Paul Monette
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Author and HIV/AIDS Activist

Paul Monette was an award-winning writer, best known for his novels and memoirs on same-sex relationships and HIV/AIDS.

Monette was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1967, he graduated from Yale University and moved to Boston. He came out in his late 20’s, and met Roger Horwitz, his partner for over 20 years. While working as a teacher, Monette focused on his career as a poet.

In 1977, Monette and Horwitz moved to West Hollywood. Monette wrote screenplays and novelizations of films, while writing his own novels and poetry. He wrote “Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll” (1978) and “The Long Shot” (1981), both of which received critical acclaim. 

In 1988, Monette’s “Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir” chronicled the last months of Horwitz’s life, from his diagnosis to his death from AIDS. The following year, Monette wrote “Love Alone: Eighteen Elegies for Rog,” which dealt with the loss of his partner to AIDS. The success and impact of these books launched him as a national AIDS spokesman.

Monette’s memoir, “Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story,” explores his struggle for identity as a gay man in a homophobic culture, finding love and carving out a life as a committed same-sex partner. The book earned him the 1992 National Book Award.

The award-winning film “Paul Monette: On the Brink of Summer’s End” (1996) documents the last years of Monette’s life.

In 1995, he founded the Monette-Horwitz Trust, ensuring future activism by funding individuals and organizations dedicated to the eradication of homophobia. Monette died later that year from AIDS-related illness, leaving behind his partner of five years, Winston Wilde.