Gil Cuadros; Poet, Essayist Tackled AIDS Subject

Gil Cuadros, an openly gay Latino writer whose poetry and essays centered on AIDS-related issues, has died at the age of 34.

Cuadros, a native of Montebello, died Aug. 29 in Midway Hospital of complications of AIDS.

His book “City of God,” published in 1994, was critically well-received.

“The hard-edged stories and poems by Cuadros,” noted a Times reviewer, “capture the triple alienation of being Hispanic, gay and HIV-positive in contemporary Los Angeles. . . . This talented author reminds the reader that the sand in the hourglass is flowing faster than it should.”

One of Cuadros’ poems, “There Are Places You Don’t Walk at Night, Alone” was made into a public service announcement on hate crimes for cable television.

Cuadros received the Brody Literature Fellowship in 1991 and had won two grants from the city of Los Angeles’ Cultural Affairs Department.

A ceramist as well as a writer, Cuadros said his disease, diagnosed in 1987, fueled his art and his writing.

A memorial service has been scheduled for noon Oct. 6 at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center Auditorium, 1625 Schrader Ave. Donations in Cuadros’ memory can be made to the All Saints AIDS Service Center in Pasadena.