By: Michael J. Fox
"If you were to rush into this room right now
and announce that you had struck a deal–
with God, Allah, Buddha, Christ, Krishna,
Bill Gates, whomever–in which the ten
years since my diagnosis could be magically
taken away, traded in for ten more years
as the person I was before, I would,
without a moment’s hesitation, tell you to
take a hike."

This extraordinary statement was made by an extraordinary man, actor Michael J.
Fox. My brother-in-law gave me this book, perhaps because he felt I could relate
to someone else with a chronic, progressive, incurable illness. I picked it up
that evening, figuring I’d maybe skim through the first chapter before putting
it down to save for later. What happened was that I ended up reading about half
of it, stopping only when I realized it was two hours past my bedtime. I
finished it the next day.

I knew who Fox was, having seen the "Back to the Future" movies and
thinking he seemed nice and was pretty cute. But that’s all I knew, along with
someone mentioning on the news that he had Parkinson’s Disease. So my initial
curiosity was what made me pick up the book. But it was his gift for writing
well, and his complete honesty about himself and the world around him that had
me glued to the pages.

Fox is Canadian by birth and grew up with four siblings. His father was in the
military, and so the family had to move around a lot during Michael’s childhood.
His early interests included a passion for music; in fact, he belonged to a band
while still in school and envisioned a career in rock and roll. But at 16,
encouraged by his drama teacher, he auditioned for a part on a Canadian
television show portraying a 12-year-old. He landed the role, and a professional
actor was born.

Two years later, he moved to Los Angeles, acting in a few films and doing guest
shots on several television show before being chosen to play Alex Keaton on
"Family Ties" in 1982. Driven by a tireless work ethic (and a
self-admitted aversion to the word "no"), he moonlighted by filming
the "Back to the Future" movies at night and "Family Ties"
episodes during the day. During the 1980’s, it seemed Michael J. Fox was
everywhere, and he responded with the life of carefree excess typical of the
time.

Fate stepped in when he met and acted with Tracy Pollan on "Family
Ties". She was grounded and sane, which gave Fox a sense of balance in his
chaotic life. The two married in 1988. Without a loving and supportive wife, Fox
might not have ever achieved a healthy attitude about the disease that befell
him.

Fox first began experiencing an unexplainable tremor in 1990. A neurologist
declared him fit and healthy at that time. A year passed before he developed
more symptoms and was then diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease. He
was 30 years old. In a state of denial, he consulted with two more neurologists,
who both confirmed the bad news.

At first, Fox believed that admitting to anyone except the closest family and
friends that he had Parkinson’s would effectively kill his career. So he went to
extraordinary measures to hide the tics and tremors. He was able to manage the
symptoms with medication, but the timing of each and every pill was critical,
and the stress of hiding his secret only added to his exhaustion caused by the
illness. When shooting movies on locations around the world and across the
country became too much to manage, he tried to work closer to home. But the odd
hours of filming were difficult to accommodate. Looking for a gig with more
regular hours led to the creation of "Spin City".

By the time Fox went public with his diagnosis and announced his retirement from
the television series, he had finally become comfortable with the illness on his
own terms and was able to handle the media onslaught and the public outpouring
of grief. He began meeting others with Young Onset Parkinson’s and realized that
his notoriety could actually benefit those who were afraid to speak up and
petition the federal government for proper funding for research. He is confident
that a cure for Parkinson’s will be found in his lifetime.

I recommend this book for both fans of Michael J. Fox and for people who want to
learn what it is like to have Young Onset Parkinson’s. The timeline in the book
jumps around a bit and can be a little confusing to those with concentration
problems, but the book is otherwise excellent. I liked Michael J. Fox before I
read the book, but now, I admire him as well.