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Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism
In 1987, somebody shoved a flyer into the hand of Peter Staley: massive AIDS demonstration, it announced. After four years on Wall Street 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 way to 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.
A week after the protest, Staley found his way to 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.
269 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 2021
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2305 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
June 6, 2025
FINALIST FOR THE 34th LAMMY AWARD—BEST GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY!
I RECEIVED MY DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: There is a certain kind of person who becomes a Wall Street "Master of the Universe," in their self-perpetuated self-applied description of their glorious, oversexed, hyper-entitled selves. The Eighties were the moments of national nightmare, both the ones we saw in Wall Street embodied by poor Michael Douglas delivering the "Greed is good" speech that haunts him to this day, and the ones we ignored, eg the S&L crisis whose little brother grew up to become the GFC of the Aughties. There was the moral crisis of the horror of the Reagan Administration's heinous, vile diplomatic disasters and raid on the Social Security Trust Fund. But these are large, generation-spanning structural and systemic disasters, unfolding on time scales not really important to ordinary people.
Then there was the AIDS crisis. Or, as it was at one point called, Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. This relates to the fact that the largest, most concentrated population suffering from the awful plague were urban gay men, whose "lifestyle" (how I loathe that term!) was recently, partially, and conditionally destigmatized. It burned through the New York gay-male community, it flared and killed in other gay-friendlier outposts across the country, and it was never a "gay disease" at all. Science, in its slow and ponderous way, had already established that the primary sufferers were Haitian and African heterosexuals by the end of the 1980s; this helped the disease get onto the Federal radar screens not at all.
Enter Peter Staley. Here's a Master of the Universe, a white male with all the privilege that conveyed then. And he's got AIDS-Related Complex. It was, in 1985, a kind of death sentence, a sort of scientific shrugging of the shoulders..."you ain't there yet, but it's where you're headed." And the poisonous priorities of the tax-cutting and faggot-hating "leaders" of the time meant little was being done, and that without much urgency, to discover and research the strange new disease.
This hateful cover, dated July 1985, was the moment I myownself realized why there were so many people I knew dying but not being discussed..."oh, that's them, that's something they get...not me, not my family. Sad, of course, but..." It's that poisonous little "but..." that makes the real source of the problem obvious. "As long as it stays among them, well, who really cares?"
So here's where Peter Staley was in the Eighties. He had an enviable future, one most white men regarded as dream-worthy; he had a fatal disease; and he had a country whose leadership wasn't interested in making his disease's cure or management or even treatment a priority, because by having it, he was Othered.
And he got mad.
Don't piss off the Peter Staleys of this world. They know how the world works, what value symbolism has, whose words will matter to the average person and whose story will move mountains. And, when they get mad, you will hear their voice. Loud and clear. ACT UP...AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power...was born when Staley had had enough of being told he was a dying victim, either of malevolent chance or a vengeful god or even a US government conspiracy to kill Africans. This book, in all its glorious (yet strangely not angry) insiderness, fills in a huge, huge gap in the history of a movement that forced the entire Federal medical-research machinery to create and implement more humane disease-treatment and prevention protocols. Part of that work has, no doubt, saved many many lives in the current COVID pandemic. Drug treatments and vaccine development are where they are, in part, because of a ten-year fight by the brave young men and women of that powerful coterie of angry queers.
The personal stories Staley tells, the intimate truths he reveals about the personal triumphs and sacrifices and battles that attended every step of ACT UP's early years, make the massive organization that it is today feel so much more important to me. Its continued work is very, very different from its genesis because it can be...ACT UP changed because it succeeded, and because it could start fighting for different things in this new millennium. And Staley, while no choirboy in youth or age, has never stopped fighting his demons and the dragons outside himself they light up. His life has had loss and tragedy and deep, dark passages...and he tells us about them honestly. What he doesn't do is score points off people who were once allies and friends. I admire that.
I admire Staley's work even more. ACT UP's safe-sex messages reached me, a Manhattan-resident sexually active queer in the Eighties, and very likely saved my life. The love of my life was an AIDS suffering Bajan wrestler, Bland (which he refused to answer to, "my name is B.J.!" he insisted). He was already diagnosed when we met, so all our sex was the safer sort. I lost him thirty years ago, when he was thirty-four; I miss him still.
But I am HIV-negative, and alive to do so, in no small part because of Peter Staley and the work he and his cohorts did. Thank you for my life, Peter Staley, all the awful and painful and joyous and rewarding moments of it happened because you wouldn't sit down and shut up. So now's your chance to get the story behind why he made the choices he did, what happened and to whom and when. But don't expect the unpleasant grinding noise of axes being honed to killing sharpness. A long life, longer than you ever thought it would be, teaches one the value of letting go of grudges and the futility of settling scores. Despite his own more recent challenges, Staley remains fully aware of grateful for the gift of his life. It is this that I hope our COVID-ridden youngers will absorb and embody. All who read NEVER SILENT: ACT UP and My Life in Activism have a great head start.
I RECEIVED MY DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: There is a certain kind of person who becomes a Wall Street "Master of the Universe," in their self-perpetuated self-applied description of their glorious, oversexed, hyper-entitled selves. The Eighties were the moments of national nightmare, both the ones we saw in Wall Street embodied by poor Michael Douglas delivering the "Greed is good" speech that haunts him to this day, and the ones we ignored, eg the S&L crisis whose little brother grew up to become the GFC of the Aughties. There was the moral crisis of the horror of the Reagan Administration's heinous, vile diplomatic disasters and raid on the Social Security Trust Fund. But these are large, generation-spanning structural and systemic disasters, unfolding on time scales not really important to ordinary people.
Then there was the AIDS crisis. Or, as it was at one point called, Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. This relates to the fact that the largest, most concentrated population suffering from the awful plague were urban gay men, whose "lifestyle" (how I loathe that term!) was recently, partially, and conditionally destigmatized. It burned through the New York gay-male community, it flared and killed in other gay-friendlier outposts across the country, and it was never a "gay disease" at all. Science, in its slow and ponderous way, had already established that the primary sufferers were Haitian and African heterosexuals by the end of the 1980s; this helped the disease get onto the Federal radar screens not at all.
Enter Peter Staley. Here's a Master of the Universe, a white male with all the privilege that conveyed then. And he's got AIDS-Related Complex. It was, in 1985, a kind of death sentence, a sort of scientific shrugging of the shoulders..."you ain't there yet, but it's where you're headed." And the poisonous priorities of the tax-cutting and faggot-hating "leaders" of the time meant little was being done, and that without much urgency, to discover and research the strange new disease.
This hateful cover, dated July 1985, was the moment I myownself realized why there were so many people I knew dying but not being discussed..."oh, that's them, that's something they get...not me, not my family. Sad, of course, but..." It's that poisonous little "but..." that makes the real source of the problem obvious. "As long as it stays among them, well, who really cares?"
So here's where Peter Staley was in the Eighties. He had an enviable future, one most white men regarded as dream-worthy; he had a fatal disease; and he had a country whose leadership wasn't interested in making his disease's cure or management or even treatment a priority, because by having it, he was Othered.
And he got mad.
Don't piss off the Peter Staleys of this world. They know how the world works, what value symbolism has, whose words will matter to the average person and whose story will move mountains. And, when they get mad, you will hear their voice. Loud and clear. ACT UP...AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power...was born when Staley had had enough of being told he was a dying victim, either of malevolent chance or a vengeful god or even a US government conspiracy to kill Africans. This book, in all its glorious (yet strangely not angry) insiderness, fills in a huge, huge gap in the history of a movement that forced the entire Federal medical-research machinery to create and implement more humane disease-treatment and prevention protocols. Part of that work has, no doubt, saved many many lives in the current COVID pandemic. Drug treatments and vaccine development are where they are, in part, because of a ten-year fight by the brave young men and women of that powerful coterie of angry queers.
The personal stories Staley tells, the intimate truths he reveals about the personal triumphs and sacrifices and battles that attended every step of ACT UP's early years, make the massive organization that it is today feel so much more important to me. Its continued work is very, very different from its genesis because it can be...ACT UP changed because it succeeded, and because it could start fighting for different things in this new millennium. And Staley, while no choirboy in youth or age, has never stopped fighting his demons and the dragons outside himself they light up. His life has had loss and tragedy and deep, dark passages...and he tells us about them honestly. What he doesn't do is score points off people who were once allies and friends. I admire that.
I admire Staley's work even more. ACT UP's safe-sex messages reached me, a Manhattan-resident sexually active queer in the Eighties, and very likely saved my life. The love of my life was an AIDS suffering Bajan wrestler, Bland (which he refused to answer to, "my name is B.J.!" he insisted). He was already diagnosed when we met, so all our sex was the safer sort. I lost him thirty years ago, when he was thirty-four; I miss him still.
But I am HIV-negative, and alive to do so, in no small part because of Peter Staley and the work he and his cohorts did. Thank you for my life, Peter Staley, all the awful and painful and joyous and rewarding moments of it happened because you wouldn't sit down and shut up. So now's your chance to get the story behind why he made the choices he did, what happened and to whom and when. But don't expect the unpleasant grinding noise of axes being honed to killing sharpness. A long life, longer than you ever thought it would be, teaches one the value of letting go of grudges and the futility of settling scores. Despite his own more recent challenges, Staley remains fully aware of grateful for the gift of his life. It is this that I hope our COVID-ridden youngers will absorb and embody. All who read NEVER SILENT: ACT UP and My Life in Activism have a great head start.
February 18, 2022
A lot of great stories, of course. Peter Staley is often clear-eyed and self-critical. I have even more respect for him after reading this.
I'm surprised this didn't appear under a bigger publisher. For such a visually distinctive group, I'd have liked to see more photos. (And some of the reproductions were unfortunately barely adequate.)
I'm surprised this didn't appear under a bigger publisher. For such a visually distinctive group, I'd have liked to see more photos. (And some of the reproductions were unfortunately barely adequate.)
November 23, 2021
I’d heard about Peter Staley’s activism before in both the documentary and book titled How to Survive a Plague. It was amazing to hear his perspective on being a part of AIDS activism in the 80s and 90s with ACT UP and later on with different organizations. Even though I was familiar with a lot of the larger events and protests he was discussing, it was great to hear it in his words. I appreciated that he looked at his and ACT UP’s actions with a critical eye and wasn’t afraid to talk about ways they could’ve been better.
The main focus of the book is definitely his ACT UP years, so some of the later sections can feel a bit rushed or like things are being glossed over. But for the most part this is an excellent memoir and definitely one to check out if you’re interested in learning about LGBTQ+ history and the AIDS epidemic.
The main focus of the book is definitely his ACT UP years, so some of the later sections can feel a bit rushed or like things are being glossed over. But for the most part this is an excellent memoir and definitely one to check out if you’re interested in learning about LGBTQ+ history and the AIDS epidemic.
December 6, 2021
Solidly written memoir.
Too busy to read How to Survive a Plague? Read this instead; covers a lot of the same ground, but with less medical knowledge required. No, seriously, though, try to read both. This book just reads really fast.
I enjoyed the chapter about Dallas Buyers Club and was gobsmacked at how much worse the movie could have been. Also wasn't previously aware that AIDS denialism was a thing.
Staley's take on Dr Fauci was interesting as well. The doctor made some terrible decisions early in the AIDS epidemic, but he really seemed to get better, thanks in part to pushes from activists. It's humanizing.
This is a good resource for young activists who are curious about methods from previous generations and for understanding their fellow activists.
Overall, good read for understanding activism and an enjoyable read, although parts of the book are obviously kinda heavy.
Too busy to read How to Survive a Plague? Read this instead; covers a lot of the same ground, but with less medical knowledge required. No, seriously, though, try to read both. This book just reads really fast.
I enjoyed the chapter about Dallas Buyers Club and was gobsmacked at how much worse the movie could have been. Also wasn't previously aware that AIDS denialism was a thing.
Staley's take on Dr Fauci was interesting as well. The doctor made some terrible decisions early in the AIDS epidemic, but he really seemed to get better, thanks in part to pushes from activists. It's humanizing.
This is a good resource for young activists who are curious about methods from previous generations and for understanding their fellow activists.
Overall, good read for understanding activism and an enjoyable read, although parts of the book are obviously kinda heavy.
July 13, 2025
all i can really say is that peter is a gift and i am deeply obsessed with his heart, his perseverance, and his wit. this memoir was both inspiring and entertaining, and i will be recommending it over and over again.
“Everything changed in an instant, like a dark stage suddenly bathed in warm hues. I entered a surreal protective bubble that became my entire life for the next few crucial years. That bubble was a wildly empowered and loving community. All of our emotions were heightened and intense, frustrating and beautiful at the same time. It was a bubble filled with demonstrations, endless meetings, nights of ecstasy and dancing, nights of wheat-pasting, hospitals and memorials, boyfriends, new friends, breakups, phone zaps, phone trees, shame-free sex, sex between proud sluts, sex that was political, that said fuck-you to the haters, more endless meetings, kiss-ins, kissing hello on the lips, kissing lesbians, selling T-shirts and buttons, covering an entire city in SILENCE = DEATH stickers, heckling presidents, getting arrested with your best friends, chanting, laughing, crying, hugging, lots of hugs to fight off fear and tears, and a beautiful surge of creativity, artistry, and genius that synergized among us.”
“Everything changed in an instant, like a dark stage suddenly bathed in warm hues. I entered a surreal protective bubble that became my entire life for the next few crucial years. That bubble was a wildly empowered and loving community. All of our emotions were heightened and intense, frustrating and beautiful at the same time. It was a bubble filled with demonstrations, endless meetings, nights of ecstasy and dancing, nights of wheat-pasting, hospitals and memorials, boyfriends, new friends, breakups, phone zaps, phone trees, shame-free sex, sex between proud sluts, sex that was political, that said fuck-you to the haters, more endless meetings, kiss-ins, kissing hello on the lips, kissing lesbians, selling T-shirts and buttons, covering an entire city in SILENCE = DEATH stickers, heckling presidents, getting arrested with your best friends, chanting, laughing, crying, hugging, lots of hugs to fight off fear and tears, and a beautiful surge of creativity, artistry, and genius that synergized among us.”
October 25, 2024
This book made me cry, it made me laugh, and it overwhelmed me with a unbeatable sense of community.
In this memoir, Peter Staley brings us through his life of activism, loss, and all the trials and tribulations that came with being a gay man diagnosed with AIDS-related complex in the 1980s.
Which was,at the time, a sure death sentence.
The work that ACT UP and the queer community did in the height of the epidemic, was in every sense revolutionary. From pushing pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of treatment drugs to covering a homophobic senators house with a massive condom; they did it all.
Peters stories of the demonstrations he would help scheme in ACT UPS early days never failed to make me smile; some of them so outlandish and risky they could’ve only been pulled off by a group of people who didn’t know how much time they had left, wanting desperately to save others from their same fate.
In an interview with 60 minutes when Staley was only 29 years old, he was asked if he thought he would live to see a cure.
Without a second thought Staley replied no.
It gives me chills to know that at the time of my writing this, Staley is in his early 60s, an activist even 30 years later. He lived because of the collective voice of thousands, all tired of watching friends and family die while government officials and the rest of the world looked the other way.
Unlike Staley and other survivors, many didn’t live to see the cure that only came after relentless pressure from groups like ACT UP.
The fight against AIDS is only one example of the queer communities strength and collective power.
I think Staley put it perfectly in his emotional and impactful recitation of Vito Russo's speech at the Sixth International Conference on AIDS.
“Gay people and straight people,
black people and white people,
men and women.
Who will hear the story that once…there was a terrible disease and that a brave group of people stood up and fought, and in some cases died,
so that others might live and be free.”
read. this. book.
In this memoir, Peter Staley brings us through his life of activism, loss, and all the trials and tribulations that came with being a gay man diagnosed with AIDS-related complex in the 1980s.
Which was,at the time, a sure death sentence.
The work that ACT UP and the queer community did in the height of the epidemic, was in every sense revolutionary. From pushing pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of treatment drugs to covering a homophobic senators house with a massive condom; they did it all.
Peters stories of the demonstrations he would help scheme in ACT UPS early days never failed to make me smile; some of them so outlandish and risky they could’ve only been pulled off by a group of people who didn’t know how much time they had left, wanting desperately to save others from their same fate.
In an interview with 60 minutes when Staley was only 29 years old, he was asked if he thought he would live to see a cure.
Without a second thought Staley replied no.
It gives me chills to know that at the time of my writing this, Staley is in his early 60s, an activist even 30 years later. He lived because of the collective voice of thousands, all tired of watching friends and family die while government officials and the rest of the world looked the other way.
Unlike Staley and other survivors, many didn’t live to see the cure that only came after relentless pressure from groups like ACT UP.
The fight against AIDS is only one example of the queer communities strength and collective power.
I think Staley put it perfectly in his emotional and impactful recitation of Vito Russo's speech at the Sixth International Conference on AIDS.
“Gay people and straight people,
black people and white people,
men and women.
Who will hear the story that once…there was a terrible disease and that a brave group of people stood up and fought, and in some cases died,
so that others might live and be free.”
read. this. book.
July 11, 2021
It is often hard to write a memoir of one's activism. Sometimes it seems like a vanity press, written for the advancement of one's role in the cause.
However, Never Silent is not that. Staley recounts his life within ACT UP and beyond. It never feels like he is pushing his own agenda. It is a fascinating look at the methods employed by ACT UP. Staley brings you into the room where all the action of coordination, planning, discussion, and community is debated. He introduces one to others in in movement, and the growth and power of the various committees. One gets a sense of just how fragile, yet focused, the community organization became.
Staley traces his life in the organization, his movement into higher responsibilities, and his failures. One also gets a peek into Staley's personal life--AIDS be damned--and his effort to seek a life sustaining treatment. He's honest about the his love life, even within the organization. It's a very good read.
My thanks to Edelweiss Above the Treeline for this electronic copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
However, Never Silent is not that. Staley recounts his life within ACT UP and beyond. It never feels like he is pushing his own agenda. It is a fascinating look at the methods employed by ACT UP. Staley brings you into the room where all the action of coordination, planning, discussion, and community is debated. He introduces one to others in in movement, and the growth and power of the various committees. One gets a sense of just how fragile, yet focused, the community organization became.
Staley traces his life in the organization, his movement into higher responsibilities, and his failures. One also gets a peek into Staley's personal life--AIDS be damned--and his effort to seek a life sustaining treatment. He's honest about the his love life, even within the organization. It's a very good read.
My thanks to Edelweiss Above the Treeline for this electronic copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
July 24, 2022
5 stars for this compelling memoir of HIV/AIDS activism. Peter Staley was inside the room from the beginning as people living with HIV/AIDS and their allies pushed back against government complacency and neglect with strength, anger and creativity. As the sister of someone who fought hard but succumbed to AIDS in the early years (Joseph McAllaster-Boston 1993), I especially appreciated reading about the early years of advocacy. Beautifully written. Highly recommend.
December 11, 2021
it melted my gay heart
November 30, 2021
Walking beside Peter Staley through a tour of his life in activism is a candid journey full of adventures and learning and sex and camaraderie and perseverance. Staley doesn’t shy away from the good and the bad of his life before, during, and after ACT UP — including the strides and the pride, the successes and the downfalls. As the poster boy for American AIDS activism, his perspective on the entirety of the AIDS epidemic is unique and intimate.
April 13, 2022
Most interesting when it's not about Staley himself
This is definitely an important book for what it tells us about ACT UP and efforts by activists to battle Big Pharma and attendant homophobia. When it focuses on Staley's life, though, the book is somewhat uneven. Staley's early years are those of wealth and attendant privilege, and often about how beautiful all the men were that he slept with. (There's even a photo of one man, a very minor character in the book, who is stunning and whose picture is there merely, it seems, to confirm Staley's ability to attract the attractive.)
The best chapters are those that deal with friction caused by political manoeuvres, either inside the activist movement or outside of it. One late chapter deals with Staley's profession of the emotional distance that has plagued his life, and his efforts to overcome it. But this is neatly compartmentalized in one chapter; and so despite his professions about having a bloated ego, this confession merely serves to highlight how the rest of the book is actually in love with itself, as Staley is clearly in love with his time in the spotlight. It is almost as though someone tapped him on the shoulder and told him he had best at least devote some time to his recovery from narcissism, er, I mean, his love of the spotlight.
The book ends with his thanks to a half-dozen psychiatrists. I mean, really, at the very end. It may be that Staley is encouraging people to deal with their mental illnesses, and this is a good thing. But a half-dozen! It smacks of self-congratulation and again reminds us of how his privilege -- he calls it luck -- got him through the precarious years up until the cocktail came along: money, support, intelligence, good looks are what saved him and, yes, some luck.
It would be great to read a book from someone involved in AIDS activism who wasn't any of the things Staley is. While Staley is certainly to be commended for fighting, you never quite forget that he has had the luxury of choice denied to most of us: the choice to quit his job, the ability to actually ponder about what he wants to do next (thanks to a monthly stipend from his parents), the choice to again switch careers, and the like. His concluding dinners with Anthony Fauci bespeak a man who has become the ultimate insider and, one suspects, was a dilettante in his ACT UP years because he could, literally, afford to be an activist who never had to worry about where the rent was coming from.
The book is definitely worth a read. But be aware that Staley's aim is to seduce you into liking him. That cool distance he professes to have faced head on never really dissipates.
This is definitely an important book for what it tells us about ACT UP and efforts by activists to battle Big Pharma and attendant homophobia. When it focuses on Staley's life, though, the book is somewhat uneven. Staley's early years are those of wealth and attendant privilege, and often about how beautiful all the men were that he slept with. (There's even a photo of one man, a very minor character in the book, who is stunning and whose picture is there merely, it seems, to confirm Staley's ability to attract the attractive.)
The best chapters are those that deal with friction caused by political manoeuvres, either inside the activist movement or outside of it. One late chapter deals with Staley's profession of the emotional distance that has plagued his life, and his efforts to overcome it. But this is neatly compartmentalized in one chapter; and so despite his professions about having a bloated ego, this confession merely serves to highlight how the rest of the book is actually in love with itself, as Staley is clearly in love with his time in the spotlight. It is almost as though someone tapped him on the shoulder and told him he had best at least devote some time to his recovery from narcissism, er, I mean, his love of the spotlight.
The book ends with his thanks to a half-dozen psychiatrists. I mean, really, at the very end. It may be that Staley is encouraging people to deal with their mental illnesses, and this is a good thing. But a half-dozen! It smacks of self-congratulation and again reminds us of how his privilege -- he calls it luck -- got him through the precarious years up until the cocktail came along: money, support, intelligence, good looks are what saved him and, yes, some luck.
It would be great to read a book from someone involved in AIDS activism who wasn't any of the things Staley is. While Staley is certainly to be commended for fighting, you never quite forget that he has had the luxury of choice denied to most of us: the choice to quit his job, the ability to actually ponder about what he wants to do next (thanks to a monthly stipend from his parents), the choice to again switch careers, and the like. His concluding dinners with Anthony Fauci bespeak a man who has become the ultimate insider and, one suspects, was a dilettante in his ACT UP years because he could, literally, afford to be an activist who never had to worry about where the rent was coming from.
The book is definitely worth a read. But be aware that Staley's aim is to seduce you into liking him. That cool distance he professes to have faced head on never really dissipates.
March 15, 2022
This book made me go through all sorts of emotions: I was angry, I was sad, I was nostalgic, I was energized, I was proud. Peter does an amazing job relating the early years of the AIDS pandemic and provides hope and inspiration to those of us that continue to work and fight to end this epidemic. The whole book contains great information, a lot of it predating my own involvement in the fight, but I was able to relate to a great portion of what he narrates.
There were a few parts that resonated a lot with me. His feelings and those of Spencer Cox’ with the advent of protease inhibitors: “We are going to live!”, and “We May actually survive this!”. I remember those days. I remember being happy to see friends getting better as a result of taking the new meds, and feeling so sad for those that missed these new, life-prolonging meds for just a few months.
And when he talks about “the power of collective empathy”, it brings back memories of the early days of my organization, CALOR, when we used to have those large support groups, everyone United by a sad threat, HIV, but a thread that brought us together as part of a large family. They were sad years, no doubt. But they were very special years in terms of building community, when, as Peter says, we came together to care for our own.
All in all, this was a great book for me to read at this particular point in my life when I am assessing my next moves after being away for a few years. Highly recommended.
There were a few parts that resonated a lot with me. His feelings and those of Spencer Cox’ with the advent of protease inhibitors: “We are going to live!”, and “We May actually survive this!”. I remember those days. I remember being happy to see friends getting better as a result of taking the new meds, and feeling so sad for those that missed these new, life-prolonging meds for just a few months.
And when he talks about “the power of collective empathy”, it brings back memories of the early days of my organization, CALOR, when we used to have those large support groups, everyone United by a sad threat, HIV, but a thread that brought us together as part of a large family. They were sad years, no doubt. But they were very special years in terms of building community, when, as Peter says, we came together to care for our own.
All in all, this was a great book for me to read at this particular point in my life when I am assessing my next moves after being away for a few years. Highly recommended.
July 24, 2021
This was a fascinating biography of a life lived in and through activism. I didn’t know too much about the AIDS epidemic and this helped enlighten me with a humor and grace as the author recounts all of the difficulties from this time period. There are moments of conventional biography about his early childhood that were also heartfelt and enjoyable and the later stage of the book wrapped up well with a connection to the crystal meth problem and all the way up to the COVID crisis. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this drc available through edelweiss.
December 1, 2021
Never Silent should be required reading for anyone who engages in social justice activism. Peter Staley unpacks decade's of activism, starting with the AIDS epidemic to COVID. His writing is beautiful and honest and he holds no punches, whether talking about his comrades or Dr. Anthony Fauci. A brilliant, well-written memoir.
July 22, 2023
Well worth the read, this memoir details angles of the AIDS movement that I had never heard about. The prose is clean and fast. The details feel honest and blunt. The story is both very sad and very hopeful. Definitely one for your LGBTQIA+ reading list.
June 1, 2022
Like many people, I long knew about ACT UP but learned about Peter Staley specifically from watching the stellar documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP, so when I heard that he recently published an autobiography/memoir, I was excited and just had to get a copy.
As to be expected and not surprisingly, Peter's storytelling is succinct, accessible, and easy to follow. It never read like it was bogged down with too much information, and it also never felt self-congratulatory either. It also never felt too long, as most autobiographies are. I also felt like Peter was just vulnerable enough when he gave us some insight about his family, being in the closet, his coming out, his sexcapades with men, and how he evolved with ACT UP while documenting its very evolution itself, unlike most autobiographies/memoirs where it feels like the celebrity/high-profile person has a wall up and refuses to open up while expecting us to be blown away by just the fact alone that they're so and so and they wrote a book. Peter comes across as someone who's honest and who's not afraid to let us look in, which I found refreshing. Peter's style is very inviting, and I found the book overall enjoyable, fascinating, and quite the page turner, so much so that it cured me from my reading slump! However, that's not to say the book doesn't have some of its really glaring flaws.
The one thing that really jumped out almost immediately was the pacing. Oftentimes it felt like Peter was really rushing through such pivotal moments in his life that brought on his sexual and political epiphany. While it was still a pleasure to read, I wished that Peter would've SLOWED DOWN and let the reader have a chance to embrace his journey and give us more detail, give us more insight into his feelings instead of summarizing it in one quick swoop. He did give us a detailed rundown of his first sexual partners, but just when he'd give us a glimpse into these people's personalities and where it seemed as if these people were more to him than just a fling, he'd quickly move on to the next one, as if they didn't actually matter all that much as he made them out to be, which is jarring when in only a sentence or two before he would say that so and so was a "mentor" to him - okay, if so, why are you speeding through your relationship with them? Why won't you let us get to know them more? Why won't you tell us more about what they meant to you? You could tell that Peter enjoyed writing on these sexcapades, but - this is a tiny pet peeve and could just be a me-thing, but the way he'd describe his sexual romps as being full of "giggling" was...odd? Immature? Silly? Especially when he mentions this giggling, a lot. I get this was his way to try and portray and describe a youthful energy that wasn't just sexual, but was there really that much giggling? Like, there are other ways to describe a joyous sex scene than saying how many times you and everyone giggled before or after having sex. All that "giggling" was telling me that maybe erotica-ish writing isn't quite Peter's best suit, as after a while it takes you out of the sex appeal of any of it and made the writing of those "sex scenes" feel a tad bit pedestrian.
The final flaw that jumped out at me, and that left me even a little disappointed, was how Peter never acknowledged his privilege as a cis white man who came from a pretty wealthy well-to-do family, and even into his adulthood, he had a wealthy background where he had the means to enjoy and explore life in ways most gay men aren't afforded. Like, while it's fantastic that he normalized men going to therapy/mental health in general when he mentioned how his father encouraged him as a teen to see a therapist, like, yes it was stigmatized back in those days and for him to mention that at all was really brave and cool, but how many of us even today could afford such mental health assistance with ease, and by the help of our fathers, no less? He even thanks his psychiatrists at the end, all HALF A DOZEN of them. How many of us can say that we had that many therapists? Most of us can barely manage to find or afford a single good one in our lifetime.
The most incredible thing that really reminded us even more of his privilege was how he mentioned when since the instant in college when he realized that he had to have sex with men, and ASAP, apparently, from after seeing a film called Nick and Jon, he asked his parents to book him a trip to London, and it was during that trip that he was able to explore his homosexuality with ease and secrecy in another country where neither his parents nor anybody from home would ever know. The way he describes this experience, he acts as if this is what everyone does. Again, it's one of so many things throughout the course of the book that happens so easily for him, and that he mentions as if it's no big deal. Even all of his sexual adventures in London happen with little effort on his part other than bumping into someone at a porn shop or just showing up to the club/party. I'm not saying that it's inherently problematic for him to not mention how privileged it was for him to simply book an overseas trip as his quick solution and convenient means of having sex with men for the first time, as opposed to just finding someone local, like most people do, but for him to have this luxury, to have that kind of freedom on a whim without acknowledging said privilege at all, and especially in such a nice part of London, and where everyone was just oh soo wonderful and perfect, and there was absolutely no worries about his safety where he never crossed paths with anybody who was violently homophobic (as if London has no homophobes?) felt really disingenuous. Up to that point, he made it seem like he was this poor closeted gay youth that we should have pity for when not many young poor closeted gay youths have the time, money, and resources like he did. Most poor young closeted gay men while in college don't get to take an overseas trip on a whim just so they can explore their sexuality privately. Even him being able to quit his lucrative and cushiony NYC stock market job so he could join ACT UP without worrying about his rent, bills, or where his next meal was coming from, I mean c'mon. How can he not have acknowledged his privilege? It's just outrageous. He may have been closeted and only just learned of his HIV diagnosis and the fears, worries, and uncertainties that come with it, but he was still able to travel all over the world, possibly move to Amsterdam, and was even able to afford paying LAW SCHOOL TUITION for his then-lover! Again, as if everyone does this. Like, he wanted it both ways, he wanted sympathy for how closeted he was in this macho heterosexual world of cishet toxic masculinity while also flaunting his privilege, wealth, and resources at the same time. He later says he was "lucky" - that in and of itself made me feel uncomfortable, as he's not only unwilling to admit his privilege, but is also downplaying it. That felt unfair, as "luck" had nothing to do with it, his wealth and white privilege is what helped him in ways that others can only imagine. I'm not saying that he had to mention how gay men of color could only dream of his life, or how different his life would have been if he were poor, or if he were Black, Asian, or Latino, or trans, or even disabled, but it just would have been nice if he could have acknowledged it in general, instead of being smug by calling it luck. By not doing so, Peter inadvertently comes across as woefully out of touch. The issue with this, in turn, is that it also creates a disconnect and a distance from the reader, as so many of us might go hmm, Peter, while that's fabulous for you, and we love that for you, but that's not really the lived experience of most queer people, not even for white and cis queer people like you, so while it's really nice to know that you had a great time, most of us can't relate.
Despite those jarring flaws, however, it didn't completely spoil my experience from reading this important book. More than ever, we should still keep reading about ACT UP and the HIV/AIDS epidemic that's still taking so many lives, and especially in a time where today most folks treat HIV/AIDS as if it's a virus of the past when there's still no cure. Yes, we have PreP and people are living longer with the virus, but we should still be fighting for a cure and for HIV/AIDS treatment to be accessible to everyone, not only to a rich few, and not so that greedy corporations and pharmaceutical companies can leech off HIV/AIDS patients. Peter Staley is an inviting and powerful force, be it on screen, or on the page, and even online on his Twitter, and his story is worth hearing. He still has and will always have my respect. While this is no means a quintessential book on learning about the AIDS epidemic and ACT UP, and arguably there are better books on the topic, it's still a great addition to learning more about Peter Staley, ACT UP, and queer history itself.
As to be expected and not surprisingly, Peter's storytelling is succinct, accessible, and easy to follow. It never read like it was bogged down with too much information, and it also never felt self-congratulatory either. It also never felt too long, as most autobiographies are. I also felt like Peter was just vulnerable enough when he gave us some insight about his family, being in the closet, his coming out, his sexcapades with men, and how he evolved with ACT UP while documenting its very evolution itself, unlike most autobiographies/memoirs where it feels like the celebrity/high-profile person has a wall up and refuses to open up while expecting us to be blown away by just the fact alone that they're so and so and they wrote a book. Peter comes across as someone who's honest and who's not afraid to let us look in, which I found refreshing. Peter's style is very inviting, and I found the book overall enjoyable, fascinating, and quite the page turner, so much so that it cured me from my reading slump! However, that's not to say the book doesn't have some of its really glaring flaws.
The one thing that really jumped out almost immediately was the pacing. Oftentimes it felt like Peter was really rushing through such pivotal moments in his life that brought on his sexual and political epiphany. While it was still a pleasure to read, I wished that Peter would've SLOWED DOWN and let the reader have a chance to embrace his journey and give us more detail, give us more insight into his feelings instead of summarizing it in one quick swoop. He did give us a detailed rundown of his first sexual partners, but just when he'd give us a glimpse into these people's personalities and where it seemed as if these people were more to him than just a fling, he'd quickly move on to the next one, as if they didn't actually matter all that much as he made them out to be, which is jarring when in only a sentence or two before he would say that so and so was a "mentor" to him - okay, if so, why are you speeding through your relationship with them? Why won't you let us get to know them more? Why won't you tell us more about what they meant to you? You could tell that Peter enjoyed writing on these sexcapades, but - this is a tiny pet peeve and could just be a me-thing, but the way he'd describe his sexual romps as being full of "giggling" was...odd? Immature? Silly? Especially when he mentions this giggling, a lot. I get this was his way to try and portray and describe a youthful energy that wasn't just sexual, but was there really that much giggling? Like, there are other ways to describe a joyous sex scene than saying how many times you and everyone giggled before or after having sex. All that "giggling" was telling me that maybe erotica-ish writing isn't quite Peter's best suit, as after a while it takes you out of the sex appeal of any of it and made the writing of those "sex scenes" feel a tad bit pedestrian.
The final flaw that jumped out at me, and that left me even a little disappointed, was how Peter never acknowledged his privilege as a cis white man who came from a pretty wealthy well-to-do family, and even into his adulthood, he had a wealthy background where he had the means to enjoy and explore life in ways most gay men aren't afforded. Like, while it's fantastic that he normalized men going to therapy/mental health in general when he mentioned how his father encouraged him as a teen to see a therapist, like, yes it was stigmatized back in those days and for him to mention that at all was really brave and cool, but how many of us even today could afford such mental health assistance with ease, and by the help of our fathers, no less? He even thanks his psychiatrists at the end, all HALF A DOZEN of them. How many of us can say that we had that many therapists? Most of us can barely manage to find or afford a single good one in our lifetime.
The most incredible thing that really reminded us even more of his privilege was how he mentioned when since the instant in college when he realized that he had to have sex with men, and ASAP, apparently, from after seeing a film called Nick and Jon, he asked his parents to book him a trip to London, and it was during that trip that he was able to explore his homosexuality with ease and secrecy in another country where neither his parents nor anybody from home would ever know. The way he describes this experience, he acts as if this is what everyone does. Again, it's one of so many things throughout the course of the book that happens so easily for him, and that he mentions as if it's no big deal. Even all of his sexual adventures in London happen with little effort on his part other than bumping into someone at a porn shop or just showing up to the club/party. I'm not saying that it's inherently problematic for him to not mention how privileged it was for him to simply book an overseas trip as his quick solution and convenient means of having sex with men for the first time, as opposed to just finding someone local, like most people do, but for him to have this luxury, to have that kind of freedom on a whim without acknowledging said privilege at all, and especially in such a nice part of London, and where everyone was just oh soo wonderful and perfect, and there was absolutely no worries about his safety where he never crossed paths with anybody who was violently homophobic (as if London has no homophobes?) felt really disingenuous. Up to that point, he made it seem like he was this poor closeted gay youth that we should have pity for when not many young poor closeted gay youths have the time, money, and resources like he did. Most poor young closeted gay men while in college don't get to take an overseas trip on a whim just so they can explore their sexuality privately. Even him being able to quit his lucrative and cushiony NYC stock market job so he could join ACT UP without worrying about his rent, bills, or where his next meal was coming from, I mean c'mon. How can he not have acknowledged his privilege? It's just outrageous. He may have been closeted and only just learned of his HIV diagnosis and the fears, worries, and uncertainties that come with it, but he was still able to travel all over the world, possibly move to Amsterdam, and was even able to afford paying LAW SCHOOL TUITION for his then-lover! Again, as if everyone does this. Like, he wanted it both ways, he wanted sympathy for how closeted he was in this macho heterosexual world of cishet toxic masculinity while also flaunting his privilege, wealth, and resources at the same time. He later says he was "lucky" - that in and of itself made me feel uncomfortable, as he's not only unwilling to admit his privilege, but is also downplaying it. That felt unfair, as "luck" had nothing to do with it, his wealth and white privilege is what helped him in ways that others can only imagine. I'm not saying that he had to mention how gay men of color could only dream of his life, or how different his life would have been if he were poor, or if he were Black, Asian, or Latino, or trans, or even disabled, but it just would have been nice if he could have acknowledged it in general, instead of being smug by calling it luck. By not doing so, Peter inadvertently comes across as woefully out of touch. The issue with this, in turn, is that it also creates a disconnect and a distance from the reader, as so many of us might go hmm, Peter, while that's fabulous for you, and we love that for you, but that's not really the lived experience of most queer people, not even for white and cis queer people like you, so while it's really nice to know that you had a great time, most of us can't relate.
Despite those jarring flaws, however, it didn't completely spoil my experience from reading this important book. More than ever, we should still keep reading about ACT UP and the HIV/AIDS epidemic that's still taking so many lives, and especially in a time where today most folks treat HIV/AIDS as if it's a virus of the past when there's still no cure. Yes, we have PreP and people are living longer with the virus, but we should still be fighting for a cure and for HIV/AIDS treatment to be accessible to everyone, not only to a rich few, and not so that greedy corporations and pharmaceutical companies can leech off HIV/AIDS patients. Peter Staley is an inviting and powerful force, be it on screen, or on the page, and even online on his Twitter, and his story is worth hearing. He still has and will always have my respect. While this is no means a quintessential book on learning about the AIDS epidemic and ACT UP, and arguably there are better books on the topic, it's still a great addition to learning more about Peter Staley, ACT UP, and queer history itself.
January 24, 2022
Peter Staley has always been one of my heroes. I was working at GMHC during much of his time with ACT UP. I'm so glad he wrote this book and told his story. His passion and fearlessness was and is extraordinary and we are all the better for it.
This book captures so beautifully the unique feeling of that time. Not just the facts about protests, politicians and who did what but the actual feeling of the times - the fear, the courage, the sexual energy - it's all there.
Just read it. It's history you should know.
This book captures so beautifully the unique feeling of that time. Not just the facts about protests, politicians and who did what but the actual feeling of the times - the fear, the courage, the sexual energy - it's all there.
Just read it. It's history you should know.
November 1, 2021
Sincerely mindbogglingly good.
I knew some of this history but for much of it I was too young. I was born in 1975 so much of the AIDS crisis passed before I had any awareness of it. I remember Ryan White being shunned from his school and his home and mother being attacked and I remember how horrible I felt for him. Little did I know that I would face my own reckoning in 2007 when I was diagnosed positive for the HIV virus. While I could never compare my experience with the hero's of this era, I did and continue to face the stigma of being positive. Ironically, it's mostly from gay men that continue to perpetuate the stigma as well as the general populace. Peter Staley is a national treasure and all Americans should read this and be horrified at their own ignorance and hatred of PLWH (people living with HIV and AIDS.)
I knew some of this history but for much of it I was too young. I was born in 1975 so much of the AIDS crisis passed before I had any awareness of it. I remember Ryan White being shunned from his school and his home and mother being attacked and I remember how horrible I felt for him. Little did I know that I would face my own reckoning in 2007 when I was diagnosed positive for the HIV virus. While I could never compare my experience with the hero's of this era, I did and continue to face the stigma of being positive. Ironically, it's mostly from gay men that continue to perpetuate the stigma as well as the general populace. Peter Staley is a national treasure and all Americans should read this and be horrified at their own ignorance and hatred of PLWH (people living with HIV and AIDS.)
January 1, 2022
I have been aware of Staley and his AIDS activism for years. I enjoyed finding out more about Peter Staley as a person, and finding common ground, even though I spent those early years of AIDS in Alabama. I had been a member of the AACTG Community Constituency Group several years after it was founded. So I especially appreciated learning about the activism that Staley and others did so that I could have a seat and a vote at the table later on. Finally, his gracious acknowledgment of the contributions of others, and his loving description of his complicated friendship with Dr Tony Fauci, show a humility that isn’t always evident in his public persona as an activist. I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you better, Peter Staley. Keep up the good work!
November 7, 2021
I’ve devoured Peter Staley’s magnificent memoir. NEVER SILENT, ACT UP and My Life in Activism. I couldn’t put it down! This is a must read, especially during these troubled times. As a long term survivor of HIV and someone who witnessed and participated in much of this history I’m so grateful for Peter and his courageous comrades in Act Up. Without their efforts I wouldn’t be here today. His writing is brisk, filled with gorgeous evocative details. I loved everything about this book. Especially, the Wall Street disruption chapter which is thrilling in its 007 like urgency. It completely pulled me in from the start. I experienced all the rage, sadness, frustration, fear and finally inspiration and hope from his incredible, selfless contribution to humanity. Brian Belovitch, author Trans Figured: My Journey From Boy to Girl to Woman to Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
December 18, 2021
I became fascinated with HIV/AIDS as a teenager in the mid-eighties and have followed Peter Staley as an activist for decades. Though I have read just about every book written about the AIDS epidemic, I learned some tidbits I had missed before. Peter Staley is a hero and after reading Never Silent, I feel like I know him.
July 6, 2025
ACT UP fascinates me since I watched 120bpm and I feel like we can still learn loads from them. Loved Staley's perspective and telling of his personal experience. Definitely a book worth reading!! cried a lot tho
December 21, 2025
This book is excellent! Highly recommended.
January 10, 2022
Really loved this one. Candid and informative it makes you feel like you could easily be friends with the author. Such rich history from a self-reflecting narrator. For all his resistance on the act of actively writing a book, Peter accomplishes something really special with an enticing voice and easy to read language. I hope he changes his mind about writing another.
June 6, 2025
Loved!!
December 17, 2021
Easily the best book I’ve read this year.
May 8, 2022
Fantastic memoir, very informative but also every time I was listening to their protesting tactics, I was stunned into silence lol I’m like 90 percent sure the 80’s was just a free for all and I’m 100 percent here for it
October 28, 2022
Peter Staley's story is one that should be read by every Queer person, by every activist, and frankly, by everyone. Self-coined as the "poster boy" of ACT UP, reading Staley's story from young child, to Wall Street suit, to AIDS activist and beyond was educational, informative, and inspiring. I became familiar with Staley after watching David France's "How to Survive a Plague" which shared a brief glimpse into his life, but his memoir really captures parts of the full story. As someone who is relatively well-researched on the AIDS epidemic, I still learned a lot from this book. Compared to other books on the same topic, which can sometimes feel academic and stiff (as important as those facts are...) I really enjoyed reading about this time and the birth of this Movement from Staley's personal perspective. It was a combination of AIDS history and Staley's history, both of which are important.
I also appreciated that this wasn't only a memoir about ACT UP, but his entire life in activism. The theme "Never Silent" seems to have rung true for all of Staley's life up until this point, not only during ACT UP. It gave a broader perspective to the movement, and also focused on the "downfall" of ACT UP, which I haven't seen depicted in too many other books (if any). The way Staley navigated through the eventual treatment of HIV, and talking about challenging topics within the community (like survivor's guilt, meth addiction, and a "second silence") is admirable. Staley wasn't afraid to dive deep into topics that may make some feel uncomfortable, but I think it added a genuine element of story telling.
Also, reading this during/after the COVID-19 pandemic was interesting, given the number of times Dr. Fauci was referenced in this book (there was a whole chapter dedicated to their relationship). It also gave a deeper perspective on Fauci and his work within the Movement, and how he also grew to fame and acclaim within the National Health space.
I so appreciate Peter Staley for sharing his story with us...I read it initially with an interest in the story, and then as a responsibility to my community, and left with feeling a call to action.
I also appreciated that this wasn't only a memoir about ACT UP, but his entire life in activism. The theme "Never Silent" seems to have rung true for all of Staley's life up until this point, not only during ACT UP. It gave a broader perspective to the movement, and also focused on the "downfall" of ACT UP, which I haven't seen depicted in too many other books (if any). The way Staley navigated through the eventual treatment of HIV, and talking about challenging topics within the community (like survivor's guilt, meth addiction, and a "second silence") is admirable. Staley wasn't afraid to dive deep into topics that may make some feel uncomfortable, but I think it added a genuine element of story telling.
Also, reading this during/after the COVID-19 pandemic was interesting, given the number of times Dr. Fauci was referenced in this book (there was a whole chapter dedicated to their relationship). It also gave a deeper perspective on Fauci and his work within the Movement, and how he also grew to fame and acclaim within the National Health space.
I so appreciate Peter Staley for sharing his story with us...I read it initially with an interest in the story, and then as a responsibility to my community, and left with feeling a call to action.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2021
Great companion piece to Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 and How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS. Loved the more personal perspective, as well as the story of Staley's incredible life so far.
October 23, 2022
I originally had many quotes that I wanted to include in this review, but I procrastinated writing the review and had to return the book to the library. It's really hard to put into words how this book made me feel. It open my eyes to so much of the gay history of the 80s, 90s, and 00s. It reminded how much closer to our present moment the beginning of the AIDS crisis was, and how every aspect of the current gay culture has been shaped, and ignored, the AIDS crisis. This book was also a beautiful memoir, Peter Staley's is inspirational in the many ways in which it is quite normal, he was gay, got diagnosed with AIDS, and with what was left of what he thought was going to be a very short life, he fought hard for fairer drug pricing and better AIDS research. His description of ACTUP's strongest moments, their take-over of Wall Street and the NIH stand among them, and Peter's crucial role in them can't be understated. Perhaps even more fascinating was his description of the splintering in ACT UP, his rise and downfall as ACT UP's poster boy, and just the sheer difficulty and immense joy in organizing. I will be rereading this book again soon, and then over and over again. Thank you so much Peter Staley for writing this. I believe the world is better for it
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