Re: <no subject>

February 20, 2001

Marilyn,

Did you get any kind of answer?

Take care, Bill and Charlotte

---------------------------------------------------

and Marilyn wrote:

Some of you had requested info concerning ny

Cash. The following is a copy of a letter that I wrote in the fall

of 2000 in response to an article written and published in the Nashville

Tennessean. The article purported to be from an interview of Mr.

Cash and an attempt to publicize the release of his latest album.

€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

There was an article, written by Mr. , in the Nashville

Tennessean (10-22-00 www.Tennessean.com) concerning ny Cash's

new album and his health situations. I wrote the following letter

to Mr. Copper as a response including my feelings about his article and

the comments of Mr. Cash concerning the misdiagnosis.

Most of the article, which began with front

coverage on page 1F, described Mr. Cash's work and his new album with some

discussion of family. I am quoting the passages that disturbed

me.

Page 2F Info taken from the Nashville Tennessean:

Are your doctors saying that your health problems are caused

by Shy-Drager Syndrome?

Mr Cash: "That was a misdiagnosis. I do not have Shy-Drager

Syndrome. My doctor told me in November that if I'd had it, I'd be

dead by now. She said, "You're getting better so you don't have Shy-Drager's.

and you don't have Parkinson's.

I am in better health

than I have been in a year or two. I worked all day yesterday in

my yard. I pruned my grape vines yesterday............"

Someone remarked to me yesterday that you seem

virtually fealess person. Is that right?

Mr. Cash: Fearless? Aw, no. Drug addition

scares me. I'm afraid of that. Since I left the hospital last

November I've not had one sleeping pill, not one tanquilizer. I stay

away from people who are using or drinking. And I fear God.

That's about all the things I'm afraid of that I want to talk about.

€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

Marilyn __123 Hickory

Hill Drive Tullahoma, TN 37388

October 23, 2000

Mr.

Nashville Tennessean

Nashville, TN

Dear Mr. ,

Re: Your article concerning Mr. ny

Cash and the promotion of his most recent album.

I am a fan of ny Cash. I listen to

him often and read every scrap of written info about him and have for years.

I say, ³Congratulations, ny Cash!²

My concern is your use of Mr. Cash¹s rather

flippant comments concerning his misdiagnosis of Multi-System Atrophy/Shy-Drager

Syndrome. Many patients and care givers had heard of Mr. Cash¹s

diagnosis of SDS/MSA and wondered why he appeared to be unwilling to become

very public about the disease in an attempt to raise public

awareness of this devastating neurological disease. The people suffering

with this disease and their families need a very vocal public figure who

will lead the charge to find the cause and one day a cure.

Multi-System Atrophy/ Shy-drager Syndrome is

a devastating neurological disease. If Mr. Cash had truly had this

disease he might not be dead at this point, but only feel as though he

might be. Apparently, there is no known cause nor cure of this disease

and no set pattern of illness, even though research has been going on for

at least 30 years. Dr. on of Vanderbilt¹s

Autonomic Research program is renowned in his work. In addition,

there are doctors at Case Western in Cleveland, OH, and Dr.

Bannister (four minute mile fame) in England working to find a cause

and then a cure.

I speak with the voice of a wife who has watched

her husband¹s health deteriorate over a period of time. This is a

truly a tragic illness and one in which little is known other than the

fact that it effects many areas of the brain and its ability to communicate

with the autonomic nervous system.

We have been blessed with knowledgeable physicians.

We see Dr. Tom , neurologist, and Dr. Milam, urologist,

both at Vanderbilt. Dr. Steve Bills, internal medicine, and

Dr. Suzanne Collier, gastroenterology, both in Tullahoma.

I am enclosing a brief description of the many medical problems that my

husband has experienced that are probably associated with the disease.

We recently attended a national support group

meeting in Cleveland, Oh, where we learned that this illness touches the

lives of the young and old, men and women, the craftsman and the professional.

There were people in attendance at this conference from Texas, California,

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Canada, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington, and other

areas.

A local neurologist shared with me recently,

that even in our small town, that there are at least three other patients

suffering with this devastating disease.

My letter is not to be printed, but comes as

a request. I realize that you may well be assigned to cover Arts

and Entertainment, but you may have some input to other areas of

the newspaper. Please research this illness, talk with the physicians

involved. Write and print news articles. Do whatever it takes

to help raise the awareness of the people of the world to this illness.

Maybe with a raised awareness, there could be money for research which

might finally find a cause and then a cure. If you should decide

to pursue this area of interest, I would encourage you to talk with the

above mentioned physicians. I would be happy to provide address info

for several others.

I appreciate your interest in Mr. Cash.

I will continue to read about him and to listen to his music. I was

interested to see that, apparently in his own quoted words, his health

problems come from his own actions. Believe me, people who have Multi-system

Atrophy/ Shy-drager Syndrome have no control over what is happening to

them.

Thank you for listening to me. My best

wishes to you and Mr. Cash.

Respectfully,

Marilyn

e-mail: morriscm@...

phone:

February 20, 2001