Sheepishly, Kramer says a simple thankyou, but can’t resist a shot at what he perceives to be the sorry state of ACT UP. “No speech, no speech!” They know him too well. “For good luck.” With the cake, a chorus of “Happy Birthday” goes up from the group, many of whom are H.I.V.-positive, many of whom may never be 57, or 47, or even 37. “I’ll wear it opening night,” he says softly. A woman who worked at the Public Theater during the play’s triumphant run gives the birthday boy a tie. (Though their happiness belies it, the husband is, in fact, H.I.V.-positive both heterosexual, they met through the People with AIDS Coalition.) A young man gives a beautifully framed photograph of Kramer with Brad Davis, the actor who starred in Kramer’s landmark AIDS play, The Normal Heart, and who died of AIDS last year. One of the few women-a tall blonde doctor-approaches with her new husband, to offer a wedding picture. Now come the greetings, and the presents, as Kramer takes his place at the head of the table. He is 57, an age he did not expect to reach four years ago, when he learned of his H.I.V. “He’s got to make an entrance.” Finally a cheer goes up, and a beaming, healthy-looking Larry Kramer, white-bearded and with a bit of a paunch, basks in the applause. “Of course he’ll be late,” says one of the few older friends. Nearly 65 of them, mostly ACT UPers in their 20s with short-cropped hair and tell-tale earrings, sit Last Supper-style at a crazily long table in a Greenwich Village restaurant, awaiting the man of the hour.
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