An Interview with Lesléa Newman, author of Too Far Away to Touch.

Too Far Away to Touch was written after my friend Gerard Rizza died of AIDS and I was inconsolable. We had been roommates at Naropa Institute, a school in Boulder, Colorado, where we had studied poetics with writer Allen Ginsberg. Gerard was 32 years old.

When I feel such enormous grief, I am moved to a childlike state, a state of being utterly inconsolable and having a huge howl of grief inside. All I could do to console myself was to write a children's story. Something happens to me in the process of writing: I feel better. It also felt very satisfying to put that book into the world, because many children have lost a loved one to AIDS. My friend Gerard had nephews and this book was read to these children who were so important to him. That was most satisfying for me.

The message of the book? Love never dies. A person you love may die, but they will always be inside of you and as you remember them, you keep them alive in your heart. There is also a message of hope, because Uncle Leonard is still alive at the end of the book. More often than not, characters living with AIDS in children's books die at the end of the story. This book was written in 1992, and published before many of the new drugs and drug combinations were developed. Today, because of these advancements, I am more hopeful. And while in the story Uncle Leonard says there is no cure for AIDS, there is still hope for him and his niece, Zoe.

Another more subtle message in the book is regarding Uncle Leonard and his companion, Nathan. I purposely did not make a big deal about this relationship. There are people who have companions of the same gender and their love is the same as people who have companions of the opposite gender. There is a message here about how Uncle Leonard and Nathan love each other and take care of each other. Clearly Uncle Leonard and Nathan are part of Zoe's family. Her mom sends her off with them to have an adventure. This is Zoe's family. Inclusion and respect for each other is present in their lives; it is not questioned.

I see this book as being particularly meaningful for children who have relatives who are sick or have died from AIDS or any other disease. For children who have no experience with people with AIDS, or people with a serious illness, the story puts a human face on illness: Uncle Leonard is a person with a full life, he loves his niece, and he happens to be sick.

Children can get involved in helping people living with AIDS in many ways. With adult support, children can volunteer with people who need company and who want to be read to. Children can help walk dogs, deliver meals, and provide companionship. For children, this would be a wonderful opportunity to get to know a person whom they might not meet otherwise, and to do something that is helpful.