Windy City Times: What is your personal connection to AIDS? Have you been an activist in the past?

Andrew Skerritt: No, I've never been an activist, but I've been a reporter at a small newspaper, where I felt very close to the people I wrote about. My connection was simply as a reporter. Someone who was assigned ( by fate ) to cover a topic that really matters but one that few other reporters cared about. Throughout my 20-year career in journalism, I was always drawn to stories about hurting people. The story of AIDS in the South is the ultimate story of hurting people.

WCT: How long did it take you to research and write the book?

AS: It took about five years. From 2005 to 2008, while I was a newspaper columnist, I worked on it sporadically. Once I began teaching at Florida A&M University in the fall of 2008, this project became my primary focus outside the classroom. The last 18 months leading up to the October 2010 deadline were the most intense of my life.

WCT: Why is now the time for your book?

AS: The 30th anniversary [ of the first diagnosed cases of what became known as AIDS ] is coincidental, but we are at a time when we hear stories about AIDS being treated as just another chronic illness like diabetes and high blood pressure. Like those two illnesses, HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects people of color, especially Black men and Black women. Unfortunately, diabetes and high blood pressure don't carry the stigma and shame of HIV/AIDS. In the South, the stigma is as deadly as the illness itself. Ashamed to Die is a reminder that the fight against HIV and AIDS won't be won in the medical lab or doctor's office, but in the neighborhoods, homes and churches of small town America.

WCT: What do you hope to achieve with this book?

AS: To restart the conversation about AIDS in a largely ignored part of the country. After 30 years of hearing about AIDS, Americans have moved on. This book tries to tell the story of how one community responds to AIDS. Other small communities can use this as a playbook to respond, not just to AIDS, but to other local issues.

WCT: Explain the title, what does it mean to you?

AS: The theme of death and shame runs through the narrative. Often the pain of the shame of AIDS was stronger than the fear of death. Anything was preferable to "dying of AIDS."

WCT: What is your personal involvement or inspiration in writing about Clover, South Carolina?

AS: I must confess that this story found me. From the first time I heard Patricia Ann Starr talk about her sister and neighborhood being afflicted by HIV/AIDS, I knew that I had to write about this place. In 2000 it was a newspaper column; 11 years later it's a book.

WCT: How long have you known the Pegram family?

AS: I met Patricia Ann Starr in 2000 and soon afterward I met her sister Carolyn and the rest of her family. Over the past decade I have visited their house in Clover enough times to feel like an old family friend. Whenever I saw the old family pictures, I asked questions. By the time I began to write the book, I felt as if I even knew Annie Mae Pegram, the matriarch.

I interviewed Carolyn a few times while she was alive. One regret I had was that I couldn't find that old yellow legal notepad with my full-length interview with her. I spent time in her apartment listening to her talk about her hopes and dreams. That first story we used a pseudonym because, although she spoke in public about having AIDS, she didn't want to go totally public for fear of hurting her son.

WCT: There are many similarities between your book and And the Band Played On [ by Randy Shilts ] . Do you view this as a parallel or a more specific continuation?

AS: Thanks, I consider that a compliment. And the Band Played On is the definitive book about AIDS in America. However, I see this book more as a continuation of the AIDS narrative. There are so many untold stories. I also wanted to put HIV/AIDS in the historic context vis-a-vis the South, where the past informs the present and the future.

WCT: Structure seems to be a very effective tool used in this book as you cover so much information in a cohesive narrative form, how did you decide to structure this book?

AS: The challenge was to find a narrative that made sense when there were so many different chronologies. Times and lives often overlapped. So I wrote each chapter independently and out of sequence. The common theme was to put each character in his or her historical context. Once I was through, then I had to retrace my steps and see how the chapters fit. Based on readers' reaction, this approach seemed to work.

WCT: Many elements of this book are very theatrical, would you ever consider writing this as a screenplay or optioning the rights?

AS: As a matter of fact, the head of our university theater department suggested we consider bringing this story to the stage. That would be a fun project.