Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“John had a wonderful practice in law,” said Diane Rehm at a dinner hosted by the National Parkinson Foundation at Cafe Milano in Washington, DC. “He worked for the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He became the first legal counsel to the office of the Special Trade Representative under Governor Christian Herter and I can remember Governor Herter saying to John, ‘Remember, family is first no matter what. Family is first.'”
And so it was for John and Diane Rehm who were married since 1959. Together they wrote a book: Toward Commitment: A Dialogue About Marriage. John Rehm died from Parkinson’s disease on June 23, 2014.
Diane Rehm has been in the radio business since 1973. She began her radio career as a volunteer intern at WAMU, then taking over the morning show in 1979, later renamed The Diane Rehm Show in 1984. Since then, she has been an institution in the business. It was only fitting that the foundation chose to honor Diane.
“Shortly after he retired, he would wait for me to come home from the office so that we could walk together. I happened to be a medical reporter for two years. As John walked with me, all of a sudden, this man who was six feet tall with these gorgeous shoulders and tiny waist – you could hear him shuffle. I knew something was wrong right then and there. Then he began having minor automobile accidents and by the third one the insurance company said they would’t carry him anymore. With testing, it turned out to be very negative.” John Rehm had Parkinson’s Disease. “Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects your movement. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand.. Although Parkinson’s disease can’t be cured, medications may markedly improve your symptoms,” according to the Mayo clinic.
Diane Rehm and John Kozyak
“I’m John Kozyak and I’m the chair of the National Parkinson Foundation. I’ve been chair for about 11 months. Both of my parents have Parkinson’s disease – both – and so this is something that I feel very strongly about. Like Diane’s cosmic moment, I was at a reception with lawyers about 14 years ago and I met this lawyer that I had known for years and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I’m the President of the National Parkinson Foundation’ and I thought, ‘How bizarre?’ My mother had just been diagnosed maybe a week before and he said ‘Who’s the doctor?’ and ‘It’s really important, do you have a good doctor?’
So my mother had the best doctor or one of the best doctors in St. Louis at the time and I learned quickly that having good care means a difference. Then my father was diagnosed just because he went along with my mother and the doctor said, ‘You have a problem, too.’ And so, 6 or 7 years ago, I got on the board and then last year I agreed to be Chair and I retired as a bankruptcy lawyer. I’m used to dealing with emergencies and problems and this is a big problem very dear to my heart.”
Kudos to Antonio Mendez
Antonio Mendez – portrayed in the Academy Award-winning movie Argo by Ben Affleck – told his story, one perhaps more difficult than that of a clandestine CIA operative.
His writer friend Jonathan Dee chose a light note on the subject: “When they were making Argo, every time Tony met Ben Affleck he reminded the star ‘Ben, you’re not good looking enough.’
We spent 25 and 27 years at the CIA come September. We spent 2-1/2 years with the Argo phenomenon undercover again, not talking about Parkinson’s … pretending he didn’t have Parkinson’s. No one knew, but we did speaking engagements, and we did book tours, and we did incredible travel. And when we talked to Mike Rosenwald and decided to come out from undercover the second time, it lifted such a burden off our shoulders.
Mendez, like many other Parkinson’s patients, chose to hide his condition for a long time. On this night he did not.
