Parkinson's seems to have been in the public spotlight the last few days
-let's hope Congress is listening when they vote on HHS funding bill.
Below is a CNN interview with Michael Kinsley, and an article about
Michael J. Fox speaking at a disabilities conference in Vermont.


FROM: CNN
 MORNINGS WITH PAULA ZAHN
 December 12, 2001 Wednesday 8:48 AM Eastern Time

HEADLINE: Michael Kinsley Reveals in "Time" Magazine He Was Diagnosed
Eight
Years Ago with Parkinson's Disease
GUESTS: Michael Kinsley
BYLINE: Paula Zahn

"HIGHLIGHT: The former host of CNN's "CROSSFIRE" reveals in "Time"
magazine that
he was diagnosed eight years ago with Parkinson's Disease, and somehow
managed
to keep it a secret until now.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Sad to say, sometimes it's take famous victims to
dram attention to a serious disease.  Lou Gehrig and ALS. Christopher
Reeve and
spinal cord injury.  Woody Guthrie and Huntington's Chorea (ph).  And now
the
former host of CNN's "CROSSFIRE" reveals in "Time" magazine that he was
diagnosed eight years ago with Parkinson's Disease, and somehow managed
to keep
it a secret until now.

   Here's what he writes in "Time" magazine: "I was officially, publicly
healthy.  Now with almost no objective medical change, I am officially,
publicly
sick."

   Michael Kinsley, editor of slate.com magazine is in his home base of
Seattle.
We've delighted to have you with us this morning.  Sorry you had to set
your
alarm so early to join us, but we really wanted to hear your story this
morning.

   How are you feeling this morning, Michael?

   MICHAEL KINSLEY, EDITOR, SLATE.COM: I'm feeling fine, Paula. How are
you?

   ZAHN: I'm doing great.

   So tell me what led to your public disclosure, that you have
Parkinson's,
because you've been fighting it for eight years now?

   KINSLEY: Well, it's hard to keep a secret, especially among
journalists, who
are most of my friends and my circle, and I think pretty lucky to keep
secret
for eight years.  You know, you tell a couple of people and they tell a
couple
of people, and everyone swears everyone else to secrecy.  And you know,
the
symptoms are not extreme, but they're visible, if you're looking for
them.  And
I feel fortunate that I kept a secret for eight years, but it was getting
to be
more trouble than it was worth.

   ZAHN: And what are some of the symptoms you deal with today?

   KINSLEY: Well, as I say, I am very lucky.  Many people have it more
severely.
It is progressive, but it tends to move at a steady pace.  I don't have
much of
the trembling, which is the main symptom. My facial expressions are a bit
-- you
lose your facial expressions. That's the main thing.  And my voice gets a
little
hoarse as you can hear, but that's not too burdensome.

   ZAHN: So has there been any sense of relief in making this public
announcement?

   KINSLEY: Sure, sure, because as I say, keeping it secret was a bit of
a
burden.  I had to shut my door in my office when it was time to talk my
pills
and that sort of thing.  So I don't have to do that anymore.  There's
also a
certain discomfort in going public that you know everyone you know,
knows, and
it makes me a little bit uncomfortable.  But I will probably get used to
that
too.

   ZAHN: It was interesting, when Janet Reno first announced that she had
Parkinson's, obviously there was a great deal of empathy for her, and I
think
she once expressed in an interview that she really felt that as a nation
that we
were much grown up in our acceptance of people, you know, of people
exhibiting
such strong physical symptoms, do you agree?

   KINSLEY: I think Janet Reno personally has made a great contribution
to that,
by being such a strong attorney general, whether you agreed with her
policies or
not, and I basically did.  I think even the people who disagreed with her
would
have to concede that she was certainly strong and certainly effective in
pursuing those policies.

   ZAHN: Well, She certainly didn't let her diagnosis slow her down,
that's for
sure.

   KINSLEY: No, no, and she's now running for governor, of course.

   ZAHN: Let's share with our audience a little bit more of what you
wrote in
"Time".  You said Parkinson's is the disease most likely to be cured by
stem
cell research, which is enmeshed in controversy. "As I wrote in 'Time' a
few
months ago, you can't really criticize people who's reason for opposing
research
that used embryos and that they truly believe embryos are fully human
beings,
but you can criticize politicians who try to escape this yes or no
dilemma with
calls for compromise or delay, or prestigious panels to study the
situation or
report back in a few months. Can't they hear the sounds of clocks
ticking?"

   Do you plan to join in, in this fight, politically?

   KINSLEY: Well, I'm -- first of all, I'm not Michael J. Fox or someone
of that
level of celebrity.  And second of all, I am a journalist, so I can't
really
become a full-time or even part-time partisan for a cause.  But I intend
in a
smaller way to do my bit, sure.

   ZAHN: And how much hope do you think stem cell research holds for you?

   KINSLEY: I think it holds tremendous hope for me and for others, not
just
with Parkinson's, but with diabetes and a whole -- Alzheimer's, and the
whole
variety of other diseases.  Paralysis of various sorts, and it -- you
know,
everyone kids themselves to some extent about miracles coming along.  But
as
near as I can tell, this is I'm not kidding myself.

   ZAHN: Quick final thought on what you say to people who are very
opposed to
this kind of research.  They say you're destroying human life.

   KINSLEY: The life involved is an embryo of less than 100 cells, the
size of a
pinhead.  It doesn't know itself.  It can't feel anything.  It isn't
aware.  To
me, my life and the life of hundreds of thousands of other people are
more
valuable than the life of that.  If you believe otherwise, it's a matter
of
faith, and I respect that. But you're not going to persuade me, and I
don't
think you're going to persuade a majority of Americans of that.

   ZAHN: We're going to have to leave there this morning. Michael
Kingsley, glad
to see you.  We wish you the best of luck.

   KINSLEY: Thanks, Paula.

   ZAHN: We know you will continue to with highly productive, and we're
delighted to hear how your progressing, and hopefully, you will continue
to gain
strength.

   KINSLEY: Thank you.

   ZAHN: Take care, Michael."

------------------------------------------------------------------
FROM:  The Associated Press State & Local Wire
  December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle
  6:48 PM Eastern Time

HEADLINE: Actor Michael J. Fox addresses second annual disability
conference

BYLINE: By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt

"   Actor Michael J. Fox, who for seven years kept his Parkinson's
disease
diagnosis secret, said people with disabilities often fear they will be
defined
by their disability.

   "People were concerned that it would define them and they would lose
their
jobs and their insurance," Fox said Wednesday.

   Fox spoke at a second annual conference on ways to expand employment
opportunities for the disabled in Vermont.

   He encouraged more Vermont businesses to hire people with
disabilities, who
he said were more focussed and committed. "If they are anything like me,
they
have learned to be efficient," Fox said. It's always better to employ
people who
want to be at work, he added.

   About 55,000 people with disabilities are unemployed or underemployed
in
Vermont. On Wednesday, state and business officials and advocates
discussed ways
to solve transportation barriers for disabled people who want to work.

   They also announced the Vermont Business Leadership Network, an effort
by
businesses to share with other businesses their tactics in employing the
disabled.

   After being diagnosed with Parkinson's, a degenerative neurological
disease,
in 1991 at age 30, Fox said he refused to be defined by it. Instead he
said he's
been enhanced by it, describing himself as a "fuller person" since coming
down
with Parkinson's, a disease he described as "a gift that keeps on
taking."

   "I was me plus what I've gained through having Parkinson's," he said.

   Fox started his acting career as Alex Keaton on NBC's Family Ties when
he was
18. He later starred in a dozen movies including Back the Future and
American
President.
   In May 2000 he left the TV series Spin City to start the Michael J.
Fox
Foundation to support research on Parkinson's disease.

   On Wednesday, the Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
donated $
10,000 to the cause.

   Fox, who with his wife, once owned a farm in South Woodstock, said he
was
glad to be back in Vermont with its strong sense of community. He said he
was
known well enough at a local diner that he could walk in and, without
saying a
word, have a bowl of turkey soup and a Vermont cheddar sandwich placed in
front
of him."

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