Mister Yummy

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Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
It's definitely not the death sentence that it was when it first started, but it is still a huge problem. People need to be aware and use protection while having sex. It is a very bad problem among black gay men, something like 1 in 3 have been diagnosed as having HIV.
And we can thank Reagan, The French and American scientists for this getting out of control.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
And we can thank Reagan, The French and American scientists for this getting out of control.
I just read that Hilary Clinton tweeted something this morning about how Nancy Reagan was so helpful in the AIDS crisis and then had to retract that statement. Um, yea, Nancy was helpful if you take into consideration that she turned her back on her 'good' friend Rock Hudson (and many other Hollywood friends that were gay) when he was diagnosed and became very ill and in a last ditch for medical treatment flew to France on a 747 that had only himself, the pilots, a couple of stewardesses and a couple of nurses on board. Then when Rock wanted to come back she refused to let him back in the country. Ronald Reagan wouldn't even discuss the crisis for a couple of years after it started, which by then was way to late to stop it. I'm sorry for sounding bitter, and I shouldn't talk ill of the dead, but this really makes me angry that she is being touted as this wonderful human being and things are being overlooked by the press. I honestly do hope that she is with 'her Ronnie' and that she has been forgiven by The Powers That Be.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
It's definitely not the death sentence that it was when it first started, but it is still a huge problem. People need to be aware and use protection while having sex. It is a very bad problem among black gay men, something like 1 in 3 have been diagnosed as having HIV.
I didn't know it was such an issue with that demographic. Sobering. And, yeah, it is still an issue. I can't imagine not having access to the drugs that keep HIV at bay, either through location or because of insurance/finance issues. Makes me sad to think of that.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
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Cambridge, Ohio
I didn't know it was such an issue with that demographic. Sobering. And, yeah, it is still an issue. I can't imagine not having access to the drugs that keep HIV at bay, either through location or because of insurance/finance issues. Makes me sad to think of that.
....the vast majority of the men we have on treatment for HIV at work, are African American....not all are gay though-some were infected through drug use....
 

agolosha

Member
Jun 25, 2007
13
30
Mister Yummy seemed like a happier version of "It Follows". Which is so odd, because the later is what you would think Kings story would be.
 
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Mr Nobody

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2008
3,306
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Walsall, England
Just read this story. Not much to say but 'wow'. It's the quiet ones that have the most power.

What I remember most about AIDS in the 80s - only being a kid - is the posters and ads the govt had put out over here. Nothing but a dark grey tombstone with AIDS spelled out against a backdrop of a threatening, cloud-dark sky. There was some other text (or a voiceover on the ads), but whatever that was about has faded from memory now (maybe something about using condoms or abstaining altogether?). Then there were the rumours. I think we twigged that anyone could get it, despite the schoolyard 'joke' that AIDS stood for "Ar$e Injected Death Sentence" - laughing in the face of fear - but the big lies were that you could get it from toilet seats and even from kissing (assuming no cuts or open sores, etc, which were obviously also a risk).
But even here it was framed as a case of 'live right and you're safe'. In other words, don't be gay and don't inject drugs - which, though homosexuality wasn't a crime in the UK by then, still managed to make the link between being gay and an illegal activity.
Most of what I know about the effects over here came via an old workmate and friend of mine, who was (and presumably still is) gay and is a few years older than I am. He was already out in the world in the period when it hit here and had memories of friends and acquaintances who had contracted AIDS and died. We only really got onto the topic once, and I forget how, but the stories he shared, of what happened to people, of the general sense of fear and concern, were horrific - and those, he said, were some of the ones he felt able to talk about. Even then, he capped it all off by saying something like 'As bad as it was here, it was almost nothing compared to how it was in the States'.

This story also reminded me of a myth I came across once, how Death comes as a beautiful young woman carrying a lamp. She'll lean over the intended and smile, then give them a chaste little kiss. And with the kiss, that person is gone.
I can't remember which set of mythology that comes from or what the lady with the lamp was called, and searches for 'lady with the lamp' crossed with 'Death' come up with Florence Nightingale (which is kinda/sorta amusing).
But...yeah, this one was a goody (and SK was dead right to ignore the naysaying friend).
 
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GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
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Cambridge, Ohio
Just read this story. Not much to say but 'wow'. It's the quiet ones that have the most power.

What I remember most about AIDS in the 80s - only being a kid - is the posters and ads the govt had put out over here. Nothing but a dark grey tombstone with AIDS spelled out against a backdrop of a threatening, cloud-dark sky. There was some other text (or a voiceover on the ads), but whatever that was about has faded from memory now (maybe something about using condoms or abstaining altogether?). Then there were the rumours. I think we twigged that anyone could get it, despite the schoolyard 'joke' that AIDS stood for "Ar$e Injected Death Sentence" - laughing in the face of fear - but the big lies were that you could get it from toilet seats and even from kissing (assuming no cuts or open sores, etc, which were obviously also a risk).
But even here it was framed as a case of 'live right and you're safe'. In other words, don't be gay and don't inject drugs - which, though homosexuality wasn't a crime in the UK by then, still managed to make the link between being gay and an illegal activity.
Most of what I know about the effects over here came via an old workmate and friend of mine, who was (and presumably still is) gay and is a few years older than I am. He was already out in the world in the period when it hit here and had memories of friends and acquaintances who had contracted AIDS and died. We only really got onto the topic once, and I forget how, but the stories he shared, of what happened to people, of the general sense of fear and concern, were horrific - and those, he said, were some of the ones he felt able to talk about. Even then, he capped it all off by saying something like 'As bad as it was here, it was almost nothing compared to how it was in the States'.

This story also reminded me of a myth I came across once, how Death comes as a beautiful young woman carrying a lamp. She'll lean over the intended and smile, then give them a chaste little kiss. And with the kiss, that person is gone.
I can't remember which set of mythology that comes from or what the lady with the lamp was called, and searches for 'lady with the lamp' crossed with 'Death' come up with Florence Nightingale (which is kinda/sorta amusing).
But...yeah, this one was a goody (and SK was dead right to ignore the naysaying friend).
....I guess it's not Lady Death you're thinking of.....

1589329-1.jpg
 
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lee cronbach

New Member
Feb 2, 2017
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Just finished "Mister Yummy" in BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS. As a gay man, I'm always happy to see SK include positive LGBT representation in his works, rather than simply as objects of scorn or ridicule or victimization from other characters. How Ollie represents himself and is observed by the other characters is such a far cry from the casual homophobia of the cops interrogating Don Hagarty in IT, or even the asexual nature of Bill McGovern in INSOMNIA. I love watching how SK's fiction reflects the changing trends in the real world and his own personal growth as a writer and a storyteller.
Preview
I read the intro to Mr. Yummy where a friend implied a straight guy couldn't create a gay character. You sure proved him wrong: I am gay, was a hot young guy in the 60s and 70s, survived the AIDS decades, now in a partnership that started as hot sex in 1987, now is an old age partership: Stephen you proved here that imagination rules by creating spot on gay characters and attitudes that cover my whole life experience: everything from the Yummy Boy up to old age fears resonate with my life. As far as empathy goes, the whole story could have been written by Edmund White - cheers for you and the power of imagination. Its all about how good a writer you are, and how strong is your power of imagination. Lots of woman writers create strong male characters (J C Oates, for instance) and male writers do the same for women (T.C. Boyle). When a writer fails (Styron trying to be black with Nat Turner), its just that they are a weak writer period, or have a block about that type of person. Imagination rules! Good work, Steve!
 
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GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
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Cambridge, Ohio
Preview
I read the intro to Mr. Yummy where a friend implied a straight guy couldn't create a gay character. You sure proved him wrong: I am gay, was a hot young guy in the 60s and 70s, survived the AIDS decades, now in a partnership that started as hot sex in 1987, now is an old age partership: Stephen you proved here that imagination rules by creating spot on gay characters and attitudes that cover my whole life experience: everything from the Yummy Boy up to old age fears resonate with my life. As far as empathy goes, the whole story could have been written by Edmund White - cheers for you and the power of imagination. Its all about how good a writer you are, and how strong is your power of imagination. Lots of woman writers create strong male characters (J C Oates, for instance) and male writers do the same for women (T.C. Boyle). When a writer fails (Styron trying to be black with Nat Turner), its just that they are a weak writer period, or have a block about that type of person. Imagination rules! Good work, Steve!
....glad to have you join us Lee!...
 
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Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Preview
I read the intro to Mr. Yummy where a friend implied a straight guy couldn't create a gay character. You sure proved him wrong: I am gay, was a hot young guy in the 60s and 70s, survived the AIDS decades, now in a partnership that started as hot sex in 1987, now is an old age partership: Stephen you proved here that imagination rules by creating spot on gay characters and attitudes that cover my whole life experience: everything from the Yummy Boy up to old age fears resonate with my life. As far as empathy goes, the whole story could have been written by Edmund White - cheers for you and the power of imagination. Its all about how good a writer you are, and how strong is your power of imagination. Lots of woman writers create strong male characters (J C Oates, for instance) and male writers do the same for women (T.C. Boyle). When a writer fails (Styron trying to be black with Nat Turner), its just that they are a weak writer period, or have a block about that type of person. Imagination rules! Good work, Steve!
Welcome to the SKMB Lee

11-22-63 Welcome.JPG
 
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