D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A Jackie Williams, Eaddo and Peter Kiernan, Betsy and Rob Pitts, Kitty Sherrill, Alexia Ryan, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Hilary and Wilber Ross, Kathy and Andrew Thomas, Zack Bacon and Amanda Ross, Charles Atkins, Nancy and Joe Missett, and Elizabeth Ainslie and Ritchey Howe. On a beautiful Thursday evening, mid-month, I went down to the Pierre Hotel to a dinner hosted by the Bachman-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation
for Parkinson’s Research. We were honoring Bonnie Strauss as they celebrated the alliance between the two foundations. I’ve been to that ballroom many times. I never saw it as crowded as it was that night. Packed with tables and every table packed. Michael Bloomberg was there, as was Michael J. Fox. Bloomberg’s foundation underwrote the evening. He has been a supporter of the Bachman-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation since its inception. He is also an old friend of Bonnie and her husband, Tom
Strauss. The two men worked together at Salomon Brothers early on in their careers and have remained good friends ever since. Dystonia. You’ve never heard of it, maybe? It is very difficult to diagnose the early symptoms. It affects people of all ages, including small children. Because it is a neurological condition, it can ruin people’s lives. It is also an enormous burden for children who are afflicted with it to grow up with. Bonnie has lived with her most of her adult life. She
contracted it after her second pregnancy. (She has three children.) When she told her father about her diagnosis, he told her she could do one of two things: nothing or something. If she wanted to do something, he advised, she could seek solutions for herself and also for others. Bonnie took his advice and started the foundation. In the past 20 years, she and her friends and coworkers have raised $36 million for research on Dystonia. They have made great strides in their work for find a cure including identify-
E V E N I N G W I T H T H E B AC H M A N N - ST R AU S S FO U N D AT I O N AT T H E P I E R R E H OT E L
Bill and Ronnie Potter 40 QUEST
Susan Pressman and Bonnie Strauss
Debbie Brooks and Judie Ganek
Rob and Melissa Burch
John and Violaine Bernbach
PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
Tom Strauss and Diana Taylor