Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned
by Judd Winick
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Book Summary Information
Author: Judd WinickEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-31
ISBN: 0805089640
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Book Reviews of Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned
Book Review: Perhaps Winick's Most Important Work
Summary: 5 Stars
Back in the early '90s, MTV still occasionally showed music videos, but even then, it was hit or miss. The network hadn't yet been taken over by reality programming, but the seeds were there in one compelling show: The Real World. It was a novel idea to throw seven random young (and good looking) strangers into a house in a fabulous city and force them to "get real"...meaning live together and try to get along as best as possible.
The third season of the show, set in San Francisco, debuted in 1994. It's hard to imagine, now, after all the events of the past 16 years, that it was at all noteworthy or groundbreaking that this particular season would feature an HIV-positive young man named Pedro Zamora. But it was, and it still is. It's a testament to Pedro's heroism that his efforts in part helped us look back now, from the perch of 2010, and think that this is somehow quaint, an outdated view or prejudice. Or maybe that's giving our current world too much credit. Either way, it's definite that Pedro was one of a kind, a special guy with a rare kind of light that briefly but brightly shone on TV and through it, throughout the world.
Into that setting also came Judd Winick, an unassuming illustrator. He was always the least flashy of the group, which is perhaps one of the reasons he and Pedro got along so instantly and so well. Winick would go on to become a comic-book writer (Green Arrow, The Outsiders, Exiles, Batman, and more), but perhaps his most important work would be detailed here in Pedro & Me.
It's a sobering thought to realize just how much life Pedro missed out on when he died in his early 20s. Winick spares none of the details here, which makes it particularly hard (but real and important and honest). It's wrenching on two levels: Watching the disease take its physical toll on Pedro and its emotional toll on Judd. All of it is unflinching. Pedro deserves that, and Winick accomplishes it.
Pedro & Me succeeds as both an educational tool (Pedro had devoted his life to HIV and AIDS education, so it's a fitting extension of that work) but also as a simple memoir about two young men, one straight and one gay, becoming friends in a very unlikely spotlight. The entire experience is just as powerful now as it was back in the mid-'90s, when we all learned of the exceptional Pedro Zamora.
-- John Hogan
Summary of Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned
Pedro Zamora changed lives.When the HIV-positive AIDS educator appeared on MTV?s The Real World: San Francisco, he taught millions of viewers about being gay and living with AIDS. Pedro?s roommate on the show was Judd Winick, who created Pedro and Me to honor Pedro Zamora, his friend and teacher and an unforgettable human being. First published in 2000, Pedro and Me was a graphic novel pioneer. Its moving portrait of friendship and its urgent message have already reached thousands of people. Now, Pedro?s story is reintroduced to today?s graphically focused culture with a gorgeous, eye-catching new cover and a foreword from Judd.
Without the third season of MTV's The Real World, set in San Francisco, Pedro Zamora would have lived and died quietly, a Cuban immigrant who became an AIDS educator after his HIV diagnosis at the age of 17. But in 1993, he and seven others were selected for the cast of The Real World, and Pedro's battle with AIDS, his irrepressible good nature, his love affair with Sean Sasser, and his growing friendship with his housemates would become public knowledge. When Pedro succumbed to complications of AIDS in November 1994, news of his death was carried on every major network and made international headlines. Thousands of letters arrived from around the world. Even President Clinton applauded Pedro's bravery in speaking out to young people about AIDS prevention and self-esteem. Judd Winick, a struggling cartoonist, had also been chosen for that season of The Real World, and became Pedro's roommate and close friend. His cartoon memoir tells the story of their friendship and serves as a vivid memorial to a bright-eyed and gifted man who made more of his 22 years of life than most of us could make of 80. --Regina Marler
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