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I recently saw a documentary on Jacqueline du Pre, the cellist who died of MS in 1987, having been diagnosed some 10 years before at the age of 32. The documentary began with a summary of her life which included a comment on the tragedy of such a great talent being cut short because of MS. The program then spent the next 40 minutes on interviews with the cellist and those who had had the privilege of knowing her. It also included many examples of her glorious playing. In the last couple of minutes MS was mentioned once more, and a brief description given of its effects on Ms du Pre and her abilities. My 1st reaction was that for something that had such a huge affect on her life MS was treated in a very offhanded way. But after some thought I realised that the director had got it right. What was important about Jacqueline du Pre was that she had a magnificent ability to play the cello, not that MS ended it. The tragedy would have been as complete had she died in a motoring incident (a la Isadora Duncan) or choked to death on a piece of bread (a la Mama Cass). But in neither of those cases would I expect the documentary to go into detail on car crash statistics or the correct way to chew your food. Which got me thinking about the way we monitor high profile PWP, and expect them to use every photo opportunity as a platform to increase the knowledge of PD. Just as with each of us PD is part of their lives, not all of it. So there will be times when it makes sense to mention PD and times when it doesn't. Since seeing that show I have also realised that, should I be remembered for anything in 50 years time - I hope it will be for something more than that I had Parkinson's Disease. Dennis +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dennis Greene 50/dx 37/ onset 32 There's nothing wrong with me that fixing PD won't fix! email - [log in to unmask] Website - http://members.networx.net.au/~dennisg/ (most recent update -Nov 5, 1999) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++