Springsteen fan who helps fight Parkinson's in spotlight

Well I'm a little down under, but I'm feeling OK

I got a little lost along the way

I'm just around the corner to the light of day

- Bruce Springsteen,
"Light of Day"
Rock manager and promoter Bob Benjamin had two ruling passions as a teen in New Rochelle, N.Y.: hockey and Bruce Springsteen's music.

The NHL never came calling, but Springsteen, whom Benjamin has since befriended, has helped form the soundtrack to his life for more than three decades.

"Bruce's music just spoke to me like nothing had done before," Benjamin, 54, says in Just Around the Corner, a new documentary about his struggles with Parkinson's disease and his fund-raising work on behalf of Parkinson's research as the founder of the Light of Day Foundation. The film was released on DVD on Tuesday by Virgil Films & Entertainment, with all proceeds going to the foundation.

"The contrast between hope and desperation, along with the sense of community fostered by the music, greatly moved me," he said.

Benjamin, who, has worked with rockers Joe Grushecky, Joe D'Urso, Dawne Allynne, and Boccigalupe and the Bad Boys, was part of the thriving Jersey Shore music scene when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1996 at 38. Like the actor Michael J. Fox, he's one of only 4 percent of the estimated one million Parkinson's sufferers in America who get the disease before turning 50.

A degenerative neurological disorder, Parkinson's can't be detected easily. There are no tests, and it can be diagnosed only from its complex of symptoms, which are primarily movement-related and include problems with balance, rigidity, and slowed reaction time and movement.

Benjamin developed symptoms in his mid-30s, but he wasn't diagnosed for another two years.

"It began with stiffness in my elbow and my hand," Benjamin said in a phone interview from his home in Highland Park, near New Brunswick, N.J. "So I went to a chiropractor for a whole summer.

"Guess it was a relief finally to find out what it was. . . . It's been 16 years now, and I've been up and I've been down. Mostly up."

The downs are heartbreaking. "I remember in 2006 I fell down on the kitchen floor and couldn't stand up," Benjamin said. "I was there for four days." He has since hired a full-time home health aide.

Directed by Steve Caniff and Jim Justice, Just Around the Corner features interviews with Benjamin's family and friends, and discussions with Parkinson's experts, all intercut with performances by Benjamin's friends, including Grushecky, D'Urso, Jesse Malin, Philly's Marah, and Willie Nile. It also includes footage from Springsteen concerts going back to the mid-1970s.

Benjamin, whose mother died when he was 20 after a six-year battle with breast cancer, took the news in stride and continued working, his friends and family say in the film.

"He is like the Energizer [Bunny]: He just keeps going, and if there is an obstacle, he always finds a way around it," D'Urso said in an interview. "I think some people would have just given up."

Justice, 43, said Benjamin has a charisma difficult to explain. "It's mind-boggling," Justice said from his home in Cincinnati. "He is just truly, truly an inspiring guy to know."

Benjamin drew on Springsteen's inspiration when he decided to launch a foundation, naming it after the Boss' song.

The nonprofit has raised more than $1.6 million. It was launched in 2000 with a benefit concert at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., with Grushecky as the headline act. Springsteen took the stage in a surprise appearance, and has continued to return when his schedule allows.

Now in its 13th year, the Light of Day concerts have mushroomed around North America and Europe. The next Asbury Park show will take place over five days, Jan. 17 to 21, with more than two dozen events featuring 150 artists.

In 2006, the concerts went global, and the New Jersey shows will be preceded by concerts across northern Europe and Canada, where the core artists will be joined by local acts.