Summer in the Pines 1981

STORY: 1981 – In this photo, I’m with my housemates and my weekend date from Boston (John Shade, with our arms around each other) on the beach in Fire Island Pines.

My housemates in Fire Island Pines the summer of 1981 (With the exception of John Shade, I’ve lost contact with them all.).

It was the first time I had taken a share for the summer. It was an innocent time. But, the discovery of a “gay cancer” had just been announced the month before in a front-page article in the NY Times.

My housemates horsing around in between shots.

I remember sitting with my housemates at the coffee table in our living room and, as we perused the article, we asked whether or not that announcement would end up having any impact on us. Little did we know!

A lazy beach day with my housemates in the Pines in 1981

A shot down the beach in Fire Island Pines in the summer of 1981