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“It’s a very politicized process. People see what they want to see,” said Jacob Appel, a professor of psychiatry and medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, who’s writing a book on presidential health.

“You can watch videotapes of Ronald Reagan in 1987,” Appel said, “and, depending on your view of him. you can see him as sharp and funny as ever, or being on the cusp of dementia.”

He recently hosted a March 30 book launch party for “The World’s Largest Cherry Pie,” a collection of poetry by his friend Sophie Appel, that featured a harpist and tea tasting.

A little over a year ago, Seyfried, Moore and Toscano took a research trip to Philadelphia and visited Kensington, where they met with community leaders including Father Michael Duffy of St. Francis Inn, a food service organization where Moore taught a writing workshop, and Johanna Berrigan and Mary Beth Appel of the free clinic the Catholic Worker.

The theater’s current artistic director, David Ivers, and managing director, Suzanne Appel, announced Tuesday that Benson died Saturday of natural causes.