St. Louis. In 1983, in the year she organized an international conference on post-polio matters and living independently with a severe disability, she wanted to emphasize the international dimension of her work, and the name Gazette International Networking Institute was concocted to communicate that. Its only redeeming feature, at least to many of Gini Laurie's loyal admirers, was that it formed the acronym G.I.N.I., which allowed them at last to refer to her and her organization with the same name. In 1979, Laurie had begun to receive disturbing inquiries and reports from polio survivors about new problems – increased fatigue, muscle weakness, pain, and decreasing mobility. The Gazette published some of this, and with her usual proactive approach, once she determined that these reports reflected growing concerns among both polio survivors and medical professionals about a constellation of symptoms referred to as post-polio syndrome, she launched a memorable series of national and international conferences on post-polio, independent living, and aging with a disability. The first of these was in 1981; the fifth was in 1989, the year she died. The tenth will be held in 2009. The mid-1980s were a time of transition, both for Gini Laurie and for her organization. She and her husband were themselves aging, and it was clear that the organization, if it was to continue, needed to have a professional staff. In 1984, Judith Raymond was hired as executive director, and took over much of the work on the conferences and publications. In 1987, Raymond married D. Armin Fischer, MD, Chief of the Chest Medicine Service at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Downey, California. Laurie then hired Joan L. Headley as executive director. Judith Raymond Fischer remained the volunteer editor of Ventilator-Assisted Living, the organization's publication for ventilator users, and is still a consultant. Joan Headley continues to serve as the executive director. Gini Laurie's husband, Joseph Laurie, died in 1985. Gini herself died of cancer in late June 1989, just three and one-half weeks after the fifth international post-polio conference, held in St. Louis from May 31 through June 4. She went to conference events on a stretcher, with the help of attendants. Notes 1913 births 1989 deaths American disability rights activists