Arthur Ashe, AIDS, and Media Pressure

I am disgusted by the Arthur Ashe AIDS expose. Does the fact that he has AIDS make him any less or more of an individual? Is there something sexual about a blood transfusion gone wrong? I hope not.

Ashe is being treated by the media, however, as if he has committed some terrible crime. They justify the reporting based on the tired arguments of celebrity status and the duties of journalism. The press has used Ashe as a hot story to fill pages without compassion or sensitivity to his family situation and personal health problems. It must be terrible for the USA Today reporter to wake up in the morning knowing you are hardly a step out of the cave.

Oh, where are you, Grantland Rice?

RICHARD LEWIS

Encino