A different kind of First Opinion

January 12, 2025 Check out STAT+

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By Torie Bosch First Opinion editor

This week, First Opinion published a lovely essay by John Fleischman. The former senior science writer for the American Society for Cell Biology, John wrote something rather personal: "Every time I have moved house — too many times — the cardboard box has followed me, a reminder of my unfulfilled promise to Jon Miller. It contained his journals and letters, mostly from the last 18 months before his death from AIDS/HIV complications in 1990," his piece begins. Miller was a longtime friend and mentor. Fleischman shares that at long last, he has found a home for the journals and letters: the AIDS History Project at the University of California-San Francisco. The archive, which primarily has papers from researchers and health care providers, is looking for such personal writing from the early days of HIV — the Miller papers are already listed on the site. Soon after Fleischman's essay was published, I received an email from a reader saying that his brother died of AIDS in the early '90s and that he kept a short diary. I was thrilled to connect the reader to the AIDS History Project archivist. This was one of those pieces that is going to stick with me — because of Fleischman's beautiful writing, but also because it offers something concrete. When I speak with groups about writing for the public, I'm also asked whether an oped needs a "call to action" for the reader. Usually, I don't think it does. That's because typically the "call to action" ends up feeling sort of pat: Write to your member of Congress, sign this petition, talk to a friend. These are real actions, yes, but if they show up in every single oped, readers will become more inclined to ignore them. I want to avoid those sorts of rote CTAs (as those in the biz apparently call it, much to my dismay). But Fleischman's essay has a real call to action: Do you have a journal collecting dust somewhere that belonged to a loved one who died of AIDS in the '80s or '90s? Here's what you can do with it. It's an action that can inform historians of the future, and also pay tribute to a loved one. I'm always looking for slightly different kinds of First Opinion essays. Have an idea or question? Email me. Recommendation of the week: I've been rewatching "Severance," which (finally!) returns for its second season on Friday, Jan. 17, on Apple TV+. Soon after the first season wrapped, a companion novella of sorts titled "Severance: The Lexington Letter" was published to Apple Books. It shares the story of a severed Lumon employee, not one of the characters from the show, who begins to realize that something is amiss. If you're jonesing for a little more from the bizarre world of "Severance," you can download "Severance: The Lexington Letter" for free in the Apple Books app.

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