Norbert Joseph Gilmore

With deep sorrow, we write that Norbert Joseph Gilmore (BA, PhD, MD) died peacefully on June 8, 2024, after several weeks in the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, BC. His last days were filled with visits from his many friends and colleagues, some flying in from across Canada, and others calling from around the world.

Nobby, as he was affectionately known, was born in 1942 in Lowell, Massachusetts, and grew up in Burlington, Vermont. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree (1964) from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, he studied medicine at the University of Vermont, interrupting his studies there to do a Doctorate of Philosophy (1968) in pharmacology at the University of London where he conducted research with the Nobel Prize winner Sir John Vane. He returned to the University of Vermont to complete his Doctorate of Medicine (1970) and then was recruited by McGill University. He did his internship and residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital and was appointed to McGill’s Faculty of Medicine in 1975, becoming a Professor of Medicine in 1991 and a Professor Emeritus in 2010.

He has 150 publications as author, co-author or editor in pharmacology, allergy, immunology, issues related to drug use, prisons, immigration, and especially the clinical, ethical, legal, and policy aspects of HIV infection and AIDS. Perhaps best known for his pioneering work in the latter at the height of the AIDS epidemic, he has been a Director of the McGill AIDS Centre, a member of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law, and has directed or served on many university, provincial, national, and international committees, including being Chair of Health Canada’s National Advisory Committee on AIDS from 1983 to 1989. His academic contributions include lecturing on HIV and AIDS topics in Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia, India, and elsewhere.

Nobby also loved art. After retirement in Victoria, B.C., he was on the Board of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Before that in Montreal, he had a studio in an old industrial building in Pointe Saint Charles where he created objects d’art from discarded metal, wood, glass, and stone on the streets, which he and his beloved dog Buddy found walking in Montreal neighbourhoods. These were featured in a one-man exposition, and displayed in his friends’ homes, his Montreal home, and his Victoria apartment overlooking the harbor along with his collection of huge, avant-garde, and sometimes quirky paintings. In his last few days of life, his favorites surrounded his bed. He was going out in Gilmore style. And style he had. Often it was food. He loved planning dinners, sharing recipes, cooking, and serving while wearing his big chef’s hat. He loved telling jokes and stories galore. Though many were repeats, something new would also pop up and provoke a laugh.

More than his enormous erudition and style, it was Nobby’s generosity and humanity. His total dedication to his AIDs patients was rewarded with their affection, admiration and absolute trust in him. In fact, everyone with whom he interacted

experienced something special that they could not forget. Through his many health crises, beginning with a fall down an elevator shaft at his Montreal studio that left him with serious mobility problems for life, one never heard a complaint but rather his concern for you, your partner, your kids, your parents, your dog, your cat. Nobby seemed to find strength in injuries that would have left others devastated and demoralised. He was always reaching out, even to strangers, inviting them to his fabulous parties, turning them into friends for life, and creating a sense of community. As his health deteriorated even more and blindness crept in, his cheerfulness and optimism still beamed into the looming shadows, lighting up those around him. He was everyone’s beacon, and that is why they gathered around him or called him from afar, so grateful for his friendship and inspiration of how to live life to the fullest and compassionately for others, even when in decline.

It is very difficult to capture Nobby’s unique and rare spirit in words. One close friend summed up Nobby as “an amazing person, humble, immensely kind, completely trustworthy, courageous – particularly on behalf of vulnerable people – the most loyal of friends, and brilliant.” An important source of Nobby’s happiness was making other people happy. He would describe his most successful entertaining as “everyone was happy.” Nobby showed us that happiness also likes company.

Rest in Peace, our dear friend. We will miss you dreadfully. A celebration of life will be announced.