Society and Culture
See also: Medical and mental health of Abraham LincolnContributors to public perception of Marfan syndrome include Flo Hyman, an Olympic silver medalist in Women's Volleyball (1984) who died suddenly at a match from an aortic dissection; Jonathan Larson, the author and composer of Rent, who died from an aortic dissection the day before the off-Broadway opening of Rent; and Vincent Schiavelli, an actor and spokesperson for the National Marfan Foundation.
Musicians and composers Niccolò Paganini, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Robert Johnson are thought to have had the disease. Bradford Cox of the indie rock band Deerhunter has openly discussed having Marfan syndrome and its effects on his self-perception and confidence. Abraham Lincoln was once thought to have had Marfan syndrome, but geneticists believe it unlikely, although he had some of the normal characteristic features.
Read more about this topic: Marfan Syndrome
Famous quotes containing the words society and/or culture:
“Instead of seeing society as a collection of clearly defined “interest groups,” society must be reconceptualized as a complex network of groups of interacting individuals whose membership and communication patterns are seldom confined to one such group alone.”
—Diana Crane (b. 1933)
“One of the oddest features of western Christianized culture is its ready acceptance of the myth of the stable family and the happy marriage. We have been taught to accept the myth not as an heroic ideal, something good, brave, and nearly impossible to fulfil, but as the very fibre of normal life. Given most families and most marriages, the belief seems admirable but foolhardy.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)