Don Fried | The Mac Parkman Foundation

Technique and Playing Smartly

I was with my wife at a spa where they stretch you, a good thing for an old man. An athletic man was helping me. We started talking about sports, and I told Mac’s story. He started asking questions and told me I was bringing tears to his eyes. This man had to quit...

“I have an idea why I act the way I do.”

Not too long ago, we shared Mac’s story with some adolescents undergoing rehabilitation for substance abuse. One of them approached our speaker and informed her he had tried to take his life for the 4th time and had been told all his life that he had psychological...

Therapist and MPFACT Work Together

The other day I was talking to a therapist who has been keeping track of me as I deal with grief with Mac’s departure. As I told the story of Mac and the Foundation, she told me that, until she met me, she was completely unaware that CTE could be a cause of...

Bagpipe World Record

Last week I was skiing in Breckenridge where Mac and I went so often. I had this crazy idea that I should bring my bagpipes to the top of the Imperial Chairlift, which is the highest in North America. However, I didn’t know if my bagpipes would play that high. On two...

“Kids will return to concussion, not sports.”

The other day I was saying goodnight to Mac as usual by playing the bagpipes at sunset at the Rod and Reel Pier here on Anna Maria Island. As I was playing one of the dads on the pier with his kids came up to me and we talked. I told him the reason I was playing and...