George Whitmore was an American playwright, novelist, and activist. After graduating from Bennington College, Whitmore moved to New York City where he worked at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, a non-profit that advocated for low-income housing. His first play, The Caseworker, was produced at Playwrights Horizons in 1976. He went on to write two more plays, Flight/The Legacy and The Rights, which were produced in New York. In 1980, Whitmore's first novel, The Confessions of Danny Slocum was published. His second novel, Nebraska was published soon after. In 1988, Whitmore wrote a nonfiction book, Someone Was Here; Profiles in the AIDS Epidemic. He later wrote articles for magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, about his own experience as an AIDS patient. Whitmore passed away in 1989 due to complications from the disease.

Leland Moss was an American theatre director. After studying at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and the Dramatic Arts, Moss moved to New York. He worked with LaMama, Playwrights Horizons, the New York Shakespeare Festival. His acting credits include the Broadway production of Yentl, in which he played five characters.

Moss later moved to San Francisco, California, where he concieved his best known work, The AIDS Show, a series of songs, monologues and scenes. It was presented in other cities under the title Unfinished Business. A documentary about the play was shown in 1986. While in the Bay Area, Moss worked extensively with the Theater Rhinocerous, a gay and lesbian theatre, and was active in San Francisco's gay movement 

During his nine years in the Bay Area, Mr. Moss worked principally with the Theater Rhinocerous, a gay and lesbian theater, and was active in the city's gay movement. His play, Quisbies, as well as other works that he directed, explored the impact of AIDS on the gay community.

Moss died of AIDS at the age of 41.