 |
 |
Margy Hansell said it best when we cried over the phone about Alan's death: "It's as if a net has been pulled out from under us." It was natural to call him "pater familias". How often he helped me through hard times. I feel as though I've lost my own father. How relentlessly and gently he egged me on to do more for our young onset support group in Los Angeles. "Sounds like you don't have enough to do. I always ask the busiest person when I want something done." He was the busiest of all: writer, editor, publisher of a monthly newsletter with a fresh, homespun quality, leader of support groups, speaker for groups all over the state, and phone confidant for hundreds. He was a cheerful iconoclast. The last talk he gave us was "What Your Doctor Won't Tell You" which covered Tom Reiss' research on visual cues, the eldepryl controversy, depression and family life issues. He was unafraid, and never hesitated to go to the top to seek answers to his endless questions. Maybe in the light of day when some of the tears have dried I will question the wisdom of sending on to you the last post he sent to a few of us. But tonight it helps. It conjures up the warm chuckle of his laugh, and it typifies the whacky humor that was one of his most lovable traits. Plus the punch line says it all. >Return-Path: <[log in to unmask]> >From: [log in to unmask] >Date: Sat, 27 Jul 1996 12:33:50 -0400 >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Fwd: Preventing earthquakes > >Nothing need be said ... > >Alan >--------------------- >>Subject: Earthquake! >> >> >>The "big one" will never come as long as we the faithful continue our >>ritual of throwing whatever coins are handy into the San Andreas Fault as >>we drive along highway 280 (which runs parallel and immediately adjacent >>to the fault for about 10 miles on the San Francisco peninsula) to appease >>the earthquake gods. >> >>The practice is called Being Generous To A Fault.