It is a time for reflection. Reflection brings sadness as well as other things to consider. I ponder the fate of this book: Will it affect people? Will it be lost on the dusty shelf of some library or will it enlighten people as to the benefits of hospice care for the person with AIDS? I hope the latter. It is 1992. Ten years ago, many Americans were healing their emotional wounds from Vietnam. The memory, sadness, and the emotional pain of that war, in which 53,000 American lives had been lost, was coming to an end for most of us. The 1980s were to be a time for healing. But a tragedy far greater than the Vietnam War quietly and blindly struck the American people with awesome power: our first case of AIDS was diagnosed.

In the decade since, I report to you sadly that over 130,000 American lives have been lost to this epidemic. It is estimated that one million Americans have been infected with the AIDS virus, most of whom do not know they carry it. When we think of the wars of the world, we think of great tragedies, great losses. There is no greater tragedy today than this horrible epidemic that is sweeping not only our country but the world. It is truly the "black plague" of the twentieth century. All that I can only offer now are words and advice for education, prevention, and the hope that soon we will have a vaccine and cure for this disease. This book revolves around my work with over 1,700 cancer and AIDS patients who have faced a terminal diagnosis. This work also focuses on my ex-periences in developing hospice programs for the person with AIDS throughout this country, the (former) Soviet Union, and Cuba. This book was written for caregivers, for people with AIDS, and for health professionals.

Recent news brought the tragic information that one of our leading NBA basketball stars and an American popular hero, Magic Johnson, has been infected with the AIDS virus, apparently through heterosexual contact. All at once, in one sweeping moment, the nation stood up and listened. A bolt of lightning struck the intellectual core of the American people. Could it be? Is this a disease that can affect and infect those of us who are heterosexual? We must face the fact that this is not just a disease specific to homosexuals, IV-drug users, or hemophiliacs, but one that threatens us all.

This is my seventh book. As a professor of medicine for fifteen years and now as a college dean of a state university in Minnesota, I write this book for those of you out there with an interest or concern for people with AIDS.