, Bill Goodwin, Bill Woehrle, Lars Dresler and Michael Blicharski pass away.
1995 - Linda Fratianne and Lisa-Marie Allen star in Ice Expressions, an AIDS fundraiser ice show in Las Vegas.
1996 - Christine Brennan's book "Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating" contains a chapter on AIDS in the figure skating world, which Brennan frames as "skating's tragic secret."
1996 - Eddie Briscoe, Garry Braid and Michael DeMott pass away.
1996 - Pride flags are displayed at the World Figure Skating Championships for the first time.
1998 - Ted Shuffle passes away.
1998 - Toller Cranston and Robert Wagenhoffer star in an AIDS fundraiser ice show called Ice Fantastic.
1999 - Robert Wagenhoffer passes away.
2000 - Ronnie Robertson and Tom Summitt pass away.
2000 - After losing his brother and two coaches to AIDS-related illnesses, U.S. Champion Rudy Galindo announces he is HIV-Positive. He told reporters, "If my story can help people, anyone at all, it is positive. I've always tried to help people, whether it be a gay man, or a Mexican-American, or now, as someone who is HIV-positive."
2002 - Muri Burbidge and Bob Knapp pass away.
2003 - Brian Wright passes away.
2011 - David Finley passes away.
2015 - Rolf Juario passes away.
2021 - Christian Hendricks passes away.
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The figure skating community showed up in record numbers to support several shows which raised much-needed funds for HIV/AIDS charities in the 80s and 90s. This incomplete list highlights some of the benefit shows that were held and those who participated.
SKATING FOR LIFE (November 6, 1989, New York City, NY)
Fundraiser for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation for AIDS), Project Open Hand, God's Love We Deliver, People with AIDS Coalition, Bailey House. Organizers: DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation for AIDS), SAVVY Management Public Relations and Special Events, Peggy Fleming, Dick Button, Patricia Buckley, Liza Minnelli, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Donna Karan, Robert C. Woolley, Bill Blass. Cast: John Curry, Robin Cousins, Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov, Scott Hamilton, Elizabeth Manley, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Caryn Kadavy, Denise Biellmann, JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley, Judy Blumberg
BLADES AGAINST AIDS (1990, New York City, NY)
Fundraiser for The American Foundation for AIDS Research, God's Love We Deliver. Organizer: Scott Salzman. Cast: Patricia Dodd, The Ice Theatre of New York
SKATE THE DREAM: A TRIBUTE TO ROB MCCALL (November 21, 1992, Toronto, ON)
Fundraiser for The Toronto Hospital Foundation. Organizers: Brian Orser, Tracy Wilson, Marie (McNeil) Bowness, Evelyn McCall. Cast: Brian Orser, Tracy Wilson, Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Robin Cousins, Katarina Witt, Kristi Yamaguchi, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin, Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, Toller Cranston, Kurt Browning, Rosalynn Sumners, Kitty and Peter Carruthers, Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin, Christine Hough and Doug Ladret, Lea Ann Miller and Bill Fauver, Rita MacNeil
SKATE FOR LIFE (May 15, 1993, Birmingham, England)
Fundraiser for CRUSAID, The Terrence Higgins Trust, Birmingham AIDS Charities. Organizer: Robin Cousins. Cast: Robin Cousins, Dorothy Hamill, Brian Orser, Scott Hamilton, Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov
SKATE THE DREAM FOR ROB MCCALL (October 27, 1994, Halifax, NS)
Fundraiser for Casey House, Rob McCall Centre for HIV Research/Victoria General Hospital Foundation. Organizers: Brian Orser, Tracy Wilson, Marie (McNeil) Bowness, Evelyn McCall. Cast: Brian Orser, Scott Hamilton, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin, Toller Cranston, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, Rosalynn Sumners, Jozef Sabovčík, Josée Chouinard, Christine Hough and Doug Ladret, Susie Wynne and Russ Witherby, Judy Blumberg and James Yorke, Michael Slipchuk, Stephanee Grosscup, Halifax Police Association Pipes & Drums, John Alphonse and Urban Renewal
ICE EXPRESSIONS (May 27-28, 1995, Las Vegas, NV)
Fundraiser for Reach OUT. Organizer: Ice Concepts Ltd. Cast: Linda Fratianne, Lisa-Marie Allen, Judy Blumberg and James Yorke, Bobby Beauchamp, Cindy Stuart, Lisa Cricks, Carole Fortini, Jamie Isley, Jennifer Ito, City of Angels Ice Theatre
ICE FANTASTIC (July 24-25, 1998, USA)
Organizer: Jon Johnson. Cast: Toller Cranston, Robert Wagenhoffer, Sylvain Beauregard, Bobby Beauchamp, Lisa M. Ware, John Mucko, Fred Haug, Claire Centabar, Kristine Carey
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"Consuming Compassion: AIDS, Figure Skating, and Canadian Identity", Samantha King, Queerly Canadian, Second Edition: An Introductory Reader in Sexuality Studies, edited by Scott Rayter and Laine Halpern Zisman
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A very special thank you to the following people and organizations, without whom this feature would never have been possible.
Lorna (Wighton) Aldridge Gosvener
American Contract Bridge League Archive
Archives And Special Collections, Salem State University
Tai Babilonia
David Barker
B.C. Gay and Lesbian Archives
Sandra Bezic
Jean-Pierre Boulais
Barbara Brown
Jeff Brown
Lorna Brown
Carleton University Alumni Association
Patti Cooke
Kitty DeLio LaForte
DIF Museum, Denmark
Ron Dutton
Lorna Dyer
Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society
Paul J. Easton
Diana Flynn
Mary Gaillard
Randy Gardner
Greensboro Public Library
Stephanee Grosscup
Jenny Hall
Doug Haw
David Hicks
Houston Arch, The Houston Area Rainbow Collective History
Monika Juario
Kansas City Public Library
LA County Library
Lambda Archives Of San Diego
Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Doug Mattis
Kathleen McGill
Mardi McKerrow
Debbie Might
Lea Ann Miller
Mark Motiff
Karen Newton Berthelot
Moira North
Oakland Public Library
Darlene (Gilbert) Parent
Mary Petrie McGillvray
Pikes Peak Library District
Todd Randall
Rush University Medical Center Archives
San Antonio Public Library
Schwules Museum
The 519 (Church Street Community Centre)
Tufts University Archives
United States Olympic Committee
Edward Vancampen
Ron Vincent
Vancouver Public Library
Walter Havighurst Special Collections and University Archives, Miami University Libraries
Laurie Welch
Marion Winik
Douglas Webster
Westchester County Historical Society
Heinz Wirz
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It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that AIDS does not = gay and vice versa. That said, acknowledging the impact of HIV/AIDS on the figure skating community is both important figure skating history and LGBTQ+ history. If you feel strongly that it should "just be about the skating", then perhaps it's time to give some serious thought to these two questions:
Am I member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Why is the concept of representation upsetting to me personally?
No, it should not "just be about the skating". Education and representation are important and these stories need to be told.