Mon 6 Apr 2015 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Vern Keller Vern Keller, the long-serving librarian and researcher at the NZ AIDS Foundation, has died suddenly at his Auckland home. Keller, in his mid-50s, was one of the mainstays of the Foundation's work and had worked on stemming the HIV epidemic amongst gay and bi men for over two decades. "Everybody is a bit shocked, we're reeling from the news," says NZAF Executive Director Shaun Robinson. "Vern was a lovely, sweet man who was extremely hard-working but was content to remain in the background. He was astute and focused, he could cut through a lot of the fluff in the information out there regarding the changing nature of the HIV epidemic, he was able to focus in on, and give us access to, the key stuff. He had enormous skill and knowledge." Keller, a very private man, was not known to have had any serious medical problems. He was found dead in his west Auckland home yesterday but may have died as early as Friday. If you want to share any memories or thoughts of Vern with the wider glbti community email us at news@gaynz.com
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 6th April 2015 - 11:14am