I was 15 when Family
Ties first screened in 1982 (please - don't do the math) and
if I wasn't a diehard fan of Michael J Fox, playing Alex Keaton, I
did find him cute and enjoyed the show. I was as impressed with
Back to the Future as anyone - although I admit I prefer
some of his lesser known movie work. And like many I was saddened
to hear he had been diagnosed at a relatively young age (30) with
Parkinson's. Other than that I knew very little about the
man.
However, I've always enjoyed biographies and autobiographies -
in fact they are probably the reason I became a journalist.
I've never been much of a newshound, but I love learning about
people and why they do whatever it is they do.
So it didn't take a lot of convincing during a recent trip to
Borders to pop Fox's Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable
Optimist into my shopping basket. The weekend weather forecast
was for rain and I thought the funny autobiography of a likeable
actor was exactly what was called for.
Except that it turned out to be so much more.
It is a thought-provoking, often moving and sometimes
laugh-out-loud-funny look at the ten years following his retirement
from the hit series Spin City.
I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the
shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor,
then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD?
Parkinson's had consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my
career. But where did all of this leave Me? I had to build a new
life when I was already pretty happy with the old one.
Early in the book Fox mentions how lucky he is because he does
not suffer from the chronic depression that often accompanies
Parkinson's Disease and this is the first clue that he is not
joking when he uses the word optimist. It may have been a
small bullet to dodge but Fox celebrates every bullet with equal
enthusiasm.
Against the backdrop of post September 11 America and the
transition from Bush to Obama, Fox talks about his campaign to find
a cure for the disease that has turned his life -and many others
-upside down.
On the subject of stem cell research he is very clear about
boundaries and the use of cells that were destined to be destroyed
anyway, and the never ending battle to even be heard, let alone
listened to, on the subject.
He speaks of his admiration for and friendship with Christopher
Reeve and his account of meeting boxing legend Muhammad Ali is one of the most moving things I have read in a
long time.
Fox is very aware of the privileges his celebrity status affords
him and his gratitude is apparent throughout the book and is
startling in its sincerity. For a man who has been in the
spotlight for so many years he could be forgiven for taking some of
it at least a little for granted.
Within pages it is apparent that his passion to find a cure is
second only to the passion he has for his wife and children.
This is not conveyed with screeds of flowery compliments but in the
simple recounting of his days with them and their reactions to his
illness. This is a family neither divided by illness nor kept
together through pity - but one that is clearly founded on deep
love.
As the book unfolds, tracing his discovery, exploration and
embrace of politics, faith, and family, so too does his discovery
of who Fox is now - a man who is happy, grateful, and always
looking up.
The book is available at Amazon - just click on the picture!
Acknowledgement
Angelique Jurd is a freelance writer living in Beachlands with a
man, three children, a rather large assortment of pets, and an
excessive number of Springsteen albums. She has written for a
variety of publications including Business to Business, Rural
Living, Pet Magazine, Her Business and Pink. Angelique
can be found in a variety of online places, including her Underground Mainstream
webzine.