Mary, m'dear.... Didn't YOU get an award?  I've never seen anyone
as deserving as you  for an award for your continued efforts in
raising money for PD research, AND the awareness of the general
population (Uhhhhhh....unless it's that huge pink plastic "Pennies
for Parkies" pig ya brought to each and every event where ya
managed  to charm a few bucks from some of the most tight fisted
PWP I've ever met.

Hugs and love...

Barb Mallut
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-----Original Message-----
From: mary yost <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, June 30, 2000 12:49 AM
Subject: Forum -- my 2 cents on the Uncle Leo awards


>The full slate of "Uncle Leo" awardees at the Forum this year
were:
>
>Ken Aidekman, whose father had PD, and who has made the PD world
his life's
>work, is the last person to blow his own horn.  With Margot
Zobel, he
>founded the Parkinson's Unity Walk.  That effort has done so
much more
>than raise money, though it has done that well too.  Their
sturdy, no-bull,
>people-centered approach opened communications among people who
had
>sometimes riveled the northern Irish in their intransigence.
Thanks to Ken
>and Margot's leadership and support (along with Carol Walton's
and the
>Tuchmans'), we not only had APDA and NPF working together at the
LA
>Marathon.  Even UCLA and USC neurology were teammates. I think
that it was
>at the 1999 Parkinson's Unity Walk that Michael J. Fox made his
first
>public appearance, just before his Congressional testimony.  Viva
Ken and
>Margot!
>
>Margy Hansell, a tall woman supported by a beautifully crafted
walking
>stick, hasn't a mean bone in her body,  She puts a positive spin
on
>everything, including her own difficult situation with a mother
with PD, a
>mother-in-law with Alzheimers, her wonderfully supportive husband
who has
>suffered a series of strokes, not to mention her own "adventures"
with
>freezing and falling.  Her careers have included teaching,
working with
>deaf students, and practicing law as a trial lawyer.  She said of
all the
>things she's done, her PD work has been the most fulfilling.
She's such a
>pro as a support group leader, she gives training sessions in how
to do it
>with energy and passion.  It's a great adventure to go to
Congress with
>her.  Her PD can make her freeze when she confronts a revolving
door.  Her
>birdloving can  make her "freeze" effectively too when she HAS to
wait for
>some variation of thrush to fly off a branch so she can see the
markings on
>its wings.
>
>Nancy Martone is courage personified.  That she would even
attempt to
>travel is extraordinary, as the pain she suffers has her bent
doubled much
>of the time.  Through it there's a light glowing from her smile.
Reading
>and hearing Bob Martone express his love for  her melts your
heart because
>it's a love that's miles deeper than any ordinary romance.
>
>Lupe McCann was out of the room when the awards were announced:
buying
>Dentine for Michael J. Fox!  She's a savvy New Yorker who has
managed with
>a smile and a joke to keep the New Yorkers on track in their
advocacy
>efforts.  While we waited for her to return to the banquet hall,
Joan
>Samuelson told the story of a meeting in Congress that seemed to
be stalled
>in spite of everyone's best efforts.  Lupe clinched it when she
countered
>her senator's reluctance by simply saying, "Sir, THAT'S NOT
ACCEPTABLE."
>It became a phrase that the advocacy community adopted as a
standard to
>gauge the responses that politicians tried on us.  So when Lupe
arrived,
>Dentine in hand, Michael J. gently teased her tardiness by
saying, "That's
>not acceptable!"
>
>It's so satisfying to see such people's work acknowledged.
They're the
>ones with guts who aren't after the glory.  One theme that
surfaces over
>and over: what a paradox it is that having PD has led to meeting
such
>extraordinary people.  Or is it that we savor our friendships
more now?
>
>Mary Yost, age 52, diagnosed at 42
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