{"product_id":"when-the-band-played-on-the-life-of-randy-shilts-americas-trailblazing-gay-journalist","title":"When the Band Played on: The Life of Randy Shilts, America's Trailblazing Gay Journalist","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2025 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist in Gay Memoir\/Biography\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRandy Shilts was the preeminent LGBTQ+ reporter of his generation. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was the first openly gay reporter assigned to a gay beat at a mainstream paper and one of the nation's most influential chroniclers of gay history, politics, and culture. Shilts wrote three seminal works on the community: \u003ci\u003eThe Mayor of Castro Street\u003c\/i\u003e, on the life, assassination, and legacy of Harvey Milk; \u003ci\u003eAnd the Band Played On\u003c\/i\u003e, detailing the failure of politics as usual during the early AIDS epidemic; and \u003ci\u003eConduct Unbecoming\u003c\/i\u003e, a history of the US military's mistreatment of LGBTQ servicemembers. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet the intimate life story of Randy Shilts has been left unwritten. \u003ci\u003eWhen the Band Played On\u003c\/i\u003e tells that story, recognizing his legacy as a trailblazing figure in gay activism, journalism, and public policy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor Michael G. Lee conducted interviews with Shilts's family, friends, college professors, colleagues, informants, lovers, and critics. The resulting narrative tells the tale of a singularly gifted voice, a talented yet insecure young man whose coming of age became intricately linked to the historic peaks and devastating perils of modern gay liberation. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhen the Band Played On\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e is the authoritative account of Randy Shilts's trailblazing life, as well as his legacy of shaping the history-making events he covered. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chicago Review Press","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48515657105657,"sku":"9780914090304","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/1811\/7625\/files\/imageloader_436725e8-5403-4603-a76a-de6594862196.jpg?v=1781208943","url":"https:\/\/hookeandplotte.com\/products\/when-the-band-played-on-the-life-of-randy-shilts-americas-trailblazing-gay-journalist","provider":"Hooke and Plotte Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}