Background
At the time of publication, the author, Stephen Lewis, aged 67 and living in Toronto, worked as the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, a position he held since 2001. Previously he worked as the Deputy Director of United Nations Children's Fund (1994–99), as the Canadian ambassador to the UN (1984–88), and as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (1970–79). After Lewis optimistically accepted the Special Envoy position he became increasingly distraught by the devastation he witnessed. Already a skilled orator, he became more vocal on the topic. He founded the Stephen Lewis Foundation, hosted Oprah Winfrey as she toured Africa, and was the subject of two award-winning documentaries by The Nature of Things, entitled Race Against Time and The Value of Life. Meanwhile he was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada, awarded the Pearson Medal of Peace, and named Canadian of the Year (2003) by MacLean's magazine. In 2005, he was invited to deliver the annual series of Massey Lectures from which the book, Race Against Time, was adapted. He wrote the text in early to mid- 2005 and delivered the lecture series in October when the book was released. Lewis wrote the book, not as an employee of the UN, but as a citizen concerned with the world's response to the AIDS challenge in Africa.
Read more about this topic: Race Against Time: Searching For Hope In AIDS-Ravaged Africa
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