Pedro and Me
Pedro and Me by Judd Winick
"You are eighteen years old. You get up in front of a thousand people--your classmates, your friends, basically the people who make up your entire existence--and announce, 'I'm HIV positive.'"
Told entirely in sequential art, here is the story of the life-changing friendship between the author, a cartoonist from Long Island, and Pedro Zamora, an HIV-positive AIDS activist, which was filmed day by day on MTV's Real World San Francisco.
As a speaker and educator, a guest on many talk shows (including Oprah), and when his tragic death received front-page coverage in the press, Pedro taught a generation that AIDS was not a punishment for moral defects or a mere killer that reduced humans to wraiths. Rather, he showed how those afflicted with the disease could live and love nobly with intelligence, humor and great humanity. Judd Winick's compelling memoir allows each of us to experience the vitally important message Pedro brought us.
Inspiring, moving, informative, and instantly accessible, Pedro and Me could become one of the books that defines a generation.
Posted by Topher McCulloch at 09:40 PM | Comments (0) | Fall 2006 | Pedro and Me
Shhhhh....
We all have secrets. Pedro from Pedro and Me had few secrets. He led his life openly. However, he wasn't straightforward right away when revealing that he was gay. Instead, Pedro hinted by talking about clothes, etc. Pedro found Judd and Pam to be those people that he could open up to and tell his secrets. Who do you reveal your secrets to? Why?
Posted by Natalie Senske at 07:34 PM | Comments (10) | Pedro and Me
Word Association
Before you view our movie, please take a look at these words and think about the first thing that comes to mind. Are you reinforcing a stereotype? Post a reflection and let us know after you watch the video what you think about your reactions compared to others on the UMD campus. What do you think Pedro would say to some of our classmates?
MTV
Real World San Francisco
Shingles
Pedro Zamora
Love
Death
AIDS
Purple
Liberal
Rainbow
Gay
Homosexual
By Cassandra Rice and Emily Haine
Posted by Emily Haine at 07:50 PM | Comments (8) | Pedro and Me
Remembering Pedro
Pedro and Me is a poignant literary novel about a young man faced with AIDS. The story shows how the disease changed his life and pushed him to speak about the disease. Pedro's message went well beyond AIDS. He showed people what it meant to live life to its fullest and love others with a generosity rarely seen. He reached people all over the world and was greatly missed when he passed away.
How would knowing that you have a terminal illness change your life? What would your message be?
Posted by Amanda Powers at 03:10 PM | Comments (9) | Pedro and Me
the Media and Pedro
The nation mourned after the death of Pedro Zamora in the story Pedro and Me. News stations
around the country were reporting on his story and about his tragic death. what
role does the media play in honoring or wrongly depicting stories like Pedro's? In what ways are there certain stories that shouldn't be covered in the media?
By Jayme Bennett and Anna Hoffman
Posted by Jayme Bennett at 09:20 PM | Comments (7) | Pedro and Me
Aids Information Meeting
While reading Pedro and Me you read about stereotypes and misconceptions of people with AIDS. Today, there are still people that still don't understand the AIDS virus completely. Was there anything in the story that you found to be new information on AIDS? Do you know anyone, or have you seen anyone who still have stereotypes of people with AIDS?
Posted by Matt Evensen and Sarah Peterson.
Posted by Matthew Evensen at 06:34 PM | Comments (0) | Pedro and Me