AIDS Mag Dies

Unlike Poz, a similar magazine based in New York that is published for profit and aimed at an affluent market Crump describes as “gay white men, downtown New York gay white men,” Plus Voice wanted to reach a broader audience. “We did some really aggressive outreach in poor minority communities,” Crump told us. This included a promise of free copies to any person or institution who asked for them. “It started out about 80 percent of the requests that came in were with a check, and that percentage really flip-flopped. By the end about 80 percent of the requests were for free. That was something we were not prepared for. It was a very expensive proposition.”

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Are they fighting over bones?

Three years ago the New York Times carried a piece on the changing nature of the American police force. A picture of Holton accompanied the article, which described him as a Vietnam veteran with a master’s degree. “Police work used to be like a laborer’s job,” he told the Times. “The only real requirement was you had to be tough. Now, that’s not what we’re looking for. You don’t spend that much of your time actually fighting crime. I’d say only 4 percent of the job.”

Presumed Dead is dedicated to “all the men and women of the Chicago Police Department, which is the best police department in the world.” The jacket describes Holton as “publishing’s top cop, the highest ranking active police officer currently turning his attention to novel writing.” This is language that might have persuaded Superintendent Matt Rodriguez that Holton’s focus was wavering, just as the false claim that Holton was “commander of the largest and most diverse district in Chicago” might have struck the superintendent as braggadocio.

Holton says he didn’t ask Rodriguez what outside interests, exactly, the superintendent had in mind. “I was in a state of shock when it happened.” But he can assume. Aside from being treasurer of the St. Jude Police League, a benevolence society, police work and writing are his life.