Jackson friend to Ryan White

Michael Jackson gave three gifts to Ryan White, the Indiana teenager who captivated a national audience in the 1980s by speaking out about living with AIDS.

The first was a stereo, sent anonymously by Jackson in 1988, five years after White was diagnosed with AIDS at age 13 from a blood transfusion to treat hemophilia. Attached to the surprise stereo was a mysterious note and phone number. Jackson answered the call.

The second gift from Jackson was a red Mustang convertible, which White drove to Hamilton Heights High School in Cicero, Ind.

But the stereo and the wheels were small gestures compared to Jackson’s gift of friendship.

During a time of misunderstanding and rampant fear of AIDS, victims of the disease and their families were ostracized and outcast. White faced taunting at his middle school in Kokomo, Ind., which had previously banned him from attending for fear of contamination.

In the last two years of White’s life, he and Jackson were seen strolling the grounds of Neverland Ranch together, and White expressed his wish to appear in a music video with the acclaimed performer.

White died before his wish came true. But his story is preserved in Jackson’s ballad “Gone Too Soon,” released in December 1993, 3 1/2 years after White’s death. The song’s music video, viewable by YouTube search, shows TV news clips and newspaper articles about White’s crusade to change the face of AIDS.

White died the spring before he planned to attend IU. In response to his death, the IU Dance Marathon was created to raise funds in his honor. The money raised each year by the event goes to the Riley Hospital for Children.