AIDS origin, literature and rememberance

There's an AP article I found today dating the origin of the AIDS virus to about 100 years ago according to the journal Nature.

This story reminded me of a class I took as an undergrad in, I think, 1988 or 89, The Literature of AIDS, taught by Professor Carol Kyle of the English Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

It was a groundbreaking class at the time, and it had a profound impact on me. I had to take a special topics class to meet the requirements of my English major, and a couple of options fit into my schedule -- one about African American literature, and Professor Kyle's class.

I'm embarrassed to say my thinking at the time was, "do I want to sit in class twice a week with a bunch of angry blacks, or a bunch of angry gays?" It turned out to be one of the most stimulating and enjoyable courses I ever took, and it put a human face, for me, on the victims of what was then a terrifying new disease.

I shared that with Prof. Kyle -- after I had graduated, she contacted me, and said she was writing a book on the course, and wanted to quote me in it. It seems she never finished the project, since she passed unexpectedly in 1995. I did not find that out until years later -- the University lost a great teacher and a great person.