wendynerdwrites:

“Word that three powerful Hollywood Executives had come to see Ashman rippled through the ward. Ashman laid in bed, blind and frail. Geffen knelt by the bed and held Ashman’s hand. ‘You’re going to recover,’ he said. ‘This is going to be cured. A miracle will happen. You bave to believe, just as you have inspired so many to believe in magical things. You must never give up. And I want you to know that you are surrounded by people that love you. They couldn’t be sure that Ashman could hear or understood the words, but his eyes filled with tears. A week later, Ashman died. He never saw the finished print of Beauty and the Beast.”

– James B. Stewart, Disney War, on composer Howard Ashman’s death by AIDS. Ashman composed, with Alan Menken, the music for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.