Eight Fought to Live

The Story of My AIDS Therapy Group, 1988-1990

Florence Rosiello

• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Year: 2024
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781685628956
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

1988: 82,362 gay and bisexual men had AIDS.
1989: 100,000 gay and bisexual men had AIDS.
1990: 307,000 gay and bisexual men had AIDS.
These are the two years Dr. Rosiello led an AIDS therapy group at Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City. Within two years each man in her group passed away from AIDS complications. One of these men was Vito Russo, an AIDS activist and historian.
This is the story of eight gay men living with advanced AIDS and one inexperienced fresh out of training psychoanalyst. Each man's intimate story is peppered with Dr. Rosiello's anxiety and her growing awareness regarding the importance of emotional authenticity in psychotherapy. The group members had no spare moments for Dr. Rosiello to use her newly learned psychoanalytic techniques. There was only time to be real.
Early on these group members pledged to not die. They pledged emotional support for the life of the group. This pledge held true for over a year. Blood brothers in their fight to live.

Table of contents

• Eight Fought to Live
• About the Author
• Dedication
• Copyright Information ©
• Acknowledgment
• The Story of My AIDS Therapy Group: 1988–1990
• Chapter 1 The Pink Cap
• Chapter 2 Long Eyelashes
• Chapter 3 Just a Quick Note About Group Process
• Chapter 4 Jason and His Argonauts
• Chapter 5 The Thomas’ Crown Affair
• Chapter 6 Don’t Come
• Chapter 7 Richard’s Folding Chair
• Chapter 8 Just Once
• Chapter 9 Popcorn Ceilings
• Chapter 10 The Incident of the Easter Hat
• Chapter 11 The Kittyhawk
• Chapter 12 Mirrored Reflection
• Chapter 13 Needles and Threads
• Chapter 14 Tell Me Why
• Chapter 15 In the Beginning…
• Chapter 16 The Little Black Book
• Chapter 17 Guilt
• Chapter 18 The Socratic Method
• Chapter 19 Thomas’ Pain
• Chapter 20 Down Mexico Way
• Chapter 21 Cheerleading
• Chapter 22 The Parent Trap
• Chapter 23 Fabrications
• Chapter 24 Waving Through a Window Dressing
• Chapter 25 The Mink Coat
• Chapter 26 St. Bartholomew
• Chapter 27 Coda
• Chapter 28 February 1990
• Chapter 29 March 1990
• Chapter 30 The Trouble with Taxis
• Chapter 31 The Rain is Tess, The Fire’s Jo, and They Call the Wind Mariah
• Chapter 32 Getting Plastered
• Chapter 33 Shoeless
• Chapter 34 The House of Da-veed
• Chapter 35 Raul
• Chapter 36 Listening to the Unspoken
• Chapter 37 Time
• Chapter 38 A Promise to Not Die
• Notes