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TO All Over the past two months many messages on this listserv have advocated exercise for people with Parkinsons. Other messages have asked how to find a suitable program. Mark Hirsch has certainly stirred up a great deal of interest on the Parkinsn List--- he says he has received 56 email replies todate. I have already 'put my 2cents worth' into the discussion but exercise is such an important factor in the well-being of Parkinsonians that I want to make some other points. The first is for Joe Irr:-I thought Dupont was pretty much out of the booklet business, see the last 3 paragraphs. The second is for Anne Burleigh:- You are right, people need the stimulation of a group. I would like to add that exercising alone is not only depressing it could be dangerous if your balance is poor. My third comment is directed to the person in charge of SNOW:-) Enough already! ! We have had 274 cm of snow in St John's this winter and I am a prisoner in my home! For years professionals and patients have said that exercise is second only to medication in achieving a good quality of life for the Parkinson patient. A thesis (MA - PhysEd), based on interviews with members of our Newfoundland exercise class, came to the same conclusion. Mark's program of strength and balance training seems to have a positive effect on people with Parkinsons. The evidence in piling up and I expect that many new exercise programs will be established. But not every Parkinsonian lives beside a medical centre with a suitable exercise program. Alternative cost-effective methods need to be developed to bring education and encouragment to people living in isolated communities. In the 1980s an exercise booklet (Keeping Active) was produced by Dupont Pharmaceuticals and distributed by the Parkinson Foundation of Canada. In Newfoundland this booklet was in our patient and family information package and copies were made available to health care professionals at Parkinson seminars and during Parkinson awareness events. Regrettably, Dupont allowed 'Keeping Active' to go out of print. In letters to the company I explained how this booklet had its place in our chapter's educational programs and how helpful it was to the average Parkinson patient. My appeals were futile, the booklet was not reprinted.......... Can things change for the better? The recent postings to the list give me hope. I ask others on this list to express their views on exercise and to describe the program they follow. Perhaps all this activity will encourage someone to create a new Parkinson exercise booklet. Anne Rutherford up to my neck in snow in Newfoundland