Raymond Nocera:  

After St. Mary’s, I attended the University of Toledo where I immediately became involved in the Student Government as the Governor of Entertainment. Perfect! For the next three years, I was responsible for the on-campus concerts and entertainment. What fun! Simon & Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol, Linda Ronstadt, Tim Buckley, Blood, Sweat & Tears, The James Gang and a host of others. The concerts were great and the parties afterwards were legend. When I returned to the East Coast, I did not venture into the music business as expected but jumped into the fashion industry as a buyer for a small boutiques called the Tenement owned by Bond clothing, which was eventually purchase by the Gap. From there, I went into garment manufacturing with a friend. We made high fashion jeans (à la Gloria Vanderbilt—Jordache), which kept me running back and forth between NYC, NJ, Europe and the Far East. In 1980, I switched gears again and ventured into publishing as the business manager of a firm that published TheaterWeek, Opera Monthly, The New York Native & Christopher Street Magazine. The New York Native was the first publication (before the New York Times) to begin covering the AIDS epidemic. Boy, did that ever open my eyes to the power struggles, the dishonesty and complacency within the CDC, NIH and the West Wing… I’m sure some day the real truth about this will come out afte...Expand for more