AIDS in the South

ASHAMED TO DIE: Silence, Denial, and the AIDS Epidemic in the South. By Andrew J. Skerritt. Lawrence Hill Books. 306 pages. $24.95.

Everybody these days thinks AIDS largely has been contained to Africa, but journalist Andrew Skerritt shows how this viral killer continues to devastate black communities across much of the Deep South.

In his powerful and beautifully written narrative "Ashamed to Die," Skerritt examines the South Carolina town of Clover, a former textile community in the shadow of wealthy Charlotte that the author paints as the disease's new ground zero.

Skerritt shows how many Clover residents, who grew up with the promise of former President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, have fallen victim to a disease that has thrived in a culture of denial, shame and silence rampant in the black commu-nity.

A former columnist with The Herald in Rock Hill, and later with the St. Petersburg Times, Skerritt is an excellent journalist and his skill clearly shows. His book is a tapestry of unflinching profiles that chart the paths of self- destruction.

Skerritt profiles not only individuals suffering from the disease, but the doctors, social workers and caregivers who have worked to fight AIDS and comfort the afflicted, chronicling the history of the disease in the state.

One person he profiles of local interest is Dr. Robert Ball of Charleston, the first in the state to diagnose a patient with AIDS. Ball's mission to help AIDS patients at a time of societal ignorance and fear would ultimately cost him his practice, his home and even his marriage.

Skerritt's book succeeds not only as an excellent work of journalism, but a powerful story of the damaged lives of the men and women as well as the families left behind in the wake of this awful disease.