The Memorial Wall

Dr. Myron Lind died Friday, March 19, 2010, in La Quinta, California at age 70 from End Stage Parkinson’s disease.

He was born on July 5, 1939, to George and Sadie Lind in Brooklyn, New York. Myron graduated from the State University of New York, College of Medicine in 1965. In 1966, he completed his internship at University of Florida at Gainesville and then completed a medical residency at Harbor General Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In 1970 Myron found his true calling in psychiatry and completed his residency at the VA/UCLA Medical Centers. In 1973, he entered private practice in Van Nuys, California and continued that practice for the next 20 years until illness necessitated his retirement. Myron served his country from 1967 to 1969 in the United States Air Force where he was a Flight Surgeon. Myron collected Medical Antiques.

He enjoyed painting and creating ceramic sculptures and pipes. His hobbies were gardening, tennis, swimming, skiing, bowling and poker. He enjoyed traveling, going to the theatre and cherished time with family and friends. Myron lived with Parkinson’s disease for 30 years, accepting each challenge and reinventing himself to embrace life the best he could in spite of the great difficulties he faced.

Myron is survived by his wife Anita M. Lind; brother, Arnold J. Lind; daughter Courtney Lind Korenkiewicz (Richard) and Lisa Wendy Vuskovic (Sergio); son, Dr. Mark Evan Jaffe, MD; grandchildren, Richard Lind Korenkiewicz, Eli Jerome Vuskovic, and Elizabeth Marie Kastner. He is also survived by Barbara Bradford Lind, mother of Joshua Daniel Lind (deceased) and Courtney Lind Korenkiewicz, and Kara Brook Schmidt, mother of Dr. Mark Evan Jaffe, MD, and Lisa Wendy Vuskovic. He is preceded in death by his parents, George and Sadie Lind, and son, Joshua Daniel Lind.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donations to the Parkinson’s Resource Organization, Myron Lind Memorial Fund, 74-478 Highway 111 #102, Palm Desert, CA 92260-4112.

Special thanks to the staff of Bella Casa, La Quinta, CA, and the staff of Vitas Hospice, Cathedral City, CA. for helping care for Myron and supporting the family over the last five months.

“The good life harmonizes the elements of love, work, and play.” Myron Lind 1983

Jack Freed Sexton, 62, a longtime Laguna resident, died suddenly on Thursday, Aug. 2, after a valiant and courageous 26-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Sexton was born Oct. 16, 1949 in Inglewood. During his early years, his family moved to Laguna Beach.  Although life took him to other places, he always returned to his beloved Laguna.  He graduated from Laguna Beach High School and Atherton’s Menlo College, and for many years ran his own successful plumbing contracting business.  Sexton had many loves, including baseball, boating, water skiing, music, tennis, and walking around town.  A true Lagunatic, he could be found fishing and body surfing daily at Diver’s Cove, where he was known to clean the beach and entertain his many friends.  Despite the ravages of Parkinson’s disease, he managed to stay active and engaged in life.

Sexton was a loving husband and father.  He is survived by his devoted wife of 33 years, Peggy; and his daughter, Kate, 26, of Dana Point. He is also survived by his mother and father, Sue and Bob Agramonte; his brother, Mark; his sister and brother-in law, Chesi and Larry Kessler; and by nieces and nephews Megan, Lindsay, Bryan and Bradley. He was also well loved by his sisters- and brother-in-law, Ann Marie and Frank McGoldrick, and Jacqueline Hudak and family.  He was predeceased by his father, Jack Sexton Sr.

A funeral mass in celebration of his life will be held on Friday, Aug. 10, at 11 a.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Laguna Beach.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for medical research, www.michaeljfox.org, or the Parkinson’s Resource Organization for caregivers and their families, www.parkinsonsresource.org.

The family wishes to thank Sexton’s caregivers, Chantelle, Mischa, and Jeannie.

They also especially thank the community of Laguna Beach, who shared in the love and care of Sexton  through the years: the artists and patrons of the Sawdust Festival, city lifeguards, Adolfo’s, Pavilions, and Coast Hardware, to name just a few.  Even when by himself, he was never alone in his beloved Laguna.

Joan Morris, 89, passed away peacefully at her Brentwood home on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 after a long illness.

The daughter of Howard and Pauline Nelson, Joan moved from New Haven, Connecticut to Los Angeles as a child, and attended Westlake School and the University of Southern California. She worked briefly in the movie industry and as a schoolteacher before marrying her lifelong love, Thomas Joseph Morris. Joan was active in the Junior Charity League, The Nine O’Clock Players, and at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, first as a lector and then as a wedding coordinator. Joan loved to entertain, play bridge, paddle tennis and swim. Her greatest joy was traveling with her husband, especially to the Hawaiian Islands. Joan loved movies, musicals and dining out and discovering new restaurants with friends.

Pre-deceased by her husband, Thomas, Joan is survived by her son Thomas N. Morris, daughter-in-law Jill Myers, granddaughter Izzy, son Christopher J. Morris and daughter-in-law Teresa Morris.

Herma Altshule was born Herma Cecile Goldstein to Sylvia and Gustave Goldstein, on November 22nd, 1939. Herma grew up in Cheviot Hills and was a lifelong LA resident.

Her contributions and accomplishments run the gamut. An avid lover of the arts, she was a founding member at MOCA and remained involved in its Projects Council through the years. She was a docent at the Museum of Science & Industry and a patron of the theater, the opera, and the LA Philharmonic. Besides running an interior design business with one of her best friends, she loved playing bridge and became a Bronze Life Master, and she remained a competitive tennis player until late in her life. Nothing, however, was more important to her than her people.

She met the love of her life Joel Altshule when she was an Alpha Epsilon Phi at UCLA, shortly after she graduated from Los Angeles High School, where she was a Dante. They married nine months later at Brentwood Country Club and got busy starting their family, which halted her studies. She finished her degree at UCLA in 1984, overlapping her time there with her daughter Julie-they each received a bachelor's in sociology. Not many mothers could have their children excited to join them at college and share that experience. Herma had an incredible social ability; she was the spark plug and glue between multiple friend groups, always affectionate and open with the people she loved. "She was a force of nature," her son Andrew recalls, "she instilled in me that a mediocre life wasn't worth living. She always fought tooth and nail for me, for everyone she loved, and took things to the limit in the most loving, positive way. My passion for life is a testament to her."

Herma is survived by her loving family who were always the priority in her life; her devoted husband of 63 years Joel, her children Andrew Altshule (Joli), Julie Schoenfeld (Jeff), and Mark Altshule. She adored her grandchildren, Liv and Winston Altshule and Kate and Max Schoenfeld. She will be greatly missed by her sister Carole Sukman (Richard) of Palm Springs, California, and her brother Robert Goldstein (Claudie) of Ketchum, Idaho, and the numerous nieces and nephews she had special connections with. Many have helped care for her, most notably Ricky Go through these last few difficult years.

Herma well exceeded her life expectancy once diagnosed with PSP, an atypical form of Parkinson's-her loved ones believe it was her sheer will to live and her love for her husband that kept her alive nearly double of what was expected. Up through the end, she never discussed the pain she was in. Every day she said she was doing great and asked for a milkshake. She felt blessed to be next to her husband and surrounded by loved ones. Her verve for life remains unmatched.

Jeff Cook, a co-founding member of the trendsetting Country Music Hall of Fame band Alabama, died Monday at age 73.

For a decade, Cook battled Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and causes tremors. He publicly disclosed his diagnosis in 2017.

A representative for the band confirmed his death Tuesday afternoon to the Tennessean. Cook died at his beachside home in Destin, Florida.

As a guitarist, fiddle player and vocalist in Alabama, Cook — alongside cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry — helped sketch a blueprint for what a hitmaking band can achieve in country music. He and the band filled in that sketch with a slew of hits now considered by many to be essential country music listening: "Song of the South," "Mountain Music," "I'm In A Hurry," "Cheap Seats," and "My Home's In Alabama," among many others.

A native of small-town Fort Payne, Alabama, Cook began chasing his love of music on radio airwaves as a disc jockey in his hometown. In 1969, he co-founded the band Young Country alongside Owen and Gentry — planting the seeds for what later grew into Alabama. By the mid-1970s, the cousins performed as Wildcountry, cutting their teeth in nearby cities — like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where the band embraced a balance of country songwriting and Southern rock sensibilities on long nights inside local club the Bowery.

The band adopted a new name in 1977: Alabama. Two years later — after a run of modest radio success and adopting full-time drummer Mark Herndon — Cook, Owen and Gentry accepted an invitation to play the tastemaking "New Faces" showcase at the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville.

What came next? It might as well be country music history.

The band inked a deal later that year with RCA, beginning a remarkable run on the country radio charts. Alabama landed eight No. 1 songs on the country charts between spring 1980 and summer 1982, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame. That run included pop crossover hits "Love In The First Degree" and "Feels So Right," as well as "Tennessee River" and "Mountain Music" — staple Alabama songs that the group continued playing for decades to come.

And success didn't stall after this rocket-launched start in the early '80s. Between 1980 and 1993, at least one Alabama song topped the country charts every year. The band earned a slew of awards in that time, including a three-year run at CMA Entertainer of the Year from 1982-1984 and five ACM Award Entertainer of the Year trophies from '81-'85.

In a city dominated by solo artists and vocal groups, Alabama proved an instrument-playing band could forge a path to country success matched by few artists at the time.

“Country music was always about solo artists, and I think they capitalized on what the [o]utlaws had started, which was amassing a youth audience for the genre," country music historian Robert K. Oermann said in 2017. He added, "Jeff was the instrumental wizard who could do fiddle and guitar."

On stage, Cook held down fiddle, guitar playing and keyboards, adding layered backing vocals to the band's smooth, inviting melodies. His playing? It sent "people dancing all over the place," said Country Music Hall of Fame member Joe Galante, a former RCA executive who helped shepherd Alabama's career.

"... while he wasn’t front and center all the time, his contributions really made a difference when you listen for the hook," Galante told the Tennessean in 2017. "Those are hallmarks of records that will last well beyond our lifetimes."

For some, Cook's on-stage showmanship and behind-the-scenes friendship helped shape a class of entertainers to follow. Country hitmaker Kenny Chesney — who shared stages with Alabama early in his career — described Cook and the band as being "so generous with wisdom" during the singer's formative years.

"[Alabama] showed a kid in a t-shirt that country music could be rock, could be real, could be someone who looked like me," Chesney said Tuesday. "Growing up in East Tennessee, that gave me the heart to chase this dream."

After an initial farewell tour that wrapped in 2004, Alabama reunited in 2011 for a charity concert benefitting tornado victims in the group's namesake state. In his time away from Alabama, Cook released a handful of solo projects. He toured with his Allstar Goodtime Band and released collaborations with Charlie Daniels and "Star Trek" star William Shatner.

Cook entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of Alabama — joining the most sought-after club in country music.

Alabama returned to touring in earnest with a 40th-anniversary celebration in 2013. Four years later, Cook scaled back performances with the band due to the ongoing impact of his Parkinson’s diagnosis.

He stopped touring with Alabama around 2018. As of 2019, his bandmates told the Tennessean they ensured his gear was set up before each show — just in case he wanted to step on stage.

He co-wrote a song on a 2015 comeback album called "No Bad Days" that in time took a new meaning for the Hall of Fame musician.

“After I got the Parkinson’s diagnosis, people would quote the song to me and say, ‘No bad days,’ ” Cook told The Tennessean in 2019. “They write me letters, notes and emails and they sign ‘No Bad Days.’ I know the support is there. They join me. People I don’t know come up to me and say, ‘How ya feeling?’ You just got to live it every day and take it as it comes. Prayer does work. And I know there was a lot of praying going on.”

Cook is survived by Lisa Cook, his wife of 27 years.