In September of 2022, our Editorial Board lost one of its most valued and respected contributors, Anne C. Singer, who was diagnosed the year before with a devastating neurological illness, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). She announced the diagnosis to us during a virtual board meeting from her office seated in a wheelchair. Her speech was halting, but her words discernable.

Some of us knew what ALS is and what its diagnosis portended. We knew it to be a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their demise. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. When voluntary muscle action is progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move, and breathe. It is relatively short-term death sentence with a general life expectancy of two to five years. At present, there is no known cure.