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While the Music is Playing

While the Music is Playing is a book of poems written by poet/businessman/economist Floyd Albert. In humble words, he gives us glimpses of his lovable, down-to-earth family and of his own growth to manhood. Throughout the book, there isn't a false tone or a hint of hypocrisy. Each poem is a gift and a precious memory the poet has shared with us. I found every poem a joy to read.

Is this book about Parkinson's disease? I don't think it matters, and neither does Floyd Albert I suspect. For those of us who have Parkinson's, it is, after all, a part of life. And life is exactly what While the Music is Playing is all about. Below is Floyd Albert's only poem about PD.

While the Music Is Playing, by Floyd Albert. Published by The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY. Price: $14.95 Call (716) 754-2788 to order a copy.


A LIFE SHAKEN: My Encounter with Parkinson's Disease
Joel Havemann, a senior editor with the Los Angeles Times, a Harvard graduate in mathematics, and a loving husband and father, takes a very personal approach to sharing his life experiences with PD throughout his book, A Life Shaken: My Encounter with Parkinson's Disease. In Joel's own words: "In the chapters that follow, the story of Parkinson's is tightly intertwined with my very personal adventure with it. For an adventure it is — not one that I would have chosen, but an adventure all the same…." One especially useful part of the book is his section on the science of the brain:

how it functions when it is healthy, and what happens to cause a malfunction like PD. There are well-done illustrations that clarify the text. It's not only educational, but also comforting in a "know your enemy" kind of way. Interspersed with the science are accounts of personal experiences with PD, beginning with his frustrating search for a correct diagnosis. They continue with his much happier experiences with his employer, who accepted his diagnosis and allowed him to continue with his career.

Another section, "In My Doctors' Words," consists of verbatim reports by his doctors on his physical, mental and emotional state at different visits. These vignettes give a unique perspective and the reader feels privileged to have the permission to get this insight.

His quest for an authoritative diagnosis will be familiar to many PWPs. The year was 1989, and compared to today, there was little concrete knowledge about PD. His doctor gave him several reasons that "proved" he didn't have Parkinson's. Among them: his MRI showed no destruction of brain cells in the substantia nigra; his tremor was confined to one side, whereas PD generally involved both sides of the body; and, he was told, hardly anybody as young as 45 comes down with PD. As is known today, the doctor was wrong on all counts.

Joel Havemann does more than chronicle a life with Parkinson's. He speaks with hope and good humor, and he lives with integrity. In reading his story, we learn much about Parkinson's disease, and we feel we have made a friend.

A Life Shaken: My Encounter with Parkinson's Disease. Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4363 Price: $24.95. Also available on amazon.com at the discounted price of $17.47


Melons for the Passionate Grower
Just weeks after introducing her mother, Lillian Goldman, as the guest of honor at the Parkinson's Disease Foundation's annual gala at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, Dr. Amy Goldman was enjoying another celebration: the publication of her book, Melons for the Passionate Grower.

Dr. Goldman, who has a close family member with Parkinson's and who describes herself as a "melon maniac with a mission," has written a book that would bring water to the mouth of the most indifferent of melo-vores. The writing is graceful and humorous and the photographs and design (respectively by Victor Schrager and Doyle Partners) rich and almost unbearably appetizing.

One of many delicious quotations, this one on the judging of a melon's ripeness: "According to the ‘thump' test, when rapped with the knuckles, an unripe watermelon supposedly has a high musical or metallic sound that, according to Mark Twain, says ‘pink,' or ‘pank.' A ripe one, on the other hand, makes a dull ‘punk' sound. Unfortunately, they all sound pretty much the same to me. The ‘press test' doesn't work either—watermelon rind and flesh are too thick to respond to mild pressure, and if you push hard with your palms, what you hear is the rumble of damaged flesh giving way."

Melons for the Passionate Grower is published by Artisan Press, NY, NY and retails for $25 (U.S.) and $38.95 (Canada).


By Margot Zobel and Sharon Stone