Turn, Turn, Turn: The PD Gladiators Story and a Time for Reinvention
I have not posted in this space in over six years, but in my fourth season of reinvention (see sidebar) I’m re-purposing my blog. Now entitled Shaking The Chi, it will serve as an incubator for high impact solutions to complex social problems, with a particular focus on issues...
Trouble With The Curve
Through the first part of a rather inauspicious Little League career, I struggled to hit straight fastballs and was fortunate that young pitchers back then were discouraged from throwing the curve. When I graduated to Babe Ruth League, the first two curveballs I ever saw knocked me on my backside...
If We Build It, Will They Come? Part II
This post was originally posted on the PD Gladiators blog. In Part I of this post I suggested that the Parkinson’s community needs to build an exercise infrastructure in order to coax the secluded majority of people with Parkinson’s to join the community and participate in exercise programs, physical...
If We Build It, Will They Come? Part I
This post was originally published in the PD Gladiators blog. Ellie and I attended the Southeastern Parkinson’s Conference hosted by the National Parkinson’s Foundation in August, and for the second year in a row we left inspired. The theme of the conference was Parkinson’s advocacy, and we were encouraged...
A Call To Action: We Need To Inform Our Neurologists About The Latest Exercise Research
With about 1,200 journal articles published annually on Parkinson’s disease alone, it’s impossible for practicing neurologists to stay abreast of all developments in the treatment of PD. However, recent research findings regarding the effect of vigorous exercise on PD symptoms are so compelling as to warrant patients calling their...
The Law of Small Numbers Repeated Many Times
I mentioned in my last post that I have some history as a deliberate thinker. As a writer, I craft my plots carefully, working out details early in the story to lead seamlessly toward the end game. You will rarely catch my protagonists relying on coincidence to solve a...
The Great Reservoir of Unfinished Business
With rare exception, I have used this space to blog about my novels and the occasional political rant. Both topics expose my progressive ideals which, in my view, reflect the better part of me. But as I integrate my newest role—person with Parkinson’s disease (PWP)—into my being I have...
Crafting Intricate Plots: My Writing Process
I’m not one of those writers who can sit at the keyboard and let his characters take over completely–not that there’s anything wrong with that. Many people enjoy a fast, light-weight story, but I prefer to read more intricate plots, so that’s what I write. The premise for my...
The Chop, The Beast & The Infield Fly Rule
The knock on me as a sportswriter for the Albany Student Press back in the early 80s was that I wrote with my heart instead of my brain. After a December 7th triple-overtime loss by my beloved Great Danes to the national powerhouse Potsdam Bears (Albany played in Division III...
Amazing New Review Exposes My Dilemma
King of Paine picked up some fantastic reviews during my December blog tour, but a new review on the blog Miraculous! touched me not only because the reviewer gushed about the book and the writing, but also because she captured the inherent difficulty of describing what King of Paine ...
Blog Tour Day 11: “Getting Inside The Mind of a Madman,” My Interview with Frank Paine
We’re halfway through the King of Paine blog tour, and I’ve set aside this Sunday for an interview with Frank Paine to learn how the rookie FBI agent got inside the mind of the stalker who tormented him. The conversation has been edited to avoid spoilers and maintain this...
Debunking Cain: Turning 999 Upside Down
Herman Cain’s policies escaped close scrutiny while his presidential campaign lingered on the margins, but the businessman/radio personality’s recent burst into the frontrunner’s box targets him as a candidate to be taken seriously. He’s armed with what he calls his 999 Plan, and he’s dangerous. Cain’s plan is ultimately...