All the Young Men: How One Woman Risked It All To Care For The Dying

The book tells the story of Ruth Coker Burks, a 26-year-old woman who visits a friend in hospital in 1986 and decides to care for a young man with AIDS who is quarantined. Ruth becomes an accidental activist, providing housing, jobs, and funeral homes for her patients and advocating for their safety and visibility. She defies local pastors and the medical community to store rare medications and teaches sex education to drag queens. Ruth kept her story a secret for years, but at a time when it's more important than ever to stand up for those who can't, she has found the courage to have her voice heard.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 368 pages
\n Publication date: 05 August 2021
\n Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
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This book will make you fall in love with her just as much as I do.

Former President Bill Clinton's memoir is a powerful and inspiring tale of courage and compassion. It tells the story of a renegade Florence Nightingale who cares for the ill in a remarkable tale of compassion and combating prejudice.

The Sunday Times praised the book as "breath-taking courage and compassion," while the Guardian described it as "an extraordinary tale." The Evening Standard said that the book had a message that we all have to care for one another, not just in 1986, but today.

The story begins in 1986, when 26-year-old Ruth Coker Burks visits a friend in hospital and notices that the door to one of the patient's rooms is painted red. The nurses are reluctant to enter, drawing straws to decide who will tend to the sick person inside. Out of impulse, Ruth herself enters the quarantined space and begins to care for the young man who cries for his mother in the last moments of his life.

As word spreads in the community that Ruth is the only person willing to help the young men afflicted by the growing AIDS crisis, Ruth goes from being an ordinary young mother to an accidental activist. She forges deep friendships with the men she helps, working to find them housing and jobs, and then funeral homes willing to take their bodies, often in the middle of the night. She prepares and delivers meals to her guys, supplementing her own income with discarded food found in the dumpsters behind supermarkets. She defies local pastors and the medical establishment, who are skeptical of her unconventional approach to care.

Through her tireless efforts, Ruth becomes a beacon of hope for the men she cares for, and her story inspires others to join her in the fight against AIDS. The book is a testament to the power of compassion and the importance of caring for one another, even in the face of adversity. It is a beautiful and moving tribute to the human spirit and the resilience of the human heart.

\n Weight: 338g\n
Dimension: 129 x 197 x 32 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781409189121\n \n