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Ken: Your excellent comments bring to mind the old saying that "there is no bad publicity." An ugly reality sometimes, but a reality nonetheless... Carole -----Original Message----- From: ken aidekman [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Saturday, November 07, 1998 5:11 AM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Parade: Beating a Dead Horse I couldn't resist. While Earl Ubell's article in Parade is certainly a 'glass 3/4 full' article I'd like to point out one or two or more things. In general, people give more money to fund research when there are promising research breakthroughs that can be shown. I don't know where this has been proven statistically but I've heard it so many times I'm pretty sure I believe it. Good news, bad news, any news - it all helps in the battle for public awareness. ( awareness > $ > mo $ > treatments > cure ) Earl is a truly wonderful fellow who has done more than his share to raise awareness. When he was first dx'd he made very little of his PD because he had (& still has) other health issues to deal with that are more immediate and threatening. As his PD progressed he became more and more aware of its seriousness and the effect it has had on his life's work. Earl began helping by airing programs about PD on television and writing about it in Parade a number of years ago. As a journalist, and employee, he had to maintain a distinct line between objective reporting and promoting his own interests and so his features on PD have been necessarily somewhat less than frequent. When I first told him about the Parkinson's Unity Walk at a very well-attended support group meeting in Bergen County (Earl is still a popular figure from his years on network television news in the New York metro area) he rolled his eyes and said, "Ugh, another walk!" At the time he was doing all he could to keep active by playing tennis, staying physically fit and eating a healthy diet as he had counseled his millions of television viewers for years. PD was still a relatively modest irritant. A year later when Margot Zobel and I asked Earl to get involved in the PUW he responded positively and has not looked back. He has brought numerous celebrities to our cause and has used his contacts in the industry to help produce and place public service announcements on the television and radio. He has put us in touch with charitable fundraising experts and prominent New Yorkers. He has been an ever present source of wisdom and optimism. Besides serving as the vice president of the PUW, Earl is on the board of directors of the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. He has spoken and moderated at APDA and PDF events and included the phone number for NPF as a primary resource at the end of his Parade article. OK, I'm biased. I owe Earl a debt of gratitude for his help and friendship. Nevertheless, he has the very best interests of the Parkinson's community at heart when he writes about PD. Yes he's an optimist and maybe it sounds like he's sugar-coating the PD experience when he writes for Parade but I'll bet he knows exactly what he's doing. Hopefully, his good efforts will hasten a cure. -Ken Aidekman Visit the Parkinson's Unity Walk website: www.parkinsonwalk.org Fund the Research. Find the Cure.