THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511050063
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Andy Walker wasn't the kind of guy who wanted sympathy.
In a recent letter to friends and former clients, he wrote of his hope.
``AIDS has certainly changed my life, but I'm very lucky. I've had support almost everywhere I've turned. . . . You know me. Nothing ever slows me down, just another hurdle I have to cross.''
That attitude may be why Walker was the top fund-raiser last year for the Hampton Roads AIDS Walk for Life, pulling in $927. He ended up getting some of that back later when his insurance for prescription drugs ran out.
Walker, 32, planned to walk this year, but he died Oct. 25.
Thanks to letters Walker sent before his death, he may be the top fund-raiser again today, when the annual walk is scheduled to be held in Norfolk. As of Wednesday, Walker had raised $1,800.
Among those people walking today will be his parents, his brother and his two sisters, all down from Chincoteague.
Walker grew up on the island, swimming, boating, making tents and forts in the branches of trees.
His younger brother became a fisherman. His sisters also stayed on the island. But Andy was never a typical Chincoteager, says his mother, Nora Walker.
He was artistic. He had a marvelous sense of style, could carry off sharp outfits that would have seemed too much on someone else. He even lost the island brogue.
It may have been this incongruity that made him seek a life somewhere else.
He went to hairdressers school in Norfolk and did so well that his instructor, Norma Dorey-Cobb, hired him when she opened Changes, her Norfolk studio.
It wasn't so much his technical expertise - that came with experience.
It was his unstudied empathy, which enabled him to relate to clients from all walks of life.
``He just really never met a stranger,'' she said.
When he had an older woman in his chair, he became the perfect grandson.
When the client was a child, Andy chatted about whatever television shows, video games and music were the latest fads.
He could approach strangers in the grocery store and say impertinent things - and have them laughing and agreeing to visit the studio.
``He'd say, `I love your hair. Can I do it for you?' '' recalled Dorey-Cobb.
Andy valued friends who were witty and quick. ``If you didn't challenge him, you weren't his friend,'' recalls friend Chris Yanez.
He loved Norfolk, but part of him stayed with the island. He visited often.
He had to - only he could tame his brother's unruly locks, make his mother's wavy hair fall just so.
And when he developed AIDS-related cancer, he longed for the peace of home. He arranged to work part time in the office of his sister's medical transport business.
He began redoing a small house next to his parents' that had been a tourist rental.
He planted herbs and installed French doors so he could watch birds in the garden.
He had kept his illness hidden from his parents for years. Finally, he told them on Father's Day, sitting around the kitchen table.
``I guess he tried to spare our feelings,'' said Nora Walker. ``He should have known we would love him regardless.''
That's why his family, his co-workers from Changes, and a host of friends will be at the walk today.
``Everything I can do to help find a cure for AIDS, it's worth it all. I really feel that someday we will find a cure,'' said his mother. In the meantime, ``It's just a curse.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Last year, Andy Walker was the top fund-raiser for the walk, with
$927. This year, as of Wednesday, $1,800 was raised in his name.
Map
HAMPTON ROADS AIDS WALK FOR LIFE ROUTE
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