We very much regret to have to advise that Leo Cooper, the notable publisher of military books, has Parkinson's disease. Leo Cooper writes: “For some two years I have been feeling that something was wrong. I could not put my finger on it. When I look back at the chain of events, however, I was bewildered. And not a little frightened. I was dragging my right leg. My handwriting was getting smaller and unintelligible. I was therefore driven to the font of all wisdom on medical matters: Heinemann's New Family Medical Encyclopedia. All my worst fears were realised: I had Parkinson's disease. So then I went to my doctor and told her what I had decided. She sent me to a specialist who gave me some tests including being asked to draw a Swiss roll! I told her that my right arm had a tremor and I dribbled in my sleep and sometimes woke up shouting. No, I was not a Manchester United fan (Fulham actually). Yes, I had Parkinsons's disease. As a rider to this, another consultant pointed out that I had a crumbling spine. I also have something called Perthe's disease - malformation of the hip joints - which apparently I contracted at the age of five. In fact I was a mess. My consultant's final words to me were: ‘Your spine is shot to pieces and it serves you right for playing rugger until you were 50 and I advise you to give up cricket now. You could lose 2.5st, whilst you are about it.’ But quite what effect my new life will have I simply don't know. Everyone has been very kind, but it is not a disease that many understand. Some scorn to think it is much worse than it is. At this stage, the Parkinson's hasn't yet appeared a problem, though obviously, in the long run, it is going to affect the way our day-to-day life is organised (particularly as my wife Jilly writes all day). But it's true to say that we are both apprehensive - I know Jilly is desperately worried, and I am. However, I am not going to let it get me down. On the whole I think we have managed to catch the disease before it has set in too deeply. The number of pills I am popping at the moment make me rattle like an abacus, but I thank God that I now have a purpose in the fight against the condition and now in retirement I shall direct all my strength and time to survive. I am very well looked after by my doctor and the NHS and I expect to be battling away for quite some time.” Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 107 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com