Spasmodic Dysphonia Bulletin Board

Sad loss of Midge Kovacs
			Archive

Posted by: dot sowerby ® 10/20/2004, 11:20:28

The National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association conveys our deep sympathy to the family of Midge Kovacs. Midge, who died this week, was a founding Board member of our voice organization in 1989. She was a tireless worker and motivated our organization to move forward to help patients and professionals in educating and searching for better treatments for spasmodic dysphonia. In Sept. 1987 Midge started a support group in NYC. It was one of the first groups around the country and she inspired and helped other people to start groups throughout the world. Midge wrote an article called SUDDENLY SPEECHLESS , published in Medical Selfcare Magazine (Sept. 1988) and it generated hundreds of letters and helps many people seek and find treatment for SD “OUR VOICE ” newsletter was first published in the Spring of 1989 by Midge, as Editor with help of Dr. Blitzer & Brin. It was the unofficial newsletter for NSDA and had worldwide circulation In the summer of 1988, Midge and I started corresponding and it gave me great hope and generated energy to keep moving on with work in finding out about spasmodic dysphonia and starting a support group in NC. When Midge could no longer attend Board meetings, NSDA wanted to honor her and set up The annual Midge Kovacs Awareness Award in 1998 to recognize the outstanding awareness achievements of NSDA support groups. After Midge’s stroke, we continued on with correspondence and phone calls. She went on to help stroke victims and women's organizations. She was a terrific lady and a real advocate for us all and she will be missed by many people that she helped along the way. If you want to contact her niece, Linda Ray, email: cabaretsingers@aol.com or call (631) 673-5577. The family said they would be happy for SD people to designate contributions in Midge's memory to NSDA: NSDA, 1 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2430, Chicago, IL 60601-1905 or make on-line at http://www.dysphonia.org/nsda/join Dot Sowerby, President of the NSDA Board of Directors

| Recommend | Alert

Current page

Replies to this message

Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs -- dot sowerby Top of thread Archive Posted by: David Barton ® 10/20/2004, 15:53:20 I only had the privilege of meeting Midge Kovacs once in person - at the NSDA Symposium in Dallas, 1995. I remember her as a dedicated and selfless volunteer in our cause - passionate about the mission of the NSDA. Her main impact on many, including myself, was to launch the first publication for SD patients, entitled 'Our Voice'. When I was first diagnosed with SD, somehow by providence a copy of Our Voice found its way to me. Being hungry for more information about this mysterious disorder and contact with others, I devoured this issue and the ones that followed, reading, and re-reading it, time and time again. Midge Kovacs was one of the pioneers in blazing the SD trail - and her efforts, along with others, played no small part in bringing patients with an isolating disorder together, and making it possible for the NSDA to grow into the vibrant, effective organization it is today. David Barton Vice-President, NSDA | Recommend | Alert Where am I? Original message Top of thread Current page Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs -- dot sowerby Top of thread Archive Posted by: Lynne Martinez ® 10/20/2004, 16:03:47 I'm sad to hear this. Even though I never met Midge in person, I've known of her efforts for many years and she's been an enduring presence, as a role model for volunteer efforts on behalf of our organization. Thanks for the notice, Dot. I think Midge and her family can rest assured that she made a positive difference in many of our lives by advocating for SD patients. --Lynne | Recommend | Alert Where am I? Original message Top of thread Current page Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs Re: Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs -- Lynne Martinez Top of thread Archive Posted by: Mary Bifaro ® 10/21/2004, 15:38:04 Dear SD Community, When our local support group in Charlotte, NC won the Midge Kovacs Awareness Award in 2002, I contacted Midge Kovacs. I wrote to her describing our joy in having the award which bears her name. I told her how I had read about her pioneer work in SD advocacy when I was first diagnosed with SD in 1989. She wrote back expressing her curiosity about our support group and asked for a photo of us around the award which we were more than happy to supply. Two years later, we are till passing the award along to the member who is shining the brightest light for SD awareness at each of our bi-monthly meetings. Midge Kovacs wrote to me in 2002 about her passion for a stroke support group which she was facilitating. She said that she learned so much from the SD experience and hoped to apply it. Midge Kovacs powerfully stated in the June, 2002 NSDA Newsletter: "I'd like to encourage all of you who are struggling with SD to think beyond your own individual voice problems". All of us in the NSDA community are indebted to this remarkable woman who paved the way in the early days of our fine organization. Sincerely, Mary Bifaro Abductor SD since 1987 | Recommend | Alert Where am I? Original message Top of thread Current page Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs -- dot sowerby Top of thread Archive Posted by: Lloyd Pearson(BC) ® 10/21/2004, 17:50:06 I must add my own personal tribute to Midge Kovacs and her tremendous pioneering spirit to increase knowledge, patient and doctor education and awareness of SD. Her passion and zeal in helping get support groups organized was something to be experienced. I first made contact with Midge in July 1989 while I was visiting New York for Botox treatment. Drs. Brin and Blitzer were treating me and when I indicated to Dr. Brin that I would be interested in starting a support group in Vancouver, BC, he immediately gave me Midge's phone number. After returning to my hotel room I called Midge and she was delighted that I was thinking of starting a group. She provided me with all the information to get going and I still have ALL the back copies of Midge's own SD newsletter "Our Voice" in my files. I was delighted to meet her in person at the first ever NSDA conference in Irvine, CA in March 1991, but not too thrilled when she asked me to speak at one of the open sessions as a Canadian visitor with SD :-)Thankfully, I had recently had a botox shot and my voice and nerves held up. We corresponded for several years in those early botox days and I remember one particular occasion when I tried to fax her some information on SD. I called her fax number thinking that it was her office number. It was around 11.00 pm Pacific (2.00 am Eastern). Little did I know that that her telephone/fax machine was in her bedroom and woke her up at 2.00 am in the morning and she wasted no time in letting me know that :-) Midge will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of crossing paths with her and with the countless others who never met her, but through her efforts, continue to reap some of the many benefits that she pioneered in SD awareness. Lloyd Pearson(BC) | Recommend | Alert Where am I? Original message Top of thread Current page Obituary for Midge Kovacs Re: Re: Sad loss of Midge Kovacs -- Lloyd Pearson(BC) Top of thread Archive Posted by: David Barton ® 10/28/2004, 19:22:03 I was sent the following (an obituary from the NY Newsday) by Linda Ray, Midge Kovacs' niece: NEW YORK Midge Kovacs, 78, influential feminist, activist BY JAMIE TALAN STAFF WRITER October 28, 2004 Midge Kovacs, among the pioneering feminist-activists in New York in the 1970s, battled vocal dystonia for decades, and more recently suffered a stroke and two different cancers. Despite all the medical setbacks, she continued to change the world's view of women. "She was one of the strongest spirits I have ever met," said Louise Lasser, an actress and director best known for her leading role in "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". "She was remarkable." Kovacs finally succumbed to breast cancer that spread to her bones. She died Oct. 15 in Manhattan. She was 78. In 1970, Kovacs became involved in the women's rights movement and went on to serve as vice president of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women in the 1970s. "When she was handed lemons, she made lemonade - over and over again," said Jacqui Ceballos, a former president of the New York Chapter of NOW, who met Kovacs in 1970. An advertising executive, Kovacs headed NOW's committee on the image of women in the media and launched a successful national public service advertising campaign on women's rights, "Woman Power. It's Much Too Good To Waste." She opened up her own ad agency in Manhattan, Ads Unlimited, which she ran for 25 years. She also started consciousness-raising groups, invited ad agency executives and led an effort to raise awareness of the ways women were - and were not - portrayed on television. Two decades ago, she developed spasms of her vocal cords, impairing her ability to speak and causing breathing problems. But while her voice was raspy and weak, her message was loud and clear. She became a founding board member of the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association. She created and edited the organization's journal, Our Voice. She spoke nationally on spasmodic dysphonia and created the New York tri-state region's spasmodic dysphonia support group. Thanks to Kovacs, similar support groups are in place throughout the world. "Nothing ever stopped her," Lasser said. Kovacs became one of the first dysphonia patients in the country to receive injections of Botox to ease the spasms of her vocal cords. In the late 1990s, a stroke left her paralyzed on half her body, leading her to start another support group and to lobby city officials for better access for those in wheelchairs. Even two forms of cancer didn't stop her, Ceballos added. Three weeks ago, despite tumors spreading through her bones, Kovacs produced a show on the history of American musicals for her local senior citizen's center in Manhattan. She is survived by her sister Esther Ray of Huntington; nieces Linda Ray of Huntington, Diane Ray of Seattle; Susan Kamen-Marsicano of Woodstock; and a nephew, Robert Kamen of Sudbury, Mass.; and six grand-nephews and grand-nieces. There will be a celebration of Midge's life on December 5th at 1 p.m. 76 Laight Street New York City For information please contact Midge's niece: Linda Ray 631-673-5577 cabaretsingers@aol.com Modified by David Barton at Thu, Oct 28, 2004, 20:05:11 | Recommend | Alert Where am I? Original message Top of thread Current page