Lester Kinsolving

Charles Lester Kinsolving (December 18, 1927 – December 4, 2018) was an American political Episcopal priest, newspaper columnist, and talk radio host, previously heard on WCBM in Baltimore, Maryland. He is known for being the first White House correspondent to ask questions about the HIV/AIDS epidemic during the Reagan administration; he continued to ask questions about the disease even though press secretary Larry Speakes and some other correspondents made light of it; Speakes joked that Kinsolving had an "abiding interest in the disease" because he was "a fairy".^[1][2][3] Kinsolving first asked questions about AIDS in 1982; President Reagan would not acknowledge the epidemic until 1985, by which time more than five thousand people had died from the disease.^[4]

Kinsolving in 2002

By the 1970s, Kinsolving's column on religious matters was widely syndicated.^[5] Based at the San Francisco Examiner, he began an exposé on the Peoples Temple which was discontinued when the followers of Jim Jones responded by protesting and threatening lawsuits.^[6]

Kinsolving was an outspoken opponent of gay rights organizations – "the sodomy lobby," as he referred to them – mainly because of his religious beliefs.^[7]

Kinsolving had a minor role as Confederate General William Barksdale in a couple of films: Gettysburg and Gods and Generals.

Kinsolving died on December 4, 2018.^[8] He had numerous relatives in Episcopal Church leadership including a grandfather Lucien Lee Kinsolving.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Gettysburg	Brig. Gen. William Barksdale
2003	Gods and Generals		(final film role)

Further reading

• Kinsolving, Kathleen (daughter of Lester Kinsolving) (May 3, 2010). Gadfly, The Life and Times of Les Kinsolving – White House Watchdog. WND Books. ISBN 978-1935071808.