AIDS: The Lost Voices
BRIAN: 1987 [Photo: Andrew Rankin]
Brian Nugent was diagnosed with AIDS in October 1986 at the age of 33. Originally from Waterford, Ireland, he trained as a cordon bleu chef in Paris before relocating to Sydney, Australia, in 1979, where he carved out a career in journalism as social editor for Sydney & City Magazine and later Panache.
In 1987 Brian began sharing his experience of living with AIDS through a collaboration with journalist Jill Margo; together they devised a regular column for The Sydney Morning Herald that chronicled the personal, social and political dimensions of the epidemic in Australia, giving a public voice to a deeply private struggle at a time of widespread fear and misunderstanding. Forty years on, Brian’s diary stands as a stark, intimate testament to that era — a record that not only documents the daily realities of illness and care but also interrogates the cruelty of stigma.
His entries perform a dual work: they commemorate the quiet courage of one man confronting mortality, and they demand renewed attention to the lessons of compassion, advocacy and collective responsibility that remain just as important today.
Brian Nugent’s ‘An AIDS Diary’ was written by journalist Jill Margo and published by
Given the social circles Brian moved in, he is occasionally mentioned as being at some glittering event, glass of champagne in hand moving effortlessly between polished soirées and more intimate, indulgent events.
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