Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270038
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We think we really know Patrick Evans and Lee Ann Necessary and Jean Jadhon and Tom Brokaw and all the other reporters and anchors. We think we know their moods and personalities, that we can even see into their souls.
The truth is, most of us don't really know those folks very well. We know little or nothing about their personal lives, their families, their pets, their spiritual lives.
So sometimes we are surprised by news about them.
When word arrived recently that former Channel 7 newscaster Rick Mosher had died of complications related to AIDS, there was a widespread sense of shock in Western Virginia.
Mosher had made his mark here as a serious journalist, a perfectionist anchor with a strong sense of credibility. His death was felt by thousands who remembered his contribution.
Sad as the news of Mosher's death was, the reaction to it has been encouraging.
It is still uncommon in our area to acknowledge AIDS as a cause of death. The stigma of its association with homosexuality and drug abuse means it still is rarely mentioned in obituaries or funeral services.
It's encouraging that the conversations I've heard about Mosher's death have focused on his contribution to the community rather than the cause of his death.
Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go before the victims of AIDS feel the full embrace of our compassion as they face the toughest challenge of their lives.
This summer, a Roanoker who knew the cold reception AIDS can provoke was struck down in the prime of life by that indiscriminate virus.
Robert Varsano felt the sting of rejection by his fellow Christians who feared his disease and worried about being tainted socially by association with him.
When Varsano told his story to the church groups who would listen, he'd point out that he contracted the virus from sexual relations with his wife. She died in 1991 after apparently being infected by her previous husband. Other Christians could not accuse Varsano of contracting AIDS because of some specific sin.
But he also tried to teach everyone who would listen that everyone who has AIDS deserved their compassion and support. He tried to spread the word that HIV was no respecter of persons or station or sexual preference. He tried to persuade a hesitant world that sick people didn't need judgment but love.
Although Varsano certainly had a positive impact on every other AIDS patient here, he never felt that he had done enough or that enough people had listened.
But Varsano's story may have had more impact than he thought. Maybe it contributed to the lack of mean-spirited speculation about Mosher's death.
Years ago, those who cared for AIDS patients predicted that the day would come when all of us would know somebody who died of that awful disease - and that when that day came, society would finally begin to show the kind of sympathy those patients deserved.
It seems that day has arrived.
by CNB