I lost relatives to AIDS, a couple of my closest cousins. I lost friends to AIDS, high-school friends who never even made it to their 21st birthdays in the '80s. When it's that close to you, you can't really deny it, and you can't run from it.
An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary.
| Eden Ahbez, Musician (1908) |
| Claudia Cardinale, Actress (1938) |
| Bliss Carman, Poet (1861) |
| Joe Davis, Celebrity (1901) |
| Dave Edmunds, Musician (1944) |
| Leonhard Euler, Mathematician (1707) |
| Luke Evans, Actor (1979) |
| Eva Figes, (1932) |
| Jay Garner, Soldier (1938) |
| Henry James, Writer (1843) |
| Simon Dach, Poet (1659) |
| William Empson, Poet (1984) |
| Oliver Evans, Inventor (1819) |
| Greta Garbo, Actress (1990) |
| Jean Genet, Dramatist (1986) |
| Abraham Lincoln, President (1865) |

