Howard "Kvetch" Shapiro
by Paul Petersen

"Ten years ago I received the most unusual fan letter and picture request of my career, and that goes back a long way and covers a lot of mail. Howard "Kvetch" Shapiro wrote me from New York demanding (Yep, that's the word) a particular kind of photo; "Something from your personal collection, if you please, and not one of those assembly line headshots."

Howard's letter was, as Don Imus says, "laugh out loud funny." He told me he had AIDS and was writing about this disease in the tough New York press. When I read the column he'd sent along I found myself laughing even harder. I carried on a pen-pal relationship with Howard right up to his death four years later in 1996.

Howard's remarkable collection of highly personal celebrity photographs will be on display the night of September 21st 2002 as those of us who considered this witty young man a friend gather in his honor to benefit the Rivington House where skilled nursing is available for HIV/AIDS sufferers.

Former Kid Actors have a soft spot for anyone who can make lemonade out of life's lemons, and Howard's amusing commentary on the lethal disease that took his life is a celebration of the human spirit."