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The Disability Grapevine Online Newspaper: Issue #36
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Year 5
http://www.disabilitygrapevine.com
****The Number One Daily Newspaper for People with Disabilities****
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Title of Article:
Healing Harmony in Partnerships with Music

Author:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/20/NBGC486QHC1.DTL

Submitted By:
Maureen Fitzgerald and
Edward Carraway
Calif. CO-State Coordinator (VOR)
Voice of the Retarded, where choice is the voice
Vice President of the National Disability Party

Article:
Something happens in the often-somber halls of Marin General Hospital when
Michael Reiss and Mark Joseph Lerner walk in. Patients poke their heads
out doors, nurses and doctors slow down and weary faces break into smiles.

It has been that way since December when Reiss, a musician and songwriter,
and Lerner, who is developmentally disabled, started playing their upbeat
original music weekly in the Greenbrae hospital.

"We call it music medicine," says Lerner, 27, who suffers from tuberous
sclerosis complex, a genetic condition characterized by lesions of the
skin and central nervous system, tumor growth and seizures. "When we play
for a patient, they say, 'Oh my, you've healed my heart.' "

Music is healing, says Susie Laurenson-Shipley, program manager for the
Institute for Health and Healing at Marin General, which offers
alternative forms of care, such as massage therapy and guided imagery, to
patients at Marin General and Novato Community Hospital.

"It's a fast-paced environment; it can be very scary. So to have someone
come in and play something soothing and loving can be very healing," says
Laurenson-Shipley. "They get a very positive reception."

One woman who spent five days in the intensive care unit around the
holidays was moved to write a letter to Laurenson-Shipley, saying that,
"in the midst of IVs, monitors and oxygen, it was so soothing to hear that
special music. I found the tears rolling down my cheeks, and realized I
could let go of some of the fear and grief about my condition."

That's exactly what Reiss and Lerner hope to inspire.

"Mark really wants to make a difference in the world, which is (the title
of) one of our songs," says Reiss.

When Reiss, who declined to give his age, answered an ad to be a mentor to
a developmentally disabled boy years ago, the Mill Valley resident was
looking to make a little extra cash as well as do a good deed.

When he met with Lerner, who was 13, "He told me he was really interested
in music, and the first thing he says to me is, 'God sent you to me,' "
Reiss recalls. "I said, 'Well, that remains to be seen.' "

But then Lerner pulled out his guitar and played, beautifully. "I said, if
he can play music like this, we can work together," says Reiss, who now
works with Lerner under the auspices of the Golden Gate Regional Center,
which has offices in the Bay Area and provides services and support to
children and adults with developmental disabilities.

They have been playing music, writing songs and performing together ever
since.

Their relationship has gone from mentorship to friendship to what they
hope will be a business partnership. Reiss and Lerner, who lives in
Hacienda House, a halfway house for the developmentally disabled in San
Rafael, are making a CD of some of the more than 30 songs they have
written. They are recording it in Reiss's home and hope to get someone to
donate recording studio time. They are also trying to attract a manager.

Their goal is "to reach as many people as we can with a positive message,
to make the world a better place through music," Reiss says.

They also have a dream to perform on "Oprah," where they hope to inspire
others, developmentally disabled or not.

"I have been writing songs for a long time. I understand music and how it
works together," says Reiss, who plays guitar and mandolin and sings along
with Lerner when they perform. "I get the ideas from Mark and work with
him on ideas to work it into the best song we can make."

Their songs are friendly and hopeful, and clearly come from the heart. One
tune, which was written for a show put on by Alchemia, (al-ke-MEE-a), a
Petaluma arts and vocational day program that works with the
developmentally and physically disabled, speaks to how Lerner approaches
his life: "We can be the best we can be, perfectly imperfect, that's you
and me."

"All the music we do, we create from our heart. All his emotions, he can
put in his music," Reiss says.

Reiss, a divorced father of an 8-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son,
has been a musician for about 30 years. He has played in bands and written
songs in Los Angeles, although none became well known. When his best
friend and manager was killed in a bus accident, Reiss gave up music -- as
well as some hope. That's when he and Lerner discovered each other, and
the music started flowing again.

It was good timing for Lerner, too, who was having problems at home.

"I was given a gift by God to help make this world a better place. I knew
inside I was going to meet somebody who wanted to do the same thing," says
Lerner, who speaks haltingly and often loses his train of thought but
doesn't skip a beat while singing.

"Michael has been an inspiration," Lerner says of his partner. "Michael
has been almost like a rope for me to grab hold of."

In addition to Marin General, the two have performed at the Italian Street
Painting Festival, the Bay Model and the Center for Attitudinal Healing,
among others.

Lerner, who has lived in group homes for the past 14 years, is at ease
about his disability.

"I'm very happy I have an illness in some ways. I believe because of my
disease there's something that tripped in my brain that makes me musical."

He takes 16 medications a day, which affect his moods and thinking. If it
weren't for music, Lerner says, he'd be lonely and sad.

"I believe I'd be here differently," he says. "Music has been my best
friend. It helps me through my pain."

Reiss adds: "His music is his life. It's like his sanctuary."
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The Author's views reflect only their opinion and do not necessarily reflect
that of The Disability Grapevine.
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