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The Tacoma News Tribune, WA Monday, June 16, 2003 Gardner's schedule worries loved ones The Associated Press Former Gov. Booth Gardner says keeping busy helps keep him alive. But friends who have watched his fight against Parkinson's disease are concerned that his packed schedule might be having a less salutary effect. Gardner has had the disease for perhaps a dozen years, but it's progressed dramatically in the past three months. "It's a progressive disease, and it's gotten worse," Cynthia Gardner, his wife of two years, told the Seattle Post- Intelligencer. "I'm not sure his thinking has adjusted to that yet." Gardner, 66, served as the state's 19th governor from 1985 to 1992, and his love of policy-making has kept him active since then. He's drafting legislative proposals for higher-education construction with fellow former Gov. Dan Evans, teaming with King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng on an antigambling campaign, chairing the state presidential campaign for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and heading a program to stem child obesity. This past winter, he was executive director of Municipal Golf of Seattle until the city parted with the management group. At Northwest Strategies, a local public affairs firm founded by his former campaign manager, Ron Dotzauer, colleagues sometimes send Gardner home early. "It was, 'How are you doing?' and, 'Oh, I'm fine,' and he can barely keep his head up," said Gretchen Aliabadi, an account manager who has the office next door to Gardner's. "So I sent him home." Dotzauer, Northwest Strategies chairman and chief executive officer, has resorted to cue cards in an attempt to lessen the former governor's workload. Every 60 to 90 days, he urges Gardner to list his projects by importance on these cards. So far, the list hasn't gotten noticeably smaller. "I ask him how he's doing, and he still looks up sheepishly; he doesn't say no to people," Dotzauer said. "A week and a half ago, I asked this question again, 'What can we do to slow this down?' The staff is under orders to give him space." Gardner has promised to pare his workweek to three days and to give up hamburgers, milkshakes and chocolate. He says he'll start walking two miles each morning. He just hasn't said exactly when this will happen. Over the weekend, he and Cynthia moved from Seattle's Madison Park neighborhood to Vashon Island, with the idea of putting a moat between him and his commitments. "You catch me at an interesting time," Gardner told the P-I. "I've got to make some hard choices." Why not really retire? It's not his style, he said. "I love making policy and being a public person. It keeps me alive," he said. Gardner doesn't deny that he'd like to ignore the disease, which afflicts 1.5 million Americans. "I have a friend who's eight years older than I am and has the same strain of Parkinson's," he said. "As much as I like him it's hard to look at him, because I see myself eight years from now." Though he wasn't diagnosed with Parkinson's until 1995, Gardner now suspects he had the illness during his final year as governor - and that the disease was responsible for driving him out of his coveted position. He was finishing up a successful second term and was projected as a landslide winner if he ran a third time. But he was absolutely miserable, if not unpleasant to be around. "I never had any trouble making decisions, other than agonizing over personnel," Gardner said. "The last year in office, I hit a wall. I was in depression. I stopped making decisions. I started delegating everything. I got tentative. "I had seven great years, but the eighth year wasn't fun. I didn't know I had Parkinson's." Had his health not taken such a turn, Gardner said, "I probably would have gone for a third term." He eventually went public with his disease, spoke about it and even lent his name to the Booth Gardner Parkinson's Care Center, which opened at Kirkland's Evergreen Health Care Center in 2000, and which he regularly attends for checkups. Yet Gardner has trouble slowing down and following the rules. "A year ago, I told the doctor I felt there wouldn't be a relapse and I wanted to get off the medication," he said, looking guilty. "She said, 'I read the paper. I know what you're doing. I want to double your antidepressant.'" His wife and friends wish he would start easing up. "I'm working real hard on stepping back and letting him take full responsibility for this and how he wants to handle it," his wife said. "After all, it's his life." (Published 12:01AM, June 16th, 2003) SOURCE: The Tacoma News Tribune, WA http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/3305040p-3336070c.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn