Magic Still a Super Hero and Friend : AIDS: McGee says Johnson lived in the fast lane. She hopes the public learns from his situation.

As Magic stood at the podium, the world’s super hero still stood 6 feet 9 inches tall. And he is still standing head and shoulders above the world, having made the hardest announcement he has ever made in his life.

At first, I thought it was a cruel joke. Tears overcame me. He used words such as HIV positive and the AIDS virus, words that were foreign to my existence, because I am neither gay nor an IV drug user. Magic, the super hero--it would happen to him.

It hurt even more because Magic is a dear friend. It was Magic who showed me around L.A. the first week I entered USC. I was a then-frightened 17-year-old, a long way from home. Magic made me feel at home. He would pick my sister and me up on weekends and we would all party to the early hours in the morning.

I guess it didn’t surprise me that Magic had the disease. Knowing his flamboyant lifestyle, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Magic’s closest friends always knew him as a major player and womanizer. He has had one-night stands with what he calls “freaks” across America.

He was always being hounded by women who merely wanted to sleep with the “Magic Man.” The reason he probably made it public is to warn the thousands of women he has slept with. So it didn’t surprise me that he had the insidious disease called HIV. I just don’t understand how the cards are dealt in this thing we call life.

Two short months after his marriage to his longtime love Cookie, it just seemed that Magic had matured, and was starting over. It appeared that Magic was committed to one woman finally. It appeared he had his whole life in front of him.

My heart goes out to Magic. I have been on my knees praying constantly for him. The super hero is still my super hero, and a good friend.

Maybe it will take a Magic Johnson to wake us all up.