This excerpt is from the book “Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke,” which will be published by Philomel Books on March 2. Burke, a promising prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s, was gay and dealt with discrimination throughout his career. He died of AIDS complications in 1995.
LATE AT NIGHT, as Lutha Davis sat at the end of the bed and rubbed her brother’s feet, Glenn Burke would often begin softly singing a song that provided comfort in the midst of debilitating pain.