Hugo M. Leckey; Ventura Writer, AIDS Activist

Hugo M. Leckey, an author, playwright and longtime AIDS activist, died at his home at Solimar Beach in Ventura on Monday. He was 58.

“He was very involved in public health and donated enormous amounts of his time to volunteer and to educate all of us,” said Vicki Chandler, executive director of the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation.

In 1990, Leckey organized the first HIV CARE Consortium in Ventura County, which now disburses funds to health service agencies throughout the county.

He was involved in the AIDS Partnership and was appointed by the county’s Board of Supervisors to the HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee. He chaired the committee in 1997.

He was instrumental in the start of Christopher Place and AIDS CARE, two county organizations that assist people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS.

Through financial contributions and grant writing, Leckey helped with the expansion of Ventura County Medical Center’s Immunology Clinic, which opened in 1989.

Leckey was born July 8, 1940, in County Down, Holywood, Northern Ireland. He moved to California in 1958 and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Cal State L.A.

In 1973, he published his first book, “A Set for Edwin Honig.”

He co-authored two photography books on Hollywood film history, “Grand Illusions,” published in 1973; and “A World of Movies” in 1974.

“Immaculate Heart,” Leckey’s play about the conflict in the 1960s between the Sisters of the Order of the Immaculate Heart and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, premiered in 1985.

Leckey is survived by his brother, Carson Jefferson of Ventura.

There will be a wake at Leckey’s home for family and friends from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Donations can be made in Leckey’s name to the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation AIDS Case Management Fund in Oxnard.

Ted Mayr Funeral Home is handling cremation arrangements.