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Beth, I love your idea of a shake-in, staged by PWP's. Instead of trying to hide from society, we could become real movers and shakers in this fight for research money for PD. Seriously, I think the way to get publicity for PD is to become more visible. We need to put a FACE on Parkinson's Disease so we don't become (in people's minds) just a bunch of old people in wheel chairs with no political power. We need to get our individual stories known, especially those of young Parkies who are struggling with raising children, keeping their jobs, and often trying to deal with aging parents as well. I would like to submit Stan Houston's wonderful article on PD (with his permission, of course) to my local newspapers' Fitness and Health editors and see if we can get some empathy going. I would urge all the outstanding writers on this list to submit their stories to their newspapers for publication. We need to send the message that we are a vital (and growing force) and we are not going to sit at home waiting for a shining knight from the House or Senate to rescue us. Just one more thought.......at Christmas I wrote to an old college friend to tell her I'd been diagnosed with PD. She wrote back to say that the day she received my letter, she had (in the same mail) received a donation request from the National Parkinson's Foundation. So, just in case it was a sign from Above, she immediately sent in a donation. I urge each of you to find out when the next mailing of your favorite PD institution is going out and write to all your friends the same day! (just kidding). Mary Sheehan