"Never Silent tells previously untold stories of the life of the leading subject of David France's How To Survive A Plague, Peter Staley, including his continuous activism to find treatments and public health interventions.The previously untold stories of the life of the leading subject in David France's How To Survive A Plague, Peter Staley, including his continuing activism In 1987, somebody shoved a flyer into the hand of Peter Staley: massive AIDS demonstration, it announced. After four years on WallStreet as a closeted gay man, Staley was familiar with the homophobia common on trading floors. He also knew that he was not beyond the reach of HIV, having recently been diagnosed with AIDS-Related Complex. A week after the protest, Staley found his wayto a packed meeting of the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power--ACT UP--in the West Village. It would prove to be the best decision he ever made. ACT UP would change the course of AIDS, pressuring the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and three administrations to finally respond with research that ultimately saved millions of lives. Staley, a shrewd strategist with nerves of steel, organized some of the group's most spectacular actions, from shutting down trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to putting a giant condom over the house of Senator Jesse Helms. Never Silent is the inside story of what brought Staley to ACT UP and the explosive and sometimes painful years to follow--years filled with triumph, humiliation, joy, loss, and persistence.Never Silent is guaranteed to inspire the activist within all of us. " -- - (Baker & Taylor)

Library Journal Reviews

Staley, an HIV/AIDS activist, writes a powerful memoir that delves into his childhood, life as a bond trader on Wall Street as a not-yet-out gay man, and most importantly his coming out and life-defining involvement with ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). In fact, Staley's life and identity are so interwoven with ACT UP, that at times this personal account reads more like a forensic investigation into the inner workings of a living, breathing community organization. Staley effectively brings readers into the fray as he describes the coordination, planning, management, and resilience that goes into establishing and growing an activist organization such as ACT UP. The author beautifully traces his life in activism (including the personal and romantic relationships he made along the way), his taking on greater responsibilities within ACT UP, and his failures, in an honest and touching way. This memoir cements Staley as a bulwark in the fight for HIV/AIDS patients' rights and shows the true power of a life lived through activism. The book includes a several personal photographs as well as a foreword by Anderson Cooper. VERDICT An important and necessary addition to public and academic institutions looking to update their LGBTQ+ and/or activism collections.—Siobhan Egan, Barrington P.L., RI