by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
April 8 marks the anniversary of the press conference where Arthur Ashe announced that he had AIDS. The monumental event is documented in my book “On This Day In Tennis History” which you can read below, but is personally narrated in the upcoming autobiography by Ashe’s great friend Charlie Pasarell called “Serving First: Dreams Realized and Lessons Learned from Family, Friends and a Life in Tennis that is available for pre-order here https://a.co/d/00Vb2ccU
Pasarell and Ashe were teammates and roommates at UCLA and on the U.S. Davis Cup team in the 1960s and shared both a competitive rivalry and a deep mutual respect and friendship that reflected a pivotal era in tennis history. Beyond the court, both men were influential voices in shaping modern tennis—Ashe through his advocacy for civil rights and equality, and Pasarell through his role in helping founding the Indian Wells Masters and helping grow the professional tour with Ashe and their fellow professionals.
In “Serving First,” Pasarell dives deep into his life and times with Ashe and provides a background and commentary on Ashe’s announcement of his diagnosis of AIDS, that he contracted via a blood transfusion. In describing the emotional press conference in New York City on April 8, 1992, Pasarell described the wrenching end of Ashe’s statement to the media when he discussed his daughter Camera and wife Jeanne.
Wrote Pasarell in “Serving First,” “But as Arthur mentioned Jeanne and Camera, he was so taken by emotion that he couldn’t continue. That was one of the few times I’d ever seen Arthur break down. Jeanne, who was standing by his side, read the rest of the statement. As I tell what happened next, I can’t help but burst into tears. There was dead silence. No one said anything. People were crying. At last, there came a few questions, which Arthur answered with his customary grace. “I wouldn’t use the word tragedy,” said Arthur. “I would use personal crisis and I’ve been through so many that this is just another.”
The full summary of the April 8 Ashe press conference is detailed, as mentioned, below
1992 – Arthur Ashe holds an emotional press conference in New York to announce that he has contracted AIDS from heart surgery. Ashe, who had known he had the deadly disease for three years, said he decided to disclose the illness publicly only after learning that USA Today was preparing an article on his condition. Says the 48-year-old Ashe in his prepared statement, “Beginning with my admittance to New York Hospital for brain surgery in September 1988, some of you heard that I had tested positive for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. That is indeed the case.” Ashe says that he believed the virus was transmitted through a blood transfusion after heart surgery in 1983. Ashe states that he did not previously disclose his condition publicly to protect his privacy. Says Ashe, “Just as I’m sure everyone in this room has some personal matter he or she would like to keep private, so did we. There was certainly no compelling medical or physical necessity to go public with my medical condition.”
In Serving First, Pasarell shares a deeply human collection of stories about the people who shaped him— his tennis-champion parents; lifelong friends like Arthur Ashe; and legends like Pancho Gonzalez, who mentored Pasarell and later faced him in a five-hour Wimbledon epic. The 1967 U.S. No. 1, NCAA champion, and a five-time Davis Cup team member, Pasarell also co-founded the ATP, launched the National Junior Tennis League, and built the tennis tournament in Indian Wells into one of the sport’ s biggest events. But this memoir is about far more than stats or titles. It’ s a story of character, purpose, and moments that leave a mark— from traveling to Vietnam during the war to time spent with Robert F. Kennedy. Woven throughout are the words of wisdom from his father and Pasarell’ s lessons from a life grounded in love— for family, friendship, and the game that gave it all meaning.
