A Song for Olaf: A Memoir of Sibling Love at the Dawn of the HIV-AIDS Pandemic

By Jennifer Boulanger

A Heartfelt Account of Love and Loss

It's the summer of 1969. And ink on the headlines about the Stonewall Uprising is barely dry when the entire country is mesmerized by a musical revolution rocking Woodstock. Smack dab in the middle of it all is teenage Olaf, about to leave home for his first year at college in upstate New York.

Gay, gorgeous and musically gifted, Olaf is the only son of a close-knit Italian-American family. Ready or not, he will soon find himself surfing major waves of change empowered by the Gay Rights Movement of the 70s.

Unbeknownst to him and his younger sister, he's about to confront the deadly perils of entrenched homophobia and an emerging HIV-AIDS epidemic.

In this expansive memoir steeped in historicity, author Jennifer Boulanger gifts readers with a moving story about truth and lies, societal upheaval and families in crises, as seen through the lens of a loving sister and insightful chronicler.

Capturing Olaf's essence - his effervescent personality, his compassionate heart, his fun-loving spirit - in vivid detail, the author draws us in, enticing us to love Olaf as she did. She brings us Olaf in all his splendor, a man-child who was music in motion, bursting with unbridled joy and love, not only for his sister, but for life itself.

Readers hungry for that one special book, a book that breaks your heart and mends it again, that leaves you uplifted by a character's indomitable, ebullient spirit? You will find it in A Song for Olaf.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1955194416
• ISBN13: 9781955194419
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: Mnemosyne Books
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"