All the Young Men

by Kevin Carr O'Leary, Ruth Coker Burks · 2020

In 1986, 26‑year‑old Ruth Coker Burks, a single mother in Hot Springs, Arkansas, stumbles into a hospital room marked with a red door—a place nurses avoid, drawing straws to decide who will tend to the dying AIDS patient inside. Impulsively, Ruth steps in, caring for a young man whose last breath is a cry for his mother. Her compassion spreads like wildfire, and she becomes the community’s reluctant guardian for a growing number of AIDS‑stricken young men. From finding them housing and jobs to locating funeral homes willing to receive their bodies, Ruth transforms from ordinary mother to fierce activist, forging deep friendships amid fear and prejudice. "All the Young Men" is a moving true‑story of courage, love, and the power of one person’s empathy to change a crisis.