Fred Castro
Fred Allen Castro
27 Jun 1947 - 02 Oct 1992
Clubs & Associations
Recollections
MOVIN’ ON
Fred Castro, a member of the Club since 1987, died on October 2, 1992 of AIDS. Some will remember Fred for his being a bit obnoxious, others will remember him for his outlandish costumes – like the one he wore for the Grand March in Phoenix. It precipitated an emergency meeting of the Times Squares Board of Directors right then and there, particularly since the indiscretion occurred on the debut of our new club shirts! But I remember Fred for a side of him that most people never got to know, which reflected in a very touching letter he wrote to me when my lover died of AIDS.
The last time I talked to Fred was at the Albuquerque convention. One morning I walked into a restaurant crowded with IAGSDC conventioneers and there he was sitting alone at a table for four. I joined him, in spite of his skeptical appearance. I reminisced about my first convention in Portland when Fred and I sat next to each other at the banquet. We had a lot of fun then, I must admit to the annoyance of others seated around us. This time there wasn’t much laughter. I suppose we both knew it would be Fred’s last convention. He talked about the burden of his illness and that he didn’t want it prolonged. He said he was not afraid of death, which reminded me of Fred’s opposing view to an article that appeared in the Newsletter: he stressed death to be a natural event and not a tragedy. Well, maybe so, Fred, but the tragedy as I see it, is that AIDS has taken away so many young lives, including yours.
— Tony DeFrance [1]
Memorial Panel
- 2UL | Times Squares
Photos
At Star Thru The Golden Gate, 1986
Sources
- ↑ Times Squared newsletter, v.8 no.3 (Nov 1992) p.2
