Man with Lou Gehrig's disease strives to write music



EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The jarring minor chords echo past the opening lyrics of Lee Abramson's haunting song, "Drowning in Me."


"I'm not the Iron Horse,

I'm not the luckiest alive.

But I won't sit and wait,

For the Black Angel to arrive."

The song is "a message of defiance and determination in the face of grim fate," Abramson said.

That fate he's referring to was sealed in February 2005, when the East Lansing man, now 36, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease.

ALS is a degenerative disease that targets nerves which control voluntary muscles. There is no known cure.

Abramson had worked with computers for IBM Corp., but the disease forced him to stop. Now he's the Web master for his synagogue, Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

But initially, facing the disease was difficult, Abramson said.

He left his job as an analyst with IBM and moved back home with his parents, Paul and Janet Abramson.

"I spent the first six months after my diagnosis feeling sorry for myself and playing euchre on the computer," Abramson said.

Then he had a revelation. Abramson realized that, though he might not have long left, he still had more than enough time to leave his mark.

Now, almost every ounce of energy that doesn't go in to fighting the disease goes into his music.

"I wanted to leave something behind," he explained.

Abramson is a budding composer. His dream is to have his songs sung by recording superstars across the globe.

He writes songs on his computer, pressing keys one at a time with a wrist-moved typing tool.

Ron Newman, a music professor at Michigan State University, has been tutoring Abramson in composition.

"He's a talented guy," Newman said. "He's fun to work with."

Once a song is up to par, Abramson hires amateur musicians to record vocals over his tracks and posts the completed versions online. The hope is that a music producer, surfing on the Web for unsigned, promising composers, will stumble across his work and sign him to a label.

Abramson's stage name is Ace Noface, which astute card players will recognize as a code name for a misdeal hand in euchre.

But Abramson doesn't have time to wallow in self-pity. He's busy living his dreams.

Abramson was featured earlier this year in an online national awareness campaign as one of the Muscular Dystrophy Association's faces of ALS.

He's one of 31 people selected nationwide.

Association spokeswoman Tara Wood said the association was moved by his desire to leave his mark on the world.

"He's a young person who has faced this disease with a lot of creativity and humor," Wood said.

And mom couldn't be prouder.

"He's my hero," said his mother, Janet Abramson.

"Especially given what he's had to deal with."

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Information from: Lansing State Journal, http://www.lansingstatejournal.com

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