To Barbara Patterson and John Cottingham,

I've been a mostly-lurking member of PIENO since Alan Bonander
introduced me to it in 1994.  I congratulate and applaud you for earning
this award.   I wanted to celebrate it by sending a message to the List
describing  how much Alan meant to my life and how he touched so many
others.

Searching the archives to refresh my  memories, I  found that you
yourself  (John) had written the best tribute to  him on Friday,
December 13, 1996.   You included messages from his son Jason, and from
his wife, the novelist Jane Bonander, which I've also included here.

Thank you for all you do for us and for the generous way you give so
much.

Mary Yost
diagnosed 1990 at age 42
[log in to unmask]
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Subject:  Parkinson's Hall of Honor:  Alan Bonander
From:  John Cottingham
Date:  Friday, 13 December 1996

One of the Parkinson's magazines in Australia, honored one of our own,
this week, Alan Bonander.

For those not privileged of knowing Alan Bonander, he was one of us,
talking the talk, walking the walk, and making the difference.  We lost
Alan this summer.

National and international Parkinson's organizations are about money,
Alan Bonander was about humanity, those with Parkinson's and other
neurological disorders.  Organizations collect and spend money, Alan
freely gave of himself and his resources to whomever was in need... even
to talk to another distraught parkinsonian, in the middle of the night.
He traveled far and wide sharing his intellect, and listening to those
who needed a listener.

I, like many of you who were charter members of the parkinsn listserv,
grew to be acquainted with Alan, through his thoughtful questions and
answers that he had come across and shared with us.  Many of Alan's
writings became the framework of what evolved into the Current
Parkinson's Topics that many of you order from the archives.  Sadly, the
measure of a man's true stature is not truly appreciated by his peers,
in his lifetime.

With this message, I would propose to each of the national Parkinson's
organizations, the establishment of a Parkinson's Hall of Honor..... for
those who have served their peers.... above and beyond the call of
duty.  Of these candidates, I would propose the nominating criteria use
Alan Bonander and his contributions as a standard to measure nominees.
These are the messages we last shared:

Date: Sunday, 4 August 1996
From: Jason Bonander, Alan's son
This is a general note to everyone out there who knew my dad -- it's
remarkable the number of people who in the past two days have called or
emailed to express their own deep sense of loss for a man many of whom
had never met.  He was a wonderful man, a man who was able to touch so
many people through this medium, a medium, through this demonstration,
that has proven to be such a critical source of outreach.  No doubt
through his memory and awareness of Parkinson's Disease predominantly in
the young will continue to light the torch of action; to strengthen the
necessary bonds of support groups; and to assist those of you who
struggle daily to overcome the physical and emotional bindings that PD
can tie one with.  With eternal gratitude and a deep sense of loss,
Jason Bonander

Date:  Monday, 19 August 1996
From:  Jane Bonander, Alan's wife
Thank you, all of you, for your wonderful words about my husband.  We
celebrated our thirty-third wedding anniversary in June, and I wanted to
share with you a part of Alan that you probably didn't know.  He was
"the son of a preacher-man."  His father, both grandparents, and on and
on back into history, there had been ministers and missionaries in his
family.  But Alan marched to a different drummer, no matter how many
times his mother urged, in her subtle way, that he follow in the
footsteps of his ancestors.  His analytical mind was ripe for the
computer age, and he was a genius at it.  Then along came Parkinson's.
That nasty, greedy disease that began to rob him of his strength, his
desire to work with his hands, his out-self.  It was Dr. Matt Kurth and
his infusion therapy that turned things around for Alan.  I'm afraid I
would have lost him years before had it not been for that perfect
timing.  Then, because of his infusion and his interest in the disease,
he became the minister, the missionary his parents had wanted him to
be.  I have no doubt of this, especially when I read all of your
comments.  Sharing what he knew gave him pleasure. I admit that many
times I cursed the computer age, for he spent hours and hours and hours
on the internet, sharing, advising, helping, while I wondered if he
would ever take a few minutes out for himself.  The thing was, he WAS
doing this for himself.   It made him feel good.  On rare occasions, the
phone would ring and he'd tell me he wasn't able to talk to whomever
called.  It was important that he be there for everyone. If that isn't a
ministry, I don't know what is. I'll miss him.  This has been a very
difficult thing for me to write, because it leaves my feelings raw.  But
it had to be done.
Again, I thank each of you for your thoughts and prayers.  He was a
great husband and father.  Brother and son-in-law.  My parents couldn't
have loved him more if he were their own.  And he was a missionary
extraordinaire.  Best always.  Jane Bonander

posted by John Cottingham, December 13, 1996:

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