TJ
03-18-2002, 06:11 PM
Michael J Fox's Parental Thrill
Michael J. Fox is convinced Parkinson's disease has helped him become a better father. The (former) Spin City star discovered he had the debilitating disease in 1992, when he was just 30 years old. And although the illness has forced him to leave his role in the Emmy award winning comedy, Fox swells with pride when he remembers the moment when his 12-year-old son Sam held his shaking hand to stop the ravages of the disease. He gushes, "It helps me raise my children in a way that I couldn't before. It teaches them things like empathy." One of the key reasons for Fox's strength is the courage of his wife of 12 years, Tracy Pollan. He says, "A great deal of my optimism comes from Tracy because she means so much to me and she helps me and fills in the blanks in so many ways."
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(AP) - Michael J. Fox turned to alcohol after being diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease in 1991, he says in his autobiography. In
Lucky Man: A Memoir (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786867647/ref=nosim/happydaysonline3-20), the former Spin City star describes the nightly drinking binges, which his wife, actor Tracy Pollan, confronted him about. Excerpts from the book, due out in April, appear in the March 25 issue of People magazine. "At the end of the workday I'd drink a couple of beers in my trailer, having a couple more as my teamster driver shuttled me home. At dinner, I'd ask Tracy if she wanted wine. I'd select a bottle, pour us each a glass, then take the bottle back into the kitchen under the pretense of returning it to the refrigerator. In my other hand, I'd be carrying my own wine glass," Fox writes. "Once in the kitchen, I'd quickly polish off the bottle, throw it in the recycle bin and extract an identical bottle from the wine rack. I'd open it and swill enough to lower the level of liquid so it matched that of the first (bottle) when I'd left the living room." The 40-year-old Fox said he decided to stop drinking in June 1992, and entered therapy in December 1993. In March 1998, he had brain surgery to relieve tremours in his left arm; later that year, he announced he had the disease.
Michael J. Fox is convinced Parkinson's disease has helped him become a better father. The (former) Spin City star discovered he had the debilitating disease in 1992, when he was just 30 years old. And although the illness has forced him to leave his role in the Emmy award winning comedy, Fox swells with pride when he remembers the moment when his 12-year-old son Sam held his shaking hand to stop the ravages of the disease. He gushes, "It helps me raise my children in a way that I couldn't before. It teaches them things like empathy." One of the key reasons for Fox's strength is the courage of his wife of 12 years, Tracy Pollan. He says, "A great deal of my optimism comes from Tracy because she means so much to me and she helps me and fills in the blanks in so many ways."
-------------------------
(AP) - Michael J. Fox turned to alcohol after being diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease in 1991, he says in his autobiography. In
Lucky Man: A Memoir (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786867647/ref=nosim/happydaysonline3-20), the former Spin City star describes the nightly drinking binges, which his wife, actor Tracy Pollan, confronted him about. Excerpts from the book, due out in April, appear in the March 25 issue of People magazine. "At the end of the workday I'd drink a couple of beers in my trailer, having a couple more as my teamster driver shuttled me home. At dinner, I'd ask Tracy if she wanted wine. I'd select a bottle, pour us each a glass, then take the bottle back into the kitchen under the pretense of returning it to the refrigerator. In my other hand, I'd be carrying my own wine glass," Fox writes. "Once in the kitchen, I'd quickly polish off the bottle, throw it in the recycle bin and extract an identical bottle from the wine rack. I'd open it and swill enough to lower the level of liquid so it matched that of the first (bottle) when I'd left the living room." The 40-year-old Fox said he decided to stop drinking in June 1992, and entered therapy in December 1993. In March 1998, he had brain surgery to relieve tremours in his left arm; later that year, he announced he had the disease.