Randall, Robert William

From Gay History
Jump to: navigation, search

NAME: R. William "Bill" Randall


Biography: [William Randall, 38,]

Source: Donna St. George, Inquirer Staff Writer Robert William Randall, 38, who made his fight against AIDS a broader battle to help others suffering from the disease and became a founder of the first AIDS support group in Philadelphia, died Saturday at his Center City home, 26 months after he was diagnosed with the terminal illness. Known to most as Bill, the blue-eyed, bearded Mr. Randall had indeed become a leader in the campaign to call attention to the AIDS epidemic. He delivered lectures and testified at hearings and marched atPublished on 1988-11-29, Page C09, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)


Picture: (Insert picture if available)


Date of Birth: 12/17/1950

Date of Death (delete if non-applicable): 11/26/1988

Age at Death (delete if non-applicable): 37


Employment: Au Courant, Philadelphia-area insurance companies


Social/Political Groups he attends/attended: Act Up Philadelphia, co-founder of We the People


Bars/Clubs he attends/attended:


His friends include: (Among many others, Linda Solomon)


Testimonials to him (add a space before a new testimonial): Although Robert WIlliam Randall may have been the name on his birth certificate, anyone who knew Bill Randall called him Bill, on pain of being glared at by his occasionally piercing blue eyes. Bill and I first met in the early '80s at Au Courant, where he was the office manager and I was one of the weekly's freelancers. A transplant to Philadelphia from Florida, Bill had headed north in the late '70s after coming out. A fair-complexioned blond who often joked about being a redneck and whose southern drawl was always in evidence, Bill was smart and funny, sex-positive and gay-positive, politically active and aware. All of us who knew him were lucky that we did...