BIO

Martin Bayne was born the oldest of seven in Binghamton, New York in 1950.

At the age of 19, while working as a journalist for the Times Herald Record in Middletown, NY, Martin arranged a meeting at the Pentagon with Lt. Col. John C. Payne MD in the Office of the US Army Surgeon General. At the meeting the two discussed the unusual case of a highly-decorated combat soldier - still in the jungles of Vietnam - whose mother had contacted Martin in an effort to bring her son home to be with his father during open heart surgery. A day after the meeting, the soldier--John Fasanello of Florida, NY--was on a plane to the states.

A year later, motivated by a need to discover the source of self-compassion, Martin entered Shasta Abbey, a Soto Zen Buddhist monastery, as a novitiate. Here, in the Siskiyou Mountains of northern California, he would spend his next years learning to "sleep when tired and eat when hungry." In retrospect, these are the years that he finds most challenging and rewarding. "In a monastery," he says, "there is nowhere to run and hide from yourself, no distractions or soap opera. It's just you and your stuff."

In time, he received the Dharma Transmission from his teacher and returned to the world of Bernard Madoff and Nelson Mandela – a phantasmagoria of saints and sinners, rich and poor. In 1979, after completing his Bachelor’s in two years at The University of Waterloo, Ontario, Martin entered MIT for post-graduate studies in molecular genetics and the biology of aging.

In ’81, he completed his Master’s Degree thesis: Accelerated Production of Human Interferon from PolyI-PolyC induced Fibroblasts. But at 31 years old, he had yet to discover the immutable tag line: When you want to make God laugh – tell Him what your plans are. That summer, while jogging, he was struck by a automobile.

Alive, yet unwilling to spend his time shaking his fist at the sky, he obtained his brokers license and began to market socially responsible funds as he recovered from his injuries. In 1992, a decade before most Americans were even remotely aware of a problem with their long-term health care system (LTC), and with the personal experience of protracted disability still fresh in his mind, Martin began publishing a newsletter under the nom de plume Mr. Long-Term Care. A year later it became a website and it grew beyond anyone's expectations. In 1998, The Novartis Foundation for Gerontology offered Bayne an annual $250,000 grant to become an information provider on the site.

It was also during these years that Martin co-created New York Long-Term Care Brokers, an LTC insurance agency, with his good friend, Kevin J. Johnson.

But the '90s brought both sunshine and rain. At the peak of his professional career and personal eldercare advocacy, Martin was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. He would spend the better part of the next decade in an assisted living facility.

Martin believes in strengthening the social network of this magnificent nation, and welcomes real-time partnerships with a focus on aging technology.

"Martin, thanks for your help. The problem with rogue ADA lawsuits is that regardless of their merit or how frivolous they appear, once they've been filed, you're stuck."

CLINT EASTWOOD

"Martin, as we enter the new millennium, there are other factors at play, factors with no historical precedent."

PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER

"I want to thank Martin for his commitment to improving long-term care and to educating the public about the great need for affordable quality care in this country."

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON