John-Manuel Andriote, patient advocate.

The Health Design Podcast

John-Manuel Andriote has written about health and medical issues since the mid-1980s. He has specialized in reporting on HIV-AIDS since earning a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 1986. Kirkus Reviews called his award-winning University of Chicago Press book VICTORY DEFERRED: How AIDS Changed Gay Life in America “the most important AIDS chronicle since Randy Shilts’ AND THE BAND PLAYED ON.” Andriote has served as a communication consultant for U.S. government public health agencies, and as an adjunct university communications and journalism instructor. A man of many interests, Andriote’s other books include HOT STUFF: A Brief History of Disco; THE ART OF FINE CIGARS; TOUGH LOVE: A Washington Reporter Finds Resilience, Ruin, and Zombies in His ‘Other Connecticut’ Hometown; WILHELMINA GOES WANDERING, “a fable for kids ages 5 to 105,” based on the true story of a runaway cow in Connecticut; and, most recently, STONEWALL STRONG: Gay Men’s Heroic Fight for Resilience, Good Health, and a Strong Community. Andriote since 2017 has written the “Stonewall Strong” blog on resilience for Psychology Today magazine. He has been a frequent guest speaker, expert news source, guest writer, and patient advocate since “coming out publicly” about his 2005 HIV diagnosis. In 2021, Andriote relocated from his native state of Connecticut to Atlanta, Georgia, where he holds a full-time position as senior writer for Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.